Post Cfc Chiller

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GSRman

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Hey there,

My home made CFC will get the wort down pretty close to tap temp, but thats pretty warm here in summer, i'd like to get it lower, so after it comes out of the chiller im thinking of a post-CFC chiller just to cool it a bit more..

my basic idea was to get a bucket and run a copper coil in it, with a hole in the bottom for the outlet of the coil, fill it with water and chuck it in the deep freeze, but im worried the expanding ice will split the bucket at the hole, so i was thinking i could fill the bucket with coolant so it wont freeze, but im worried i might freeze the wort when it runs through if it slows down at all?

anyone tried this? seen anyone elses designs or anything?
 
GSRman said:
anyone tried this? seen anyone elses designs or anything?
Next brew I am going to try placing my CFC directly onto an ice bucket.
Anyone tried this?
 
I don't think you'll split the bucket as long as the top is open and you use a good bucket. One of those 10L white buckets from bunnings would be quite strong I would imagine. All expansion should go up shouldn't it. I guess if the top layer freezes first then that will then cause the underlying freezing water to expand sideways. only one way to find out ;)

Also, this means that you are going to have to sanitise your coil before you freeze it (hmmm-I don't like this but up to you). Another problem may be that you'll get a boundary layer effect in your frozen ice block around the outside of the copper tube. If you've ever chilled using ice water then you'll know that this boundary layer has a substantial effect and forms very quickly-hence you need to keep stirring to keep it chilling. In your ice block you wont be able to stir. I'm guessing actual ice blocks and some water would be better. Why not freeze a bucket or two then when you need the ice you could then smash them into bits with a hammer.

Only ideas. Cheers, Justin
 
GSR Man,
If you want to heat one gram of water 10C (ie cool one gram of wort 10C) you will use 10 calories. If you want to melt one gram of ice, you will use 80 calories, so if your coil is in crushed ice, it will be far more efficient.
Scarboro sceme water is already over 24C and I'm starting to panic so I will be forced to do something like you. My trouble is that mine is a gravity system and I have no more drop left for another coil.
 
justin: im just worried because the weak spot will be the hole where the coil exits...


:( i am also running out of height, but i think i should be able to manage this..

I am aware that i will get a layer of water around the coil, but if i run some boiling water or something else through it it will melt around it, and that should stop freezing...

I have just had another thought...

Instead of having the hole in the bucket, and freezing it, what about if i make my coil to fit the bucket nicely, and fill the bucket with coolant, that way if i freeze the wort or simular i should be able to remove it from the bucket and de-frost the frozen spot... and regulate the temp by how much of the coil is in the coolant...

Hmm.. alrightly im going to make one :) - will report :)
 
I'd be pretty confident that your wort wouldn't freeze in the coil as there is too much wort coming though at once and it's quite warm already. If it trickled slowly or stopped then perhaps it may freeze but I'd bet it wouldn't.

I'm more concerned that the boundary layer that forms around the coil will warm up considerably, lowering your cooling efficiency. When using a prechiller, if you don't stir it you will get nearly zero cooling out of it very quickly as the boundary layer warms up. Trust me on this one. I've seen water go into a prechiller at 18C and come out at 6-7C, yet with out stirring for a minute I've seen it going in at 18C and coming out at near 18C too, stir and it chills right down again.

Anyway, good luck with your experiment. I'd try with boiling water for a first go before commiting a batch to it.

Cheers, Justin
 
justin: after saturdays brew, i wouldn't be at all worried... :) had a hop blockage issue... had to backflush, started out with too much wort, was supposed to end up with 22L of 1039 @20dec ended up with 19L 1030 @30deg its was tops..



oh and my elsmacko packo didn't puffo...
 
Before moving to a CCFC , I used this....

Believe me the tap water that would win Australia's hottest comes out of my taps !

I added lots of crushed ice that I smashed up out of block I made , this give nice big chucks that don't melt too quickly.
I then filled the esky with water , too this add a bit of metho.
I would throw in ice if needed , it was stacked up so as it melted the water just runs over the esky sides.
Works very well

Batz
 
nice :) very nice :)

im thinking my coolant will be the go...
 
Batz is spot on.
Put a bit of metho in the water, you wont believe how cold it gets!! :eek:
Cheers
 
My Mrs thinks i need an excuse to make stuff.. PFFT... this is important bits :)

DSC00542.JPG
 
Have been trhinking or the same thing.

Amazing how everyone needs more cooling coming into summer.

Tap water already at 26 deg c here :angry:

couldnt get my brew on the weekend below 28 :eek:

Am building a new boiler at the moment with a 15 meter long 1/2" imersion chiller permenantly fitter inside with brass hose fittings attached on the outside so i can quickly atach the hose to the chiller and another hose to fill my pool while i chill the brew.

Kill 2 birds with one stone, i need to do both anyway

was thinking i might use the current imersion chiller i have, a 18 meter length of 3/8 copper coiler that hangs in the brew to cool it.
I was thinking od sitting it in an esky, filling it with a $2 bag of ice from the servo down the road and topping up with water.

Then running pre cooled water through the chiller to cool faster.

The metho would worl well. I currently mix some metho with water to pour on wet towl aroud an ale in the garage.

It keeps it at a happy 20 deg in 40 deg heat.
 
hey batz
how does a ccfc cool the already hot northern water from the tap better than the pre iced chiller.im same as you with near absurd tap temps so am curious how this now works better than before or do you still pre chill.?

cheers
big d
 
I past the water through an old water chiller (drinking fountian) first , in the really stinking hot I may still need the pre-chiller first before the water chiller
 
thanxs batz.i thought it was still limited by tap temp.the price you pay i guess for having a year round warm temp. ;) B)

cheers
big d
 
batz: thats tops... i guess i should have thought a bit harder... i actually have the innards of a water chiller in my garage...its pretty tiny though...
 
:) tried out the chiller and complete setup yesterday, i hit my gravity, i even hit the output volume i wanted... running the wort through flat out, i collected the 19L in about 15 mins, at ~19deg..
 

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