Therminator money pit

[IslandLizard]

I don't recirculate wort in mine. I use StarSan. Haven't figured an effective way to drain it all before chilling, but usually run off a couple seconds of pure wort before directing into the fermenter.

I use QD fittings. I suppose camlocks are more sanitary. I haven't entirely committed to TC fittings, but have them on a handful of things.

So I think I'm going to bake my therminator and then use the new quarter horse pump.

TD

First I flush the chiller and pump with water, which I blow out, then connect to the kettle valve. 10 minutes before FO I start recirculating, making sure I get back to a boil. When it's time to chill, I turn on the cooling water. If I want to do hop stands I just turn off the water, add hops or spices and keep recirculating.

I would not bake it until the water comes out clear. Baking could create Cu oxides or other caked-on Cu salts, that will be harder to dissolve later.

TC is best since there are no threads but is $$$. Everything is 100% sanitizable. It does have "barbed" or bulged ends to connect to hoses, though. Camlocks are fast and simple, but still have exposed threads. So do NPT valves etc.

 

[corax]

Is baking really a good idea? Seems that would just dry and harden any remaining crud to the point where it would never come out.

I don't know about other plate chillers, but a Therminator easily fits into most brew kettles. Boiling it for a half hour or so would not only kill anything that might be living inside, but would also have a better chance of loosening accumulated crud, making it easier to flush out.

 

[TrickyDick]

Hmm... Interesting. Maybe I'll boil first.

TD

 

[mjohnson]

I've heard of people using the blichman hoprocket filled with rice hulls (or hops) as an inline fliter. If you're stuck spending money, perhaps consider it. At least you'd be spending money that can be used for more than one thing.

 

[TrickyDick]

I've heard of people using the blichman hoprocket filled with rice hulls (or hops) as an inline fliter. If you're stuck spending money, perhaps consider it. At least you'd be spending money that can be used for more than one thing.

Been there, done that. I think my problem dates back a few years... Long story, but it ended with a brew day, and several beers during brew day with a few friends who stopped by and wanted to drink. I think the therminator "may" have been rinsed with garden hose, but am not entirely sure. Over a year passed before I had opportunity to brew again. Then the problems began.

I have the brewers hardware trub filter, which is really great. Invested in a stainless brewing hop spider, and trying to figure out how to conduct a whirlpool, which in conjunction with the trub filter should put me at ease for using the therminator, if I can get it back to working properly. I think I need some outlet restriction on the therminator to ensure full wort contact with the plates. My ground water isn't cold enough to hit pitching temps, so I use an ice bath. And run that through. Problem is, my ice maker reservoir only holds so much ice and I often run out of ice before it's fully chilled. I do not want to recirculate the wort through the therminator. I think if I planned ahead and pulled a bucket of ice the day before and put into the freezer, I would have enough ice to do the job.

TD

 

[TrickyDick]

OK, so Next time I brew, gonna try the therminator again.

I soaked a few days in concentrated PBW solution 4oz to 1 gal approx after I ran the solution through it both ways for several hours each way. Initially solution was hot. 150 ish

Then I boiled in water for about 90 minutes.
Then I drained and baked in a 550 degree oven for a couple hours.
Then I ran HOT PBW concentrated solution through with a 1/4 hp pump for an hour or so in each direction.
Then I rinsed.

If that doesn't clear it out, I don't know what will....

Got the SB spider, its huge. about 1-1/5 inches between bottom of kettle and the bottom of the spider. I think I need to trim it back a few inches. I might consider recirculating the wort through the spider to clear the break material, then run off through the brewers hardware trub filter (I had been runnning through in wrong direction last time btw), then through the therminator. Depending on style, I could also pump through the hop rocket, but next brew is a KBS clone attempt, so no need to do that.

Anyhow. I'll let y'all know. I never did see a whole ton of crud coming out. a few flakes and sediment, and the auqumarine colored water after the initial pbw pump/soak routine...

This will possibly be my last brew for the year. Need to break down the fittings on everything and give those a good cleaning on New Years Day.

TD

 

[mpcluever]

I have a plate chiller, but it was almost a necessity for the 20 gallon batches I do. Anything less than that and I do not recommend getting a plate chiller. WAY more expensive that what's actually necessary and way more work to keep it clean.

 

[eastoak]

I have a plate chiller, but it was almost a necessity for the 20 gallon batches I do. Anything less than that and I do not recommend getting a plate chiller. WAY more expensive that what's actually necessary and way more work to keep it clean.

this is absolutely true....for you. plate chillers are widely used by thousands of home brewers for all batch sizes. as far as them being more expensive than their utility, so are many other brewing hardware, anything by blichmann for example. a keggle is cheaper than a boilermaker and does exactly the same thing, a top tier stand does the same thing as a home built gravity stand, and so on. in my case i went to a plate chiller because i thought it would simplify my brew day and it does. someone else using an immersion chiller may think they have the simplest system and they do, for them.

 

[hard2say]

Great thread. Thanks for all the info on this topic!