Alex:

Did you have a fan blowing on your wort chiller? That helps.

Anyway, the Hayden 1405 looks pretty impressive and it certainly is cheaper than a wort chiller. I would be EXTREEMLY interested in your test results should you try it. I'd like to know both the heat reduction and the flow rate if possible.

I've been thinking about converting something like this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/OASIS-DRINKING-FOUNTAIN-WATER-COOLER_W0QQitemZ140092882918QQ categoryZ20569QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

But of course that will be expensive to set up and run. So please let me know what you find out about the tranny cooler.

Thanks!

Cheers

Elricko:

That"s the first place I started looking as well. Converting old water coolers that actually have a circulating Freon pump to them, but for the price, I would rather use ice. I"m still keeping my eye open for some cooler junk parts, but no luck yet.

I was also considering converting a mini-fridge as well, but the cooling mechanism is not designed to handle any serious heat and might not last long before it breaks.

I put a house fan in front of the wart cooler and even continuously sprayed it with water mist. Set my basin water to 30c and timed how long it took for the water temp to drop by 1c. It was FAR slower than what it took my still to raise it by 1c. I imagine it would do nothing more than, ever so slightly, reduce my water heat up rate. It just doesn"t seem to have the radiating surface area.

On the bright side though, I now have a wart cooler! ;,

Larry:

I was looking at a Kawasaki ZX9 radiator but the sheer length of coil going through it and its radiators surface area were somewhat smaller than truck transmission oil radiators.

Maybe if I can find a fanned combo kit like you suggested it would make it worth while.
I"ll go ask at my local bike store.


Speaking of wart coolers:
Is there any risk of contamination the wart/mash/wash with inserting a copper coil into it?
Should I use any sterilizing methods?

Okay, I hope we are talking about the same thing, I'm talking about the cooling water. I'm not talking about putting anything into the wort or moving the wort through anything. I am using the wort chiller from my beer making setup to cool the water leaving the condenser and column of my still. Please don't misinterprit what I am saying. If this isn't this issue we are discussing here please let me know so I can get on track.

Now Alex, I do get a considerabe drop in temp running it through the chiller with a fan on it. So much so that I don't have to put any ice in for the first hour or two. To make a 25L batch I usually only use 3 or 4 ice bottles for the whole batch. I don't have the use the same still that you do, so that might be a factor, and my pump flow rate is 609gph so that may be a factor as well. I'm looking to maybe pick up a water cooler in an auction or when they close a school or office building. Let me know how your radiator works out.

Cheers

John,

Sounds pretty elaborate, I can see how that might work! Sadly might not be overly practical for an in kitchen setup. Not all of us are lucky enough to be living by cool spring water! ;,

I agree, evaporation is a brilliant method ,hence my "auto misting" of my radiator elements,, I just ordered the oil radiator; we"ll see how it performs with moist air running through it.

Nuclear physics? It"s really interesting to see the span of this hobby



Elricko:

I"m not entirely sure why I"m not getting the desired results from a wart cooler. I"m aiming to stay stable at right about 6c, might be asking for too much though.

The speed in which the water runs through the pipes will merely distribute the over all heat output in a more even manner ,same heat over more water,. The over all closed system should still absorb the same amount of heat. It"s a give and take, less contact time will the heating elements to warm a given CC up, also means less contact time though the radiator unit to let go of that heat.


As for the wart cooler issue, no misunderstanding there. I was referring to using it as a radiator element, though in general I was curious as to how it will be used to actually monitor wart temp. I"m interested in trying to make Sake, and from what I"ve read so far, it can be a very temperature sensitive process, was just curious.

My current setup uses water at about 2c, but I go through about 40lbs of ice a run. Gives me some serious control when I turn the column cooling valve, but it"s a serious pain to maintain.

I"m going to try and go for the PSII high capacity column, hopefully with the extra foot height and diameter difference, I"ll be able to get the same reflux with warmer water.

The mini fridge way is defiantly worth trying, my only worry with that is the strain on the fridge compressor ,kind of like leaving your fridge door open to cool the kitchen on a hot day ,. Would be great to actually have a radiator element inside the fridge for the water to run though, should give you some serious heat transfer, though once again would probably strain the fridge more.
Please post your findings when you get that set up!

Well, yes and no on the water issue. Per hour, you will certainly use consume more cold water or ice. However, you will also run for considerably less time. So, it at least comes pretty close to balancing.

Thanks Rick,

I get so involved with my enjoyement of this column, and not haveing to worry about water issues with spring water. My sister, with her
PSII still seems to use almost triple the water I use ,also spring and gravity fed, than I do, to keep her smaller condenser operating efficiently. ,both the through tubes and final condenser,.

Alex,

Call or email Rick at brewhaus as I did. Ask for a composit price copper, column reuducer with tri clamp fittings and gaskets, etc.

Compare quotes. It may be more practial and not much more money to order thhe whole dange thing. start to finish.

why couldnt you use a small a/c unit and modify it so you could run refrigerant through your cooling coil instead of water? the coil would have to match the compressor size to work right,and not burn up the compressor.

Wineo,

Is this possible within a decent price range? Wouldn"t the piping need to be able to withstand high pressure?

Would love to see how this can be done. It defiantly would be ideal. What about re/disassembling?