Plate chiller question

[Maritimer]

I'm looking at getting a plate chiller, there seems to be 2 factors number of plates and length, I know, more plates = more flow and longer = more efficient.
The chiller I'm looking at is a shorter 20 plate version, it's the most affordable.
(http://www.ebay.ca/itm/20-Plate-Wort-Ch ... 128wt_1163" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)
Has anyone used a similar chiller? is it adequate? I'll be going gravity feed until I get a pump.
Thanks.

[mr x]

I sold my plate chiller. It was plugging on the pellets on big beers.
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[Maritimer]

what are you using? counterflow?

[mr x]

Chillzilla. Not nearly as efficient, but never plugs on me.
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[chalmers]

I sold my plate chiller. It was plugging on the pellets on big beers.
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We were the suckers that bought it. Pretty efficient, but we use a hop spider to keep everything we can out of the boil. It took us over 30min to chill on Monday evening because the damn groundwater temp was at 71F. Strangely warm...

You will need a lot of head pressure to keep it flowing if you do not use a pump, I'm thinking kettle on a stand, plate chiller on the deck floor, then fermentor on the ground several steps below. Even a small pump will help your cause.

[sleepyjamie]

I always use a hop bag when doing leaf or ipa.


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[Tim Gregory]

I've been having the same trouble with warm groundwater in my immersion chiller. I can get it down to around 25C, but after that it takes forever, so I've been putting the carboy into a bucket of ice water and then racking from the kettle into the carboy. It seems to get it down the rest of the way fairly quickly.

[Jayme]

I'm building a whirlpool immersion chiller to help things go a little faster - we had the same problem last brew. Though, with what I'm doing you need a pump.

[jeffsmith]

I'm building a whirlpool immersion chiller to help things go a little faster - we had the same problem last brew. Though, with what I'm doing you need a pump.

Using a similar setup here. Has shaved 10 to 15 minutes off my cooling time.

[LeafMan66_67]

I made this one on the weekend http://www.thegatesofdawn.ca/wordpress/ ... t_chiller/

Test run with gravity feed only was 12 minutes for 21L, 212 degrees in, 76 degrees out. Used gravity feed, 6" drop from ball valve to top of chiller, 36" drop from bottom of chiller to carboy.

[Maritimer]

Thanks for the input. I'm going to go with a homemade counterflow, I Contacted my friend who is a pipe fitter (with a basement full of supplies), going to go 3/8" copper inside and 3/4" pex outer jacket (simple because he has a lot of pex). I'll let you know how it works out.

[Maritimer]

update,
I ended up going with a high temp rubber hose as my outer coil to make a more compact unit. Did a full volume (5 Gallon) test run of my setup on the weekend with an extract kit from NG.
It took about 20 minutes to drain my kettle through the chiller by gravity, I estimate the wort went from boiling to pitching temps in about 1-2 minutes. I had to actually throttle back my cooling water flow to avoid over cooling the wort. All my hop additions were tossed directly into the boil and drained through the chiller with no issue. All in all I am pleased with the performance.

hope the image works.