Recommended hosing for counterflow chiller

[delzep]

That's handy enough to find and is cheap enough ta   

[Vermelho]

I used the radiator hose from halfords coz all hose over here wasn't large enough. It worked well and is nice and rigid. But it ain't cheap. 27 for 8 metres of I remember correctly.

[Garry]

3/4" qualpex. It's around €2.50 (incl vat) per metre and available at any builders providers. It's also easy to get fittings to suit it.

[DEMPSEY]

I used a clear pvc hose that i got in B&Q. not too cheap but easier to bend into a coil.

[DEMPSEY]

Cannot find the build that Cathalbrua and I did (fooking lousy search system ). but here is the one Garry did
http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,2763.0.html

[Garry]

Demsey's chiller is post number 11 in the above thread 

[Damien M]

I'm doing a bit of research on this as am building up, to building one!!!! It all comes down to temperature (obviously)  that the outer pipe will be exposed to. The cheaper PVC pipes are fine if they don't get exposed to 100 deg Wort particularly for the last 15 min for the boil to sanitize the inner pipe. You won't be counterflowing during that time and the Counter Flow chiller as a unit will heat up to the 100deg Wort.

If you are using the Clear PVC piping,or I would suggest, if qualpex is being used, that your Counter Flow chiller, associated Piping and Pump have star Stan circulated prior to Flame out and only then connected into your system ( the connection points being sanned as they are on the boiler). The top end of the CounterFlow will see 100 degs for the initial few minutes but not for the 15 minutes that we would normally apply if using hot wort to sanitize a pump circuit.

The temperature rated stuff is about a tenner a meter and most self build Counter flows are 25 ft (10mtrs) so its not the cheap option but consider how you will apply the Counter flow before buying the cheapest option. Buy Cheap Buy Twice!

[biertourist]

You want something that's not going to explode when it's hot and under pressure.

Don't use regular PVC it WILL explode.  I've exploded 3 regular PVC hoses already.  -The reinforced stuff with braiding will work fine.


I'd actually recommend using PEX tubing BECAUSE not only is it rated to like 60 PSI and also 121C, but it's food safe at up to our maximum HLT temps so it gives you the option to use it later on down the line as a HERMS heat exchanger if you so desire.  It's also rated to last 20 years when installed for hot water tubing out of UV light.

UV light exposure is the achilles heal of PEX, though so if you're brewing outdoors you'll want to cover it in that aluminum tape wrap stuff to keep light off of it.  That stuff also helps to hold the coil together well so it's dual-use.


Adam

[biertourist]

Here's a company that makes PEX counterflow chillers commercially to get some ideas: http://www.brickriverbrew.com/


-I bought their prototype of their soon-to-be-released chiller and posted it here on HBT: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/review-testing-final-prototype-20-helical-counterflow-chiller-w-herms-518669/#post6735628

You can use 1" PEX like they did in their new and hopefully soon-to-be-released chiller and then have a full 1/2" for the chilling water and 1/2" for the wort -no restrictions!


Adam

[Damien M]

Here's a company that makes PEX counterflow chillers commercially to get some ideas: http://www.brickriverbrew.com/


-I bought their prototype of their soon-to-be-released chiller and posted it here on HBT: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/review-testing-final-prototype-20-helical-counterflow-chiller-w-herms-518669/#post6735628

You can use 1" PEX like they did in their new and hopefully soon-to-be-released chiller and then have a full 1/2" for the chilling water and 1/2" for the wort -no restrictions!


Adam

Thanks Adam,
After reading your review I am Deffo going to 1/2" ID. 

[nigel_c]

Very nice detailed review. Wouldn't expect anything else though.

[biertourist]

I made a video showing the physical setup and testing procedure.  https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153213091536929&l=5694044849271090731

I was just recirculating through the HLT and the CFC while recalibrating my PID controller in the video but I explain the whole testing process.

-From testing it in a HERMS configuration to testing it for recirculation chilling after the end of the boil and then direct pitching from there to the fermenter.



My plumbing is a mess and is probably the next thing I'll need to address in my brewery.  I really can't wrap my head around simplified hard plumbed sections of plumbing...


Adam

[DEMPSEY]

What,Adam,after all the time you spent with us over here your barely back State side and your back talking gallons and fahrenheit. Tis true what is said that you can take a man from the bog  but cannot take the bog from the man . Cool video BTW  

[biertourist]

What,Adam,after all the time you spent with us over here your barely back State side and your back talking gallons and fahrenheit. Tis true what is said that you can take a man from the bog  but cannot take the bog from the man . Cool video BTW

Did you hear the long pause when I had to think in Fahrenheit? -My quoted celcius numbers were correct and my estimated conversion to F was slightly incorrect.  -I still very much brew in celcius but I have absolutely switched to gallons for volume. (Except for mash thickness where I still use liters per kilo interestingly enough.) -With a 20 gallon HLT, liters are just too small to matter -or fit well onto a site glass. ;-)

-You can see in the video stickers on my mash tun that show typical mash ranges in both fahrenheit and celcius and mashout/sparge temps in both.

I never switched from oz to grams on hop additions -that's the one part of the US measurements systems I never switched to, I find that hop additions as a quarter of an oz are just easier to remember and make more sense.


I have a weird mishmash of metric and US measurements that I use in my brewing thanks to my time in Ireland.  ;-)
-Honestly it made the portion of the IBD General Certificate in Brewing exam that focused on calculations and formulas near impossible for me to pass; I could absolutely calculate things but I just couldn't do it with their formulas and measurements.  I have my own brewing calculator in Excel that is a mix of US and Metric measurements that I use for my brew day.  (I'm probably the only one in the world who would find it useful.)



Adam