immersion chiller am I wasting my money?

[paulg]

I am thinking of buying this chiller
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/54-Ft-WORT-CH ... 1e8590f80b

I usually brew 25 litres in my 70 litre BIAB setup, my end of boil height is about 18 cm from the bottom of the pot so th etop coils of the chiller would be out of the wort.I do brew 40 li8tres sometimes though
I could buy the version that is half the height and is cheaper but would take longer to cool 40 litres
what to do?

[themadhippy]

what to do?

make your own

[keith1664]

what to do?

make your own

But longer... for less.

http://www.tradingdepot.co.uk/DEF/produ ... %20x%2025m

[jmc]

what to do?

make your own

+1

You're unlikely to find an IC that suits your setup (larger than average pot , 1/2 filled), so why not make your own from 10mm copper and make it a diameter to suit your pot.

Alternatively you could go the plate chiller route

Above one from The Malt Miller

[Nikster]

I went the diy route and ballsed it up, sometimes for people like me, paying a premium for someone else to build it makes more sense. But for variying height maybe the plate makes more sense.

[Pauliet]

This was the route I went down. i actually bought a plate chiller and totton pump but never used them (sold them on). This, for me anyway, works a treat.

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=64729

[paulg]

thanks guys
I already have a plate chiller but am becoming increasingly more concerned about my ability to clean it properly and this is why I am considering an immersion chiller.
My DIY skills are pretty good but going on my attempt to bend a herms coil and the resultant kinks, I think its best left to the professionals but I do like the double coil idea of pauliet

[Pauliet]

thanks guys
I already have a plate chiller but am becoming increasingly more concerned about my ability to clean it properly and this is why I am considering an immersion chiller.
My DIY skills are pretty good but going on my attempt to bend a herms coil and the resultant kinks, I think its best left to the professionals but I do like the double coil idea of pauliet

Paul, go for building one yourself. Believe me, my DIY skills are pretty basic to say the least and this was a pretty easy build. As I stated on the post the hardest (most awkward) part was threading the supports around the coils.

Im considering building another so may be putting one up for sale on here soon if anyone is interested.

[GrowlingDogBeer]

I sold my immersion chiller and now use a plate chiller. No way I would go back.

Cleaning the is not that hard. Just recirculate some PWB for a while. Then rinse.

[vacant]

the top coils of the chiller would be out of the wort

How about when you chuck your IC into the boiler, you put a bucket with a brick or two in as well to raise the water level?

[Evanvine]

Instead of an expensive plate chiller, you could always build your own Counter Flow Chiller.

[setmash]

Build a Goat exchanger....its the way forward and they can be completely cleaned

[Wezzel]

Good idea. I'm a bit bored with my current goat

[Fil]

there are IC chillers and IC chillers, i made an inefficient one with 10m of 10mm tube which took a good 20-30mins to chill down my 23-25l batches while others have built ic chillers which can do the same job in a few minutes..

from what ive gleaned evenly well spaced coils and multiple coils with a total length over 20m fed separately seem to be features of the hi performance versions.


tho i have to admit i like goats too

[Evanvine]

Can some one enlighten my ignorance please.
What is a "goat exchanger", I bet it's bloody obvious.