CFC build

The forum for discussing all kinds of brewing paraphernalia.
Post Reply
cerbera84
Piss Artist
Posts: 262
Joined: Thu May 01, 2014 8:06 pm
Location: Wolverhampton

CFC build

Post by cerbera84 » Thu Nov 02, 2017 9:45 pm

Evening,

I had a few bits and bobs around the brew-garage so decided to build a counterflow chiller. The build consists of a hefty 22mm stainless coil taken from a hot water cylinder with an 8mm copper coil inside of it. Threading the copper coil through the stainless coil was a fair challenge. The original stainless coil had eight coils but had to trim it down to four because the copper did not want to go any further! Took a couple of photos:

ImageUntitled by Ben, on Flickr

ImageUntitled by Ben, on Flickr

Usual bolged soldering with my hot air gun, but always ends watertight! Tested with garden hose tonight, both coils leak free.

No idea yet of chilling times but I'm planning on circulating the beer output back into the whirlpool port on the MaltMother. Might add a thermometer in an equal tee to view temps...

Cheers

Ben
Planning: BrewEasy system build; possibly a Wychwood Hobgoblin Gold clone
Fermenting: Simcoe SMASH
Drinking: Cascade Centennial Pale

Fil
Telling imaginary friend stories
Posts: 5229
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2011 1:49 pm
Location: Cowley, Oxford

Re: CFC build

Post by Fil » Thu Nov 02, 2017 11:01 pm

nice build, thart SS tube looks like an odd fit with the 22mm compression pipe fittings looking almost flat sided in the pics.
ist update for months n months..
Fermnting: not a lot..
Conditioning: nowt
Maturing: Challenger smash, and a kit lager
Drinking: dry one minikeg left in the store
Coming Soon Lots planned for the near future nowt for the immediate :(

User avatar
Kev888
So far gone I'm on the way back again!
Posts: 7701
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2010 6:22 pm
Location: Derbyshire, UK

Re: CFC build

Post by Kev888 » Thu Nov 02, 2017 11:05 pm

Very smart. Did you use a metal outer coil for a reason - such as oven baking/sterilising or similar?

There is a fair gap between the 8mm copper and the 22mm outer coil; from experience it would be best to have the cold water coming in at the bottom of the coil and out at the top. That avoids air pockets collecting in the large gap and hampering heat transfer.
Kev

cerbera84
Piss Artist
Posts: 262
Joined: Thu May 01, 2014 8:06 pm
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: CFC build

Post by cerbera84 » Thu Nov 02, 2017 11:58 pm

Fil wrote:
Thu Nov 02, 2017 11:01 pm
nice build, thart SS tube looks like an odd fit with the 22mm compression pipe fittings looking almost flat sided in the pics.
cheers Fil, good spot on the flat sided coil - I made the ends slightly more circular with my pipe grips to help with the fitting to the 22mm compressions - turned out ok
Planning: BrewEasy system build; possibly a Wychwood Hobgoblin Gold clone
Fermenting: Simcoe SMASH
Drinking: Cascade Centennial Pale

cerbera84
Piss Artist
Posts: 262
Joined: Thu May 01, 2014 8:06 pm
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: CFC build

Post by cerbera84 » Fri Nov 03, 2017 12:04 am

Kev888 wrote:
Thu Nov 02, 2017 11:05 pm
Very smart. Did you use a metal outer coil for a reason - such as oven baking/sterilising or similar?
Cheers Kev, no, no particular reason for the outer metal coil, other than it was laying around the garage and I thought it would look good! I have got to give some thought to how I’m going to sterilise this - will have to check if it will fit in the oven. I understand solder melts around 227 degrees (?) so I could give it a blast in the oven (if it fits)

Kev888 wrote:
Thu Nov 02, 2017 11:05 pm
There is a fair gap between the 8mm copper and the 22mm outer coil; from experience it would be best to have the cold water coming in at the bottom of the coil and out at the top. That avoids air pockets collecting in the large gap and hampering heat transfer.
cheers for this - will do exactly that and have the beer running the opposite way.
Planning: BrewEasy system build; possibly a Wychwood Hobgoblin Gold clone
Fermenting: Simcoe SMASH
Drinking: Cascade Centennial Pale

JonA

Re: CFC build

Post by JonA » Fri Nov 03, 2017 12:43 pm

It looks cool, you did well to get the copper through! Are the brass connectors with the lugs used to connect to flexi pipe? what type are they - not seem them before. They look better than my hozetails and clamps.

cerbera84
Piss Artist
Posts: 262
Joined: Thu May 01, 2014 8:06 pm
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: CFC build

Post by cerbera84 » Fri Nov 03, 2017 2:09 pm

JonA wrote:
Fri Nov 03, 2017 12:43 pm
what type are they - not seem them before. They look better than my hozetails and clamps.
Hi Jon, they’re called Geka connectors - you can get them from https://www.waterirrigation.co.uk/hoses ... lings.html
Planning: BrewEasy system build; possibly a Wychwood Hobgoblin Gold clone
Fermenting: Simcoe SMASH
Drinking: Cascade Centennial Pale

User avatar
Kev888
So far gone I'm on the way back again!
Posts: 7701
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2010 6:22 pm
Location: Derbyshire, UK

Re: CFC build

Post by Kev888 » Fri Nov 03, 2017 3:55 pm

cerbera84 wrote:
Fri Nov 03, 2017 12:04 am
will have to check if it will fit in the oven. I understand solder melts around 227 degrees (?) so I could give it a blast in the oven (if it fits)
It depends on the solder you used really, 225C+ would be common for plumbing, but some types can be much lower. I suspect the rubber on your couplers may also be a limitation, unless you can remove and disinfect the seals separately, anyway.

Lots of people (myself included) recirculate boiling wort around the CFC for a while, during the boil. But that does rely on having a pump which is suitable for these temperatures, so it isn't an easy solution for everyone.
Kev

JonA

Re: CFC build

Post by JonA » Fri Nov 03, 2017 6:11 pm

cerbera84 wrote:
Fri Nov 03, 2017 2:09 pm
JonA wrote:
Fri Nov 03, 2017 12:43 pm
what type are they - not seem them before. They look better than my hozetails and clamps.
Hi Jon, they’re called Geka connectors - you can get them from https://www.waterirrigation.co.uk/hoses ... lings.html
Thanks - they look good.

cerbera84
Piss Artist
Posts: 262
Joined: Thu May 01, 2014 8:06 pm
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: CFC build

Post by cerbera84 » Fri Nov 03, 2017 8:54 pm

the rubber insert on the Gekas is removable so it would be possible to heat treat it. My pump is rated for 85 degrees although I and others do use it for higher temps with no apparent ill affects. I'm planning on giving the CFC a good clean out with the pump and Oxyclean at the weekend, I need to clean most of my brewing gear.
Planning: BrewEasy system build; possibly a Wychwood Hobgoblin Gold clone
Fermenting: Simcoe SMASH
Drinking: Cascade Centennial Pale

cerbera84
Piss Artist
Posts: 262
Joined: Thu May 01, 2014 8:06 pm
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: CFC build

Post by cerbera84 » Fri Nov 03, 2017 8:55 pm

JonA wrote:
Fri Nov 03, 2017 6:11 pm
cerbera84 wrote:
Fri Nov 03, 2017 2:09 pm
JonA wrote:
Fri Nov 03, 2017 12:43 pm
what type are they - not seem them before. They look better than my hozetails and clamps.
Hi Jon, they’re called Geka connectors - you can get them from https://www.waterirrigation.co.uk/hoses ... lings.html
Thanks - they look good.
yeah I like them, they're good for the price and yes, you can use them to connect silicone hose
Planning: BrewEasy system build; possibly a Wychwood Hobgoblin Gold clone
Fermenting: Simcoe SMASH
Drinking: Cascade Centennial Pale

JonA

Re: CFC build

Post by JonA » Sat Nov 04, 2017 11:06 am

I don't know if you saw on that site they do the Geka Plus range which it says is suitable for drinking water and temperature rated to 100c Looks like they use different seals.
https://www.waterirrigation.co.uk/hoses ... emale.html

cerbera84
Piss Artist
Posts: 262
Joined: Thu May 01, 2014 8:06 pm
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: CFC build

Post by cerbera84 » Sun Nov 05, 2017 9:40 pm

JonA wrote:
Sat Nov 04, 2017 11:06 am
I don't know if you saw on that site they do the Geka Plus range which it says is suitable for drinking water and temperature rated to 100c Looks like they use different seals.
https://www.waterirrigation.co.uk/hoses ... emale.html
They might be a new product, I don't recall seeing those when I ordered mine, but that was probably two years ago. I won't worry about the black washer ones though, I know of quite a few people using them - I haven't noticed any ill effects
Planning: BrewEasy system build; possibly a Wychwood Hobgoblin Gold clone
Fermenting: Simcoe SMASH
Drinking: Cascade Centennial Pale

PoppaZombie
Steady Drinker
Posts: 36
Joined: Wed Dec 21, 2016 3:26 pm

Re: CFC build

Post by PoppaZombie » Tue Nov 14, 2017 1:40 pm

Looks great, mate. Another good looking diy build under your belt. Glad you found a use for the stainless coil. Mine is still collecting dust but looks too useful to chuck away.

cerbera84
Piss Artist
Posts: 262
Joined: Thu May 01, 2014 8:06 pm
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: CFC build

Post by cerbera84 » Mon Nov 27, 2017 9:36 pm

finally got round to using this CFC, brewed the Nelson Sauvin recipe from Greg Hughes' book again.

ImageUntitled by Ben, on Flickr

My pump had blocked with leaf hops so I gravity drained the wort from the MaltMother through the CFC and into the fermenter. The wort was cooling to 17 degrees in one pass, so very happy with that!

ImageUntitled by Ben, on Flickr
Planning: BrewEasy system build; possibly a Wychwood Hobgoblin Gold clone
Fermenting: Simcoe SMASH
Drinking: Cascade Centennial Pale

Post Reply