Maxi chiller for FV cooling

The forum for discussing all kinds of brewing paraphernalia.
Post Reply
timtoos
Piss Artist
Posts: 129
Joined: Sun Oct 28, 2012 9:49 am

Maxi chiller for FV cooling

Post by timtoos » Thu Apr 08, 2021 6:21 am

Im using a maxi 210 chiller for cooling. At present I use the agitator python pump in order to pump the glycol through my chiller. This pump is controlled from the FV controller and the Maxi looks after itself on a separate controller set at -5C (agitator does not run).

It seems to function great and much cheaper than a grainfather or SS alternative. However the Maxi python pump unit does not seem to have a massive head and the pressure is low. Could it need replacing? I seem to spend ages getting this to prime. Once going its ok.

Anyway, I have 2 solutions.
Either replace the maxi agitator python pump (if this is at fault) OR
Add a pump into the coolant tank and pump straight out of there leaving the agitator to run when the Maxi is chilling.

The question I have is what would be best? I was thinking of adding a 24v Solar pump into the tank but not sure if it would work at -5C temperature environment. the other pump I know would do the job is the 12v SS Brewtech type pump - but they are about £40. Is there a massive difference in quality between the solar pumps and the SS Brewtech pumps?

Any ideas, advice? Does it sound like the Maxi pump unit is at fault? Is the pressure usually pretty high with a decent flow rate from them?

If I added a another pump then I could pump to a manifold and control 2 vessels at once from the same chiller.

TIA

User avatar
Blackaddler
Under the Table
Posts: 1326
Joined: Thu Jun 11, 2009 9:28 am
Location: Addlestein, Surrey

Re: Maxi chiller for FV cooling

Post by Blackaddler » Sun Apr 11, 2021 1:44 pm

It sounds like you have a #2 pump in your Maxi 210. It has a red wheel on the top of the shaft.

I have a 210 with #2 pump. It can start to struggle a bit if you ask it to move a fair bit of liquid around.

Test the pump with a short length of beer line, fed back into the reservoir. Does it pump well? Are the bearings OK? They can seize up and stop your pump completely.

If you shorten the circuit by relocating the chiller higher or nearer to your FV, it might make a difference. The #2 has a 1m head.

The 210 came with either a #2 or #4 pump. The #4 was fitted to the Maxi 310, and is much better, with a 2m head. Details a the bottom of this page.
https://www.btowstore.com/epages/Store2 ... ries/PUMPS

I believe that you could install a pond pump instead, but I've not done any research on that.
Image

Post Reply