Shirron Plate Chiller

[sintax69]

Has any one used one of these plate chillers before, which I found on b3 today for $90 the price is right alot cheaper than the $180 terminator but made in china i see



http://www.morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=6242

 

[Justin]

Aparently nearly all/alot of, plate chillers are made in china. IMO that doesn't necessarily mean it's poor quality. No doubt the dearer ones are made in China too (eg. Therminator is made in China too from what I've read), it just means the middle man is making even more money off you.

Although I'm a bit sceptical of the plate chillers long term, people seem to be having good success with them. I am tempted to give one a go one day. It's not that big an outlay and you can be pretty sure you'll get a couple of years out of it.

Cool gadget.

Cheers, JD

 

[Wortgames]

I don't think I would buy one.

I've always been a bit uncomfortable with this kind of chiller, as it is essentially a maze of very tiny channels. The potential for clogs must be high, and you would presumably need to flood it with water before use to avoid oxidisation.

The fact that you can't possibly know what is lurking in there after a few uses gives me the heebyjeebies. 3/8" copper tube is one thing, this is very different.

I don't think B3's own blurb inspires much confidence wither:

Cool your wort fast with our new Plate Chiller! Made with 11 stainless steel plates that have been fused together with copper solder, these chillers have small channels weaving their way up and down each plate. This creates more surface area for the wort to travel over, and more time for the water to cool the wort down. The small, compact design allows for any easy intergration into any brewing setup, and takes up less space than any other chiller on the market. Cleaning a plate chiller is a bit more involved than a normal immersion chiller, due to the tiny pockets created by the channels in the plates. These pockets can harbor cold break material, hop remains, or any other solid, and if not removed can cause infection in subsequent batches. The best way to clean is to recirculate a solution of hot water and PBW through the chiller as normal, then backflush the chiller, bringing the PBW through the "Wort Out" side in out through the "Wort In" side. This should remove any particulate that may have gotten trapped by the folds in the plates. Since this type of chiller is relativly new to the homebrewing market, we are unsure just how much solid matter can be trapped in the plates over time, and if a thorough cleaning can break any of the solids free from the corners or not. 12.5" long, 3" wide, and 2" thick. The wort inlet and outlet is 1/2 Inch Male Pipe Thread, and the water in and out is 3/4 Inch Male Garden Hose Thread.

 

[Justin]

I agree with you Wortgames. It would be a gamble plain and simple, I was just guessing if you got 15 brews out of it you could look at it as costing $10 per brew to use. After that it's free . I'm guessing you'd probably get that many brews out of it if you cleaned it properly and filtered the intake properly.

It isn't a huge amount of money IMO but it's well on it's way to a fair amount for a gadget. I guess it depends what else you need in the brewery at the time. I'd never pay the therminator price but I could probably justify the Shirron price for a play.

If they turned out to be contamination/blockage nightmares you wont be able to give one away in 12mths/24mths time.

The cool factor is way high.

Cheers, Justin

 

[johnno]

There is a very long thread here about them.
They cut one up and post the pics.
I have always wanted something like this because its so portable but not so sure now.

http://www.morebeer.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.p...er=asc&start=90

johnno

 

[warrenlw63]

As convenient as they look I wouldn't even consider using one without being able to blast it in both directions with some fairly hefty chemicals. :unsure:

Those little capiliaries look like breeding grounds for crap and blockage.

Warren -

 

[Wortgames]

It wouldn't be so bad if you KNEW when it was getting old and crappy - the trouble is you'll only find out the ugly way, when your last 3 batches have been infected...

:angry:

Bottom line is I don't think I would feel comfortable doing this to my precious, precious wort.

I vaguely remember some of the back-story to this on the HBD, basically they are an industrial item for cooling machine oil etc.

 

[Doc]

Your original link says a lot Wortgames.
I contacted B3 when Blichmann released their plate chiller and asked them why they weren't stocking it. They said they had some concerns with it. Maybe in reality they were building their own.

Doc

 

[Darren]

I have always wondered what my Conv. CFWC would look like inside if I were to cut it open after three years use.

 

[peas_and_corn]

what would be a better wort chiller?

 

[sam]

I'm going to use the plate chiller next week, I'll see how she chills, and hope that backflushing with caustic can get all the crap out. I'll get back to you on performance.

Sam

 

[Darren]

I'm going to use the plate chiller next week, I'll see how she chills, and hope that backflushing with caustic can get all the crap out. I'll get back to you on performance.

Sam

[post="87976"][/post]​

Sam, I think it suggested to flush with acid first then caustic.

darren

 

[devo]

looks flash but I think I'll stick with my trustly emmersion chiller.