Unboxing the Penguin Chiller

[rayr87]

I did a test when I first got mine with just water and the coldest I could get the fermenter was 36F with the glycol at 26F. It wasn't because the chiller couldn't handle it, but because there was ice forming on the coils inside the fermenter and reducing the heat transfer. Probably be able to get colder with beer than just water with the lower freezing temperature.
That being said I don't know if your gaining anything by trying to crash at 32F than at 36F.

 

[Resto3]

Wondering if anyone has had any luck getting their beer to 32 degrees F and holding there for a day or two to cold crash. Thanks!

I’ve had a beer in my 14 gal Unitank and the Penguin Chiller is keeping the beer at 35 degrees for a week now. No issues at all.

 

[PenguinChillers]

@ Resto3 please send an email to [email protected] and we can get you squared away with correct controller documentation, etc. My apologizes if you didn't get the right paperwork with the chiller.

To all: As for glycol set temp; 28F is typical, but that might be borderline too cold. We've had customers experience stalls during the cold crash at around 40F. In every case so far what we have found is the customer trying to use too cold of glycol, for example 24F. The batch is freezing to the cooling coils, the ice is acting as an insulator preventing the batch from properly cooling. The solution is to use slightly warmer glycol around 28F-30F

 

[emr25]

@Dockside_Brewing how far are your glycol line runs from the chiller mounted on that microwave shelf?

Any issue with the SS Brewtech pumps being powerful enough when the chiller is positioned well above the fermentors?

 

[Dockside_Brewing]

I use about 6 feet on one and about 8 on the other tank. I put them in a foam pipe sleeve and use the valved two line connectors from US plastics. That avoids any siphoning when disconnected. The pumps have no issues being mounted above the unitanks.

 

[Gameface]

Makes me wonder... Is a glycol chiller a pretty good way to perform ice distillation?

 

[Gameface]

@ Resto3 please send an email to [email protected] and we can get you squared away with correct controller documentation, etc. My apologizes if you didn't get the right paperwork with the chiller.

To all: As for glycol set temp; 28F is typical, but that might be borderline too cold. We've had customers experience stalls during the cold crash at around 40F. In every case so far what we have found is the customer trying to use too cold of glycol, for example 24F. The batch is freezing to the cooling coils, the ice is acting as an insulator preventing the batch from properly cooling. The solution is to use slightly warmer glycol around 28F-30F

 

[tootal]

I was glad to find this thread as I just received my chiller from Penguin. I bought their kit which included a small pump, temp controller, hose, fittings and a gallon of glycol. We have a morebeer 14 gallon conical so we also got the Blichman tall coil that we'll mount in the lid. Looking forward to getting it all hooked up and in use. Thanks again for all the info, makes me feel better about our purchase!

 

[Gameface]

I was glad to find this thread as I just received my chiller from Penguin. I bought their kit which included a small pump, temp controller, hose, fittings and a gallon of glycol. We have a morebeer 14 gallon conical so we also got the Blichman tall coil that we'll mount in the lid. Looking forward to getting it all hooked up and in use. Thanks again for all the info, makes me feel better about our purchase!

I've got mine running now, since the weekend, so about 4 days in. Happy with the purchase so far.

 

[speavler]

I had an issue with trying to maintain a 65 degree fermentation temperature with my penguin chiller. the temp in the fermenter kept dropping well after the pump shut off, by another 2 degrees or so. so my overall variation was something like 4 degrees. adjusting the glycol temp from 28 all the way up to 52 degrees solved this issue. then to cold crash, i drop the glycol temp back down to 28. more fiddling, but fermentation temps are more stable.

 

[Dockside_Brewing]

What controller system are you utilizing?

 

[speavler]

Ss Brewtech ftss

 

[Dockside_Brewing]

You might need to change your Hysteresis Setting. The controller is the problem, not the chiller. What size tank and what size batch are you trying to cool?

 

[Gameface]

I'm about a week into fermentation. I'm using 1728 Scottish Ale yeast and I like to use that yeast on the cold side. I've been at 55F and have not deviated more than 1/2 a degree. I am concerned because the Penguin reservoir seems to be fluctuating more than I'd like. I've seen it dip down to 23F when the setting is at 28F

 

[Dockside_Brewing]

That could be the hysteresis on the chiller or the placement of the temp probe in the glycol bath. If you call Eric at penguin he can walk you through setting the hysteresis. Mine hits the set temp and shuts off and the temp usually drops about one degree colder than the set point.

 

[Vale71]

You might need to change your Hysteresis Setting. The controller is the problem, not the chiller. What size tank and what size batch are you trying to cool?

That wont' help him fix is problem. I believe the FTSS controller will behave like most controllers and just shut off the pump as soon as target temp is reached, the hysteresis value only determines how much the temperature is allowed to rise before the pump gets turned on again.
What's causing the undershoot in temperature is actually the amount of chilled glycol remaining in the cooling coil as the pump is turned off upon reaching target temp. This will keep chilling the beer until temps are equalized anf if the glycol is set at a very low temp the amount of the undershoot can be quite large, especially if the fermenter is filled only partially (less beer to cool, same amount of glycol trapped in the coil). The only way to fix it is to set the chiller at a temperature that is not too low, the pump will run a little longer but the undershoot will be minimized. You'll then have to adjust the chiller temp once you start cooling below fermentation temp.

 

[speavler]

I believe the hysteresis on the ftss controller is at the factory default of 1 but I’ll double check that. I think a lower value will just kick in the heating cycle quicker though, which isn’t ideal. These are 7 gallon fermenters with 6 gallon batches.
Conceptually, wouldn’t I want to be able to keep the glycol bath at a higher temp if I’m still able to cool the wort? Seems like it would be less shocking to the yeast as well as less issue with undershooting the temp. The chiller itself is so efficient - I’ve had no problems cooling wort from 85 degrees down to pitching temp with a glycol bath temp in the 50’s.

 

[sensei247]

I believe the hysteresis on the ftss controller is at the factory default of 1 but I’ll double check that. I think a lower value will just kick in the heating cycle quicker though, which isn’t ideal. These are 7 gallon fermenters with 6 gallon batches.
Conceptually, wouldn’t I want to be able to keep the glycol bath at a higher temp if I’m still able to cool the wort? Seems like it would be less shocking to the yeast as well as less issue with undershooting the temp. The chiller itself is so efficient - I’ve had no problems cooling wort from 85 degrees down to pitching temp with a glycol bath temp in the 50’s.

quick question- how long does it take to drop from 85-50 prior to pitching?