copper to FV heat exchanger

[gaztronome]

Am I right in thinking that this will be OK for use as the heat exchanger from kettle to FV :hmm:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....63651&_sacat=See-All-Categories&_fvi=1&_rdc=1

 

[tubby_shaw]

Yep that'll make a good wort chiller :thumb:
It's also a very good price for a PHE

 

[jamesb]

Doesn't have many plates though, although I have no idea how much that reduces the effectiveness.

 

[gaztronome]

Thanks TS :thumb: thought it would do the trick and I didnt think the price was too bad :clap:.

Looking at their other items they have a range of plate sizes, but i'll stick with this.

At £37 inc p&p it suits my shallow pockets at the moment so I will order one, probably means i will have to play around with flow rates :!: .

 

[Aleman]

I have a 16 plate one that I was less than impressed with . . . . at the flow rates I was able to achieve I could only get a minimum of 35C out of it . . . . If I could have reduced the flow further then I would perhaps have got better results . . . but at the expense of longer cooling times . . . Which negates the point of using a PHE compared to an immersion chiller. . . . SO I went back to an Immersion chiller.

However I do have one of their 60 plate models that I hope to be using sometime soon, plus the pump I have can deal with slower flow rates much better than my RG550.

 

[robsan77]

do you think this could be incorporated with a gravity system or would it have to be pumped?

 

[Aleman]

Gravity is more than fine flow through these is pretty rapid, so you generally have to slow it down to get an appropriate wort exit temperature

 

[gaztronome]

Aleman I cant really afford to get the big jobbie :sick: and you say your 16 plate struggled to get the temperature down so do you think the 30 plate jobbie would be a better investment

 

[unclepumble]

30 plate would be much better than a 10 plate, exchanger.

The more plates you have the bigger the cooling/heating surface area, the more plates you have, the more effective the exchanger is.

Also you want the two liquids, wort and cooling water to flow through the exchanger in the opposite direction to maximise contact time, as I assume you will be using tap water to cool.


Shane

 

[Aleman]

Wot Shane said! :lol:

 

[jamesb]

To a point anyway. I remember Vossy saying something that Sonex or UK Exchangers said to him that after a certain point, you can add all the plates you want and it won't make any difference.

 

[evanvine]

It would seem that not many use a CFC made from copper pipe and garden hose.
Is there a reason for this? (genuine interest)

 

[jamesb]

It would seem that not many use a CFC made from copper pipe and garden hose.
Is there a reason for this? (genuine interest)

I don't because I have issues in the sanitising of it. I realise there are ways to do it, but it doesn't fit in with my setup.

 

[Vossy1]

It would seem that not many use a CFC made from copper pipe and garden hose.
Is there a reason for this? (genuine interest)

I used one for 3 years, only changed over to a GPHE in December.

I remember Vossy saying something that Sonex or UK Exchangers said to him that after a certain point, you can add all the plates you want and it won't make any difference.

IIRC, it had something to do with the coolant/product temperature differential, and the fact we use tap water, not a dedicated known cold coolant supply. They also said the larger (size not number of plates) the PHE was, the more efficient it would be, for our use. It was also more cost effective to use fewer large plates, than more small plates. I was quite surpised as I had expected more plates to be better.

 

[tubby_shaw]

I don't us a cfc because I don't want too much break material in my FV. (although it is "my belief" that some break material in the fv is beneficial to the yeast)
As I don't have a lot of room to brew in I don't want the hassle of an intermediate vessel to settle the trub out in.
If I was lucky enough to be fermenting in a conical it'd be a different story.

 

[evanvine]

Re use or not of CFC's
Thank you gentlemen, that was exactly the sort of information I was looking for! (very happy)

 

[Aleman]

I have a 20m CFC in my brew shed (10mm Copper tube in 3/4 Hose), and an
8m CFC in my scrap pile (8mm copper tube in 1/2 hose) and
10m of 6mm copper tube and 10m of 13mm PVC hose ready to convert into a Dual coil split coolant feed CFC.

I've never had much success with them, again because I suspect that my RG550 Hot wort pump was just too powerful, and uncontrollable in the configuration I had it in for it to be a success. . . . . Now I have the MM809 I will be trying again .. . with the split feed 6mm one.

Actually Vossy I would expect fewer, larger plates to be more effective in our situation. . .. I wish Wiltec had had there High performance models available last year as the plates are much bigger . . . and would therefore be more effective . . . but at a cost. . . . I will also be looking at using my small PHE for a final cooling dropping into the conical using the python loop on the chiller as coolant . . . .

I know Wibblers have a Cold Liquor tank held at 8C that they use for wort chilling through their GPHE . . . hot water going into the HLT ready for the following mash. It is important to them as they have a guaranteed source of coolant water at a known temperature.