Counterflow chiller - which way up

[Agentgonzo]

The grainfather CFC (and maybe others) say that it should go a particular way up (with the cold tap water coming in at the bottom, and the hot wort coming in at the top).

Why does it matter? The flow rates of water/wort will be far faster than any convection currents. That's about the only thing I could think of that would make any difference

 

[Dutto]

As a general rule, most chillers are either parallel flow or counter flow.

Counter Flow gives the best heat exchanger and (as a general rule) Parallel Flow is only used in specialist operations such as crystallisation.

Enjoy!
:hat:

 

[Agentgonzo]

Maybe I phrased the question badly.

I was meaning the orientation of the whole chiller (ie, red hose at the top or the bottom).

David heath mentions it here at the 2:57 mark, saying basically "make sure you haven't put it on upside down". I'm sure I've seen something similar on instructions somewhere, but can't find it

Why would it matter?

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

make sure you haven't put it on upside down

I don't see how that's possible. The hoses come ready attached and I can't see a way to get them off easily.

As long as you connect your cooling water to the blue hose, it doesn't matter which way up it is. My opinion anyhow lol

 

[MmmBeer]

My suggestion would be for safety reasons. If you stop the pump and disconnect the hose from the check valve, gravity will prevent a CFC'full of boiling wort from pouring back potentially over your fingers.

 

[Agentgonzo]

My suggestion would be for safety reasons. If you stop the pump and disconnect the hose from the check valve, gravity will prevent a CFC'full of boiling wort from pouring back potentially over your fingers.

Oh, I hadn't thought of it in those terms. I assumed it was about the functionality of the chiller. That makes perfect sense though!

 

[Old Fart At Play]

I'm nowhere near my CFC to check, but isnt it easier to pinch one of the tubes under the cfc if it is upside down?

 

[RoomWithABrew]

From a fluid movement aspect I have the wort coming out of the lower part of the coil. This saves the pump work moving the liquid up through the CFC.
However that would only have a benefit when the lower flow exit point then goes onto whirlpool point below this.
At transfer to fermenter time it's uphill all the way for the liquid as I raise the CFC above the height of the fermeter opening and then down into the fermenter.
The pump power exceeds any siphon assistance I think I'm getting and I slow the flow at transfer to maximise cooling with a clamp on the tube after the CFC.

Probably I'm overthinking it all

 

[tigertim]

I tend to position the chiller so that the wort runs from top to bottom, simply so that I get every last drop out by gravity once the pump has pulled eveything out of the bottom of the kettle.

I notice that MaltMiller have their CF chillers mounted horizontally on their in-house brewing setups which looks nice and neat as part of the overall brewstation design, but I think it'd be more difficult extracting every last drop of wort and ensuring fluid doesn't get trapped during cleaning (maybe they are removable for cleaning?)

 

[RoomWithABrew]

@tigertim
Agreed it would peeve me leaving all that little bit of wort in the bottom of the loops if sideways.
Also I take my CFC outside and flush it through with hosepipe after use. Then dry it well propped up so it fully drains.

 

[ChilledGecko]

I too have my chiller mounted horizontally (bit of broom handle through the center) and slung under the bench.
The inlet / outlet are at the top though so the chiller will 'hold' the hot wort if something untoward occurred.
It just happened, it wasn't a conscious decision by me when I mounted it.

 

[DuncR]

I have to revert back to the diagram that came with the Grainfather every time I use it