plate chillers!!! oh my days!!!!

mrlard
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plate chillers!!! oh my days!!!!

Post by mrlard »

does anyone use one of these?

SWMBO bought me a nice little 20 plate chiller for my birthday :)

anyway long story short i gave it a spin this evening on boiling water. it chilled 20 litres from boiling to 22 degrees in a shade under 7 mins i was absolutely gob smacked!

so now i got to build my hop stopped capable of dealing with 0.25mm size bits to prevent blocks and the HERMS build will be ready for lift off



As a result i have got a nice little counter flow chiller up for grabs to the first person to offer it a decent home. Its made from 8mm copper pipe so does benefit form the push of a pump. failing that tho it will gravity feed in about just over 30mins for a 20 litre brew
Capn Ahab
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Re: plate chillers!!! oh my days!!!!

Post by Capn Ahab »

pm-ed
Eat sh*t or die trying
mrlard
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Re: plate chillers!!! oh my days!!!!

Post by mrlard »

Back at you sir!
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steve crawshaw
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Re: plate chillers!!! oh my days!!!!

Post by steve crawshaw »

I've done a couple of brews with my 50 plate version. Had to tinker around with it to get it working optimally. I found that I had to have a ball valve half open on the wort out side and open the valve fully on the wort in side. Blast cold water through as fast as you can and it really is quite amazing how quickly it cools. It will chill a 20 litre brew using only ~25 litres of cold water - much better than the immersion chiller. I am using a simple perforated copper tube as a hop filter in the boiler and haven't had any blockages yet. I flush the exchanger with warm water immediately after use and autoclave it before use to kill any nasties. I plumbed it using 1/2" and 3/4" bsp brass fittings so they can be autoclaved too. The water in and out hoses are from a washing machine. My chiller was from wiltec.de - excellent service and competitive price (about £70 with shipping). I won't be going back to an immersion chiller.

cheers

steve
I like to keep a bottle of stimulant handy in case I see a snake, which I also keep handy.
mrlard
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Re: plate chillers!!! oh my days!!!!

Post by mrlard »

steve crawshaw wrote:I am using a simple perforated copper tube as a hop filter in the boiler and haven't had any blockages yet.
I would get that sorted asap mate you are pushing your luck I have found 20 upto 35 mesh ideal - I bloked mine when i first got it ended up having to hook to a pressure washer to clear it.

this is my solution

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steve crawshaw wrote: I flush the exchanger with warm water immediately after use and autoclave it before use to kill any nasties. I plumbed it using 1/2" and 3/4" bsp brass fittings so they can be autoclaved too. The water in and out hoses are from a washing machine. My chiller was from w
Thats a good effort i will admit my clean down consists of slinging the whole thing into a bucket of water (and if its luck starsan) until its needed again. I tend to recirc through the whole boil to sterilize tho.

quick disco's and cam locks are the future

Image
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SandyM
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Re: plate chillers!!! oh my days!!!!

Post by SandyM »

Having just had a water bill that was double last years I'm seriously considering one of these. How much cold water do you recon it would take to chill a 40l brew? 50l sound reasonable? I have to run my immersion for neigh on half an hour to get it down to temp (wasn't a problem until we switched to metered water).

Also, got any links for fittings etc? Might ask for one for xmas from the missus.
Burns stuff. And makes beer. Usually not at the same time.
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SandyM
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Re: plate chillers!!! oh my days!!!!

Post by SandyM »

steve crawshaw wrote: My chiller was from wiltec.de - excellent service and competitive price (about £70 with shipping). I won't be going back to an immersion chiller.
Got a direct link for that Steve? My German is non-existent and even with google translate I can't find it.

Does it come with ball valves fitted or did you fit them yourself? Also, how are you pumping the wort through the chiller? Gravity or with a solar pump or similar?
Burns stuff. And makes beer. Usually not at the same time.
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steve crawshaw
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Re: plate chillers!!! oh my days!!!!

Post by steve crawshaw »

SandyM wrote:Got a direct link for that Steve? My German is non-existent and even with google translate I can't find it.

Does it come with ball valves fitted or did you fit them yourself? Also, how are you pumping the wort through the chiller? Gravity or with a solar pump or similar?
https://shop.wiltec.info/index.php/language/EN

B&Q ball valves, gravity feed, 50L H2O for a 23 L brew. You will need some brass fittings from screwfix or similar. I use compression fittings. I recommend the 50 plate version.

Throttle back the exit valve and put the cold feed thru as fast it will go. You can gauge the exit temp by touch on the copper pipe.

cheers
steve
I like to keep a bottle of stimulant handy in case I see a snake, which I also keep handy.
mrlard
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Re: plate chillers!!! oh my days!!!!

Post by mrlard »

These chillers are good - 50 plates is a fair amount what kw is yours Steve?

Interestly I am just having some sample made with 1/2"bsp fittings all around - one knock out 60kw and the other 120kw ;-)
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steve crawshaw
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Re: plate chillers!!! oh my days!!!!

Post by steve crawshaw »

mine rated at 90KW
I like to keep a bottle of stimulant handy in case I see a snake, which I also keep handy.
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