The $129 simple non AC glycol chiller

[Brewfreedom]

Long time lurker. Figure this would be a good first post. Got a new Spike CF10 and just was not happy with the performance of the cold water cooler technique. A real chiller was out of the question for now. Saw some older threads about folks using fridges converted to freezers but never one using an actual little freezer. Picked up a Della mini freezer from Amazon for $129. I've seen them cheaper. ~ $100 on overstock.

1. Rotate the compressor by unscrewing the entire compressor housing so it sits upright and door is on the top like a chest freezer.

2. Drill some holes for your temp controller pump and hoses. Will get fancier later and add quick connects

3. Fill with glycol. Run for at least 4 hours before turning on the controller.

Running this now on a batch of Marzen at 50 on a Spike CF10. No more water bottles in buckets. Had no problems testing it getting it down to cold crash temps.

 

[AkTom]

Very clever. I wish I had thought about this. Then I’d have a conical too.

 

[cyberbackpacker]

Nice work! I'll be curious to see how it does long term, and maintaining ~32F temps for an extended period.

 

[Brewfreedom]

Nice work! I'll be curious to see how it does long term, and maintaining ~32F temps for an extended period.

The unit doesnt get great reviews but it was about the same price as a window AC unit without much hassle.Just flip the compressor and drill. Will probably be crashing it at the end of the month. Next batch Im moving to the much warmer garage to see how it performs.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Wow this is a brilliant idea! Rotating the compressor to convert it to a top-door is genius! I wouldn't have guessed that the interior was already watertight and suitable as a reservoir right out of the box. Any concern about liquid weight or age or anything causing it to crack and leak? This setup seems would beat the pants off a converted window unit in terms of noise level. Even if it can only handle one conical, adding multiple units @ $129 each is still a bargain.

 

[Brewfreedom]

Wow this is a brilliant idea! Rotating the compressor to convert it to a top-door is genius! I wouldn't have guessed that the interior was already watertight and suitable as a reservoir right out of the box. Any concern about liquid weight or age or anything causing it to crack and leak? This setup seems would beat the pants off a converted window unit in terms of noise level. Even if it can only handle one conical, adding multiple units @ $129 each is still a bargain.

Plastic looks pretty solid but yeah time will tell on that one. I figure by the time that begins to break down I can justify a penguin. Its absolutely quiet. No noise and once its had time to cool to temp the compressor doesn't come on much at all. I chose this one because it was cheap and the temp controls were on the outside with a completely sealed interior. I doubt this thing can handle a 1bbl or multiple conicals but for my purpose its a win.

 

[IslandLizard]

Indeed, very clever!

Few questions:

• How easy was it to rotate the compressor sub-chassis?
• Plenty of slack in the tubing?
• Not afraid of it kinking during the process?
• Won't the frost above the glycol slowly dilute your glycol over time, or does it just keep building up there?

 

[Brewfreedom]

Indeed, very clever!

Few questions:

• How easy was it to rotate the compressor sub-chassis?
• Plenty of slack in the tubing?
• Not afraid of it kinking during the process?
• Won't the frost above the glycol slowly dilute your glycol over time, or does it just keep building up there?

Very easy. Stupid simple to rotate the compressor chasis and lots of slack and no kinking in the tubing. I am seeing a little bit of frost build up on the side wall but no more than I normally see in any other chest freezer. So far its holding. I'll report how cold crash goes which will be around the 3rd week of august. Yeast is chugging away happily at 50f with a nice krausen dome (peaked in the blow off port). Saflager 34/70

 

[IslandLizard]

Very easy. Stupid simple to rotate the compressor chasis and lots of slack and no kinking in the tubing. I am seeing a little bit of frost build up on the side wall but no more than I normally see in any other chest freezer. So far its holding. I'll report how cold crash goes which will be around the 3rd week of august. Yeast is chugging away happily at 50f with a nice krausen dome (peaked in the blow off port). Saflager 34/70

Thank you!
That frost will mix in with the glycol, won't it?

Would it help putting more insulation around the conical's neoprene jacket, and over the lid? It looks kinda thin.

 

[OdeCloner]

Following!

 

[Brewfreedom]

Lowered the freezer to setting 3. Minimal frost build up and the Spike TC pump kicks on maybe every 100 minutes for a 10 minute run. The insulation does seem a little thin but so far I love this conical. Need a few more runs with it obviously. I can see 5 gallon batches being a little iffy on the temp sensor being almost at the top but you can just move it to where the sampling port normally is. Leaving it like this for a bit. Next post will cover how it cold crashes. Will probably just rack it to a keg to lager in my fridge after that and move it into the garage and see how it works there.

 

[Elky]

This is awesome! I'm planning on running kegerator lines from my basement up to the kitchen down the line and I've been toying with ideas for keeping the lines cool. This looks like it will fit the bill really nicely for that.

 

[pvpeacock]

Why did you have to rotate the condenser?

 

[mcgimpkins]

So I don't have any experience with glycol chillers. Could you put a submersible pump in the bottom of the freezer and hook it up a temp controller to it and use it to recirculate your glycol? Would there be problems with this approach?

 

[Blazinlow86]

So I don't have any experience with glycol chillers. Could you put a submersible pump in the bottom of the freezer and hook it up a temp controller to it and use it to recirculate your glycol? Would there be problems with this approach?

It would work just like any other chiller. Not sure if the actual freezer has the BTU to cool sufficiently however. Fyi the cf 5/10/15 all easily fit in a stand up chest freezer commonly sold for 100$ or less.... Only mentioning it as it seems as soon as anyone buys a conical they immediately start looking at glycol which of course is a much more expensive and complicated way to cool 10-30 six packs of beer with the same end result. Cheers

 

[augiedoggy]

Why did you have to rotate the condenser?

once you turn a condenser/compressor setup on its side the lubricant flows out from where it needs to be and it will burn up. this is why you see so many ac units at the curb every spring depending on where you live.
Many people store the ac units on thier side and pull them out and plug them in only to find they dont work or dont work for long because they did not let them sit upright for 12hrs before plugging them in.
This is also why fridge directions say to leave a fridge sit upright for 12-24hrs before plugging in after moving if its tipped.

 

[augiedoggy]

Thank you!
That frost will mix in with the glycol, won't it?

Would it help putting more insulation around the conical's neoprene jacket, and over the lid? It looks kinda thin.

no, its no different than the copper cooling coils of a real chiller frosting up..

I dont think this would work quite as effectively as an actual chiller but im sure it will work well for what its been made for. chillers have a lot of bare cooling coil directly submerged into the liquid, this does not have quite as much transfer contact so it will react a bit slower. Again its still plenty for a smaller load like a single fermenter I would thing but its just a guess too..
I just bought a second micromatic line chiller with new pump for $225 at an auction 2 weeks ago... I recommend checking those out too if people are looking.

 

[adman]

Awesome idea. Very interested to see if it works for crash cooling.

 

[Murphys_Law]

Wow this is a brilliant idea! Rotating the compressor to convert it to a top-door is genius! I wouldn't have guessed that the interior was already watertight and suitable as a reservoir right out of the box. Any concern about liquid weight or age or anything causing it to crack and leak? This setup seems would beat the pants off a converted window unit in terms of noise level. Even if it can only handle one conical, adding multiple units @ $129 each is still a bargain.

If cracking was a concern I wonder if you could line it with the liner they use for ponds or would that diminish the cooling capacity?

Either way...great idea OP! I may have to spend a few more dollars on brew gear!

And this is why I will never save money on home brew!! [emoji1]

 

[wyowolf]

Hmmm will have to either try this or the AC unit to chill the Blichmann cooling coil i plan to use with it... some silly Q... what about the glycol? and how much does it take appx?

thank you!

 

[Brewfreedom]

Hmmm will have to either try this or the AC unit to chill the Blichmann cooling coil i plan to use with it... some silly Q... what about the glycol? and how much does it take appx?

thank you!

Did 1 gallon glycol 3 gallons R/O water.

 

[wyowolf]

Did 1 gallon glycol 3 gallons R/O water.

How long will it be good? or does it go bad? the glycol i mean..

 

[SanPancho]

Should be one glycol to two water for typical cold crash temps.

Im curious to see how it crashes. The guy who did this awhile ago said it was a bit underpowered for crashing. Although i dont recall his sizes of freezer, fermenters, etc.

 

[Brewfreedom]

Attempting a cold crash now. At the freezer's max setting Im able to get a 5 gallon batch in the CF10 down to 36f. It seems to be stuck around that temp range not getting any lower and the pump is running pretty much constantly. I've found that when trying to take it down I need to pause at a temp and give the freezer time to cool the glycol before attempting the next temp drops. Going to try for 33 just for kicks. This is definitely not going to replace a real glycol chiller but so far has been an excellent alternative to a cooler and ice water bath and its quiet. Will be testing to see how it performs in a hot summer garage after I rack this. Another factor w this is that with a 5 gallon batch in the CF10 after a few samples and dumping some trub the wort level barely reaches the temp sensor probe. Probably a good idea to do closer to 6 gallons in the cf10 or forgo sampling with small batches and move the temp probe to where the sample port is.

 

[jturman35]

I’m looking to use this same concept, but I bought the CF5. Seems like it would work more efficient with a smaller batch.

 

[Brewfreedom]

Did a 10 gallon hefe recipe into the CF10 this weekend. Moved everything into the garage where temps hover in the high 80s. Had no issues so far keeping temps steady at 66. Cranking it up to 70 and will see how it does with the higher ambient temps and cashing a full 10 gallon batch. I reduced the amount of water in there so the glycol is now one gallon of glycol for 2 gallons of water. With 3 gallons it was icing up quickly if the pump in the CF10 was not turned on. This might have helped get me to crashing temps quicker but then couldn't cool down the liquid fast enough because its not immersed directly in the coils and relying on ambient temps of the freezer. So for replacing a real chiller this is fail unless I figure a way to get the coils and liquid connected. But for temp control can't beat this for the price.

 

[shoo]

This is absolutely brilliant, and I may have to copy your idea. Price watches on similar freezers, go!

Edit: Oh man, $62 shipped from Japan is very, very tempting right now. . .

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Portable-U...675407?hash=item520ebe5ecf:g:vWkAAOSwWo5bjLlj

 

[shoo]

Eh, screw it, I did it. Freezer's gonna be here in a few weeks.

One thing that may help with cooling the liquid down faster is getting the glycol solution in motion with a cheap circulation pump which triggers whenever the compressor turns on. Shouldn't be too hard to wire.

Part of me wonders if the best way to go is to totally take the walls of the freezer apart and try to get the cooling coils directly in the solution somehow. Will consider it when it arrives.

 

[Nubble]

Curious what you're using for a pump. Are you using a submersible pump inside the freezer? Do you have to worry about the below freezing operating environment for the pump? Also what are you using for the lines to your fermenter?

Cheers and thanks for the write-up. I'll be doing something very similar to this until I can afford a chiller.

 

[Bobby_M]

Why did you have to rotate the condenser?

Not the condenser, the compressor. They will burn up if laid on their side or upside down because all the cooling oil will run out.

 

[Bobby_M]

One conical in an air conditioned space is borderline. Once you have hot ambient temps or add a second conical, refrigerators and freezers just don't have the BTU capacity to compete with a 5Kbtu air conditioner compressors.

 

[Brewfreedom]

One conical in an air conditioned space is borderline. Once you have hot ambient temps or add a second conical, refrigerators and freezers just don't have the BTU capacity to compete with a 5Kbtu air conditioner compressors.

Its in a hot garage now doing fine with a 10 gallon batch in a conical. It is however working hard and I don't see this thing cold crashing or dropping me below the low/mid 40s in that environment. Definitely can't compete with a real chiller or an ac mod running the coils in the glycol in a non air conditioned space.

 

[Brewfreedom]

Curious what you're using for a pump. Are you using a submersible pump inside the freezer? Do you have to worry about the below freezing operating environment for the pump? Also what are you using for the lines to your fermenter?

Cheers and thanks for the write-up. I'll be doing something very similar to this until I can afford a chiller.

The one that comes with the spike CF10 temp control unit. Its submerged in the glycol.

 

[adman]

Eh, screw it, I did it. Freezer's gonna be here in a few weeks.

One thing that may help with cooling the liquid down faster is getting the glycol solution in motion with a cheap circulation pump which triggers whenever the compressor turns on. Shouldn't be too hard to wire.

Part of me wonders if the best way to go is to totally take the walls of the freezer apart and try to get the cooling coils directly in the solution somehow. Will consider it when it arrives.

@shoo, did your freezer arrive from Japan yet? I'm considering purchasing one from ebay as well; certainly can't beat the price.

-Adam

 

[shoo]

@shoo, did your freezer arrive from Japan yet? I'm considering purchasing one from ebay as well; certainly can't beat the price.

It looks like the seller was fake, or backed out, or something. Never accepted payment, never shipped freezer. Probably was a scam, but I never got charged, so no real loss.

 

[Nubble]

Well you fared better than I did. I purchased it 3 weeks ago and my PayPal was charged but have not heard a peep from the seller. Guess it's time to file a claim with eBay.

 

[shoo]

Well you fared better than I did. I purchased it 3 weeks ago and my PayPal was charged but have not heard a peep from the seller. Guess it's time to file a claim with eBay.

Lame. Good news is PayPal heavily favors the purchaser in situations like this, so you'll almost certainly get your money back without too much effort.

 

[shoo]

Still working on this. What did y'all use for bulkheads through the freezer door?

 

[adman]

Still working on this. What did y'all use for bulkheads through the freezer door?

Curious to know this as well. I think I'm going to give this a try for fermenting in a keg using this Cool Zone jacket.

 

[Nubble]

Still working on this. What did y'all use for bulkheads through the freezer door?

I haven't procured a freezer yet but I was planning on using something like this weldless shank for going through the freezer door. Would just need to add some barb connectors on each end for the tubing. I used some thing very similar for a jockeybox build.

https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/vb2.htm