Uber chiller???

[pickles]

Hi there! This is my first post and have found all the info to be invaluable. I decided to become a premium member yesterday . I thought you all might find this interesting. My buddy and I were messing around with some junk I had laying around the shop and found this gem. Its a condensing coil from an old dehumidifier (we recycled the refrigerant of course). It has aluminum fins wrapped around a copper tube. I ran it through through the sani cycle in the dishwasher when SWMBO was at work. I haven't tested it yet; what do you think she can do?

 

[pdxhophead]

Are you planning to try it as an IC? I'd be willing to bet it will work pretty well. I'd boil it in some water first to get a passive oxide layer on it. I'd maybe put it in the brew pot a little longer than you would a normal IC just to make sure all the stuff hiding in the nooks and crannies gets killed. Or at the very least you could use it as a pre-chiller.

 

[Judd]

Are you planning to try it as an IC? I'd be willing to bet it will work pretty well. I'd boil it in some water first to get a passive oxide layer on it. I'd maybe put it in the brew pot a little longer than you would a normal IC just to make sure all the stuff hiding in the nooks and crannies gets killed. Or at the very least you could use it as a pre-chiller.

+1. Maybe even boil it in water and vinegar. Aluminum can be dangerous, because it's not as strong as copper and steel. You wouldn't want it to get pitted.

 

[landhoney]

I'm no expert, but my first impression was that because of it relative small size you're going to wannt to move/stir the wort around so that more of the beer comes in contact with the chiller. I do this anyway with my large(50ft) chiller and it helps a lot, I think doubly so with a smaller one. May be extremely obvious, just throwing it out there.

 

[brett]

I say give 'er a try!

Lot's of surface area on those fins baby!

 

[solidghost]

Wow, just check out the surface area of that one! Probably good to be a fast chiller! But as mentioned, biggest worry would probably be bacteria hiding in them.

 

[pickles]

yeah I planned on cleaning it more thouroughly. Thought it would be fun to time it to see if it cools much faster than a conventional IC.

 

[pdxhophead]

yeah I planned on cleaning it more thouroughly. Thought it would be fun to time it to see if it cools much faster than a conventional IC.

Let us know how it works out. If you have some success with it maybe I'll have to start looking on Craigslist for cheap dehumidifiers

 

[67coupe390]

Yes, I have one too that the SWMBO wants gone. Test it and let us know!!!!

 

[conpewter]

You could also use this by running the wort through the copper tube on it's way to the fermenter.

Put the whole thing in a 5 gallon bucket with ice and water, replace the ice as necessary.

 

[Bobby_M]

My concern would be any wort that makes it between the copper and aluminum fins. This thing wasn't exactly designed to be submerged in liquid. You know how sticky and nasty it could get. I wonder if the aluminum jacket is completely sealed on its own, such that if you get the ends to stick out of the wort, that nothing would get in there. Personally I think it would be killer as a HERMS coil or a post chiller as described above, but IC, maybe not so much.

 

[the_bird]

What about....

Run the hot wort through the copper tubing. Immerse the whole thing in a bucket of ice water. The heat from the wort gets dispersed through the AL fins into the cold water. Run a hose with cold water into the bucket so that you've constantly got a refreshed source of cold water. Basically, use it as a CFC using a bucket of water instead of a hose. No wort on the outside to get stuck in the fins.

EDIT: Conpewter beat me to it...

 

[pickles]

the aluminum fin is a long continuous piece that is wound around the the copper tube. I "unraveled" it inorder to put the hose on. So no it is not a sealed jacket. maybe its better suited as a prechiller. I don't know that I want to run wort through it since it had freon in it.

 

[pickles]

i have used this as a pre-chiller for my IC it works great.