Gasketted stainless heat exchanger

[SiHoltye]

I'd love one of these. Anybody recommend a supplier?

[Kev888]

Not really but FWIW I had a look around a few years ago - most are made by companies who assemble them to order and so don't publish fixed prices which was a bit annoying. I made a few enquiries though, and was getting quotes of around £400 so stopped enquiring pretty sharpish...

I decided that as I autoclaved the braised ones I wasn't concerned enough to pay so much, and there was more possibility of leakage between gaskets which was be a concern as i was using rainwater to cool initially. But they do seem like the professional option and I would definitely have preferred them if finances had been up to it.

BTW have since seen them being sold used on ebay, usually from the farm/dairy industry.

Cheers
kev

[barneey]

I did have one, bought from another JBK member. Also BigRich bought one not so long ago, I forget the name of the supplier tho.

[Andy]

It was one of these (or similar) wasn't it Barneey ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/60057786-WATE ... 1182484390

Chaffoteaux is the manufacturer.

[Kev888]

Ah, I may be misleading things here then, the type I was looking at previously were this sort of thing:



Cheers
kev

[bigrichlock]

Here is the one i have, still not done anything with it tho!

APV is the manufacture



Cheers

Rich

[barneey]

It was one of these (or similar) wasn't it Barneey ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/60057786-WATE ... 1182484390

Chaffoteaux is the manufacturer.

Ahh yes I have one of those and they do work, although to get the best out of it, either recirc with it / slow run off to ensure correct temp is achieved / accept a faster run off and let another cooling source take care of the pitching temp.

With most cooling systems I use now whether it be a CFC or plate, I run off at a moderate speed to get somewhere in the 20`s and then just let a maxi cooler reduce the temp to pitching. (Maxi cooler / internal stainless coil). Start the Maxi up at the beginning of the boil to form ice bank ready for action.

I still need to find some longer screws for the copper plate one, as if you take the thing apart you need a vice to squeeze it back together to enable bolt to be done up.

I had assumed however the original poster was asking about a stainless heat exchanger.

[SiHoltye]

Yeah I'm interested in a stainless gasketted heat exchanger. Alfa Laval is a name that crops up but my scale is wrong for this big commercial supplier.

[barneey]

Although these things can be taken apart in reality the commercial boys rarely do so, they are normally cleaned using a CIP solution + if they are taken apart and are clean inside after say months of use I`ll doubt if they are taken apart much more than a visual inspection once in a blue moon. The case then being, the braised ones have less to go wrong. I did look like others have for a small stainless unit for home use but drew a blank, hence the copper one.

[Aleman]

There is always Sondex or Paraflow. I've spoken to Sondex in the past.

Phil at Wibblers strips his plate chillers on a regular basis, but just looses the nuts to the end of the long threaded bar, and then cleans each plate at a time with a pressure washer and bolts it back together, so there is no need to completely dismantle them . . . He was saying at the weekend it was surprising how often they has to clean theirs.

[barneey]

Mmmm so one account of cleaning on a regular basis and one account of not, it does make you wonder what is happening inside a domestic braised HE?

[scotia]

On a commercial side they are not stripped and cleaned very often but are flushed through during a CIP process, this one is used 24/7, 4/5 40,000 ltr mashes in that period

I know of brewerys that dont touch them and others who have had a contamination but still only thoroughly clean them after six months use but have a cip flush through every brew but they are brewing 4/5 days a week.

[irv]

It was one of these (or similar) wasn't it Barneey ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/60057786-WATE ... 1182484390

Chaffoteaux is the manufacturer.

I still need to find some longer screws for the copper plate one, as if you take the thing apart you need a vice to squeeze it back together to enable bolt to be done up.

I had assumed however the original poster was asking about a stainless heat exchanger.

insteead of screws, could you use threaed bar, with washers and nuts on both ends? screwfix have stainles threaed rod.

[barneey]

Its been on my to-do list for some time

[roscoe]

the big thing for me is that apart from lack of CIP the HE stay idle with water (sometimes blow out with C02) for extended periods lying about in garage
it is this long time that give the biofilm baddies time to play hide and seek and grow their numbers

the commercials are incomparable, they have very regular heat and cleaning cycles and probably also effectively high velocities during CIP to keep biofilm at manageably low levels
they also swab and lab sample at various points in the process which can flag up HE tear down before the bacterial baddies cos' serious spoilage