Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Glycol Chiller, is 3/4 HP enough?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Glycol Chiller, is 3/4 HP enough?

    I need to cool 5 jacketed 2bbl fermentors and 1 Bright tank. I was looking at a Foxx Equipment 3/4hp glycol line chiller.

    Will that be enough? Any other brands I should checkout?

    Thank you

  • #2
    Yes that should be enough. Although 1hp would be better

    Comment


    • #3
      A few things to consider, line chillers are usually fitted with a positive displacement pump that has too high of a pressure output for tank jackets and too low of flow rates. They also often have reservoirs that are too small to handle the sorts of thermal loads you will have when trying to crash/ control multiple tanks.
      I totally get a bit of boot strapping, but I would recommend going with a 1hp unit with a centrifugal pump and a good sized reservoir that is actually built for cooling tanks.
      Just my 2 cents.

      Comment


      • #4
        We chill and crash our two 10BBL tanks with a Kreyer 45. I don't think you get much more budget that that. I looked into the line chillers but the effort to make them work wasn't worth the savings.

        Comment


        • #5
          What Richard wrote. These use a positive-displacement pump that is quite capable of damaging/bursting glycol jackets unless you use a very reliable bypass regulator between intake and outlet of the system.

          The tiny reservoir is not enough buffering. You'll have trouble crashing a ferm, and you'll be constantly short-cycling the compressor on the chiller.
          Timm Turrentine

          Brewerywright,
          Terminal Gravity Brewing,
          Enterprise. Oregon.

          Comment


          • #6
            I use a few of those Foxx UBC 3/4HP glycol chillers for my 7 bbl operation and am happy with them. I am posting a few other links to previous ProBrewer discussions which will give you some more opinions.





            Good luck.

            Comment


            • #7
              Great
              Thank you people

              Whats the go to 1hp unit that has a large enough reservoir and can hook directly up without blowng the jackets off my tanks?

              Comment


              • #8
                Just wondering, are you guys running these smaller glycol chillers IN your ferm room? Wondering how much heat they produce?

                Comment


                • #9
                  I run 2 of these 3/4hp units in my brewery room, which houses the brewhouse and 6 fermenters and associated brew junk. Room is roughly 12' x 30' with 9.5' ceilings. I haven't had any issues with heat from the units. They throw off some heat, but it is negligible in my space.

                  Good luck.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I purchased a 2hp Penguin Chiller along with 7 pump kits. about 5k total to my door. Testing looks great. I'll update after I crash and chill full tanks with it,

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by phishheadmi View Post
                      Just wondering, are you guys running these smaller glycol chillers IN your ferm room? Wondering how much heat they produce?
                      Small bit of physics here: While the units (pumps, etc.) produce a little heat on their own, what really happens is that all the heat from your tanks is transferred to the chiller and, if indoors, to your indoor air. Chillers don't "add cold", they "remove heat", and the way they remove it is they put it into the chiller radiator, then blow air across it, and the heat is transferred to the air.

                      There's no magic, here. That heat goes somewhere! If the unit is outside, it's blown to the 4 winds but, if it's indoors, you have a space-heater.

                      All that said, if someone posts that they don't have any heat issues, I believe them. But I wanted to point out the "no magic" angle of moving heat from one place to another.

                      Similarly, your refrigerator at home removes heat from the box and pushes it out the back of the unit. That wall behind your fridge is nice & warm!

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Okay stirring up this one again.
                        So I do cider, and we have a walk-in cooler. We use the walk-in cooler to crash the fermenter, it is mobile.
                        Looking to add a 10bbl brite tank outside the walk-in, so the chiller requirement is it will only need to maintain 34-44F.
                        My calculations, or a manufacturer's chart, say this only requires 1900 BTU/Hr.
                        Penguin has a 2/3 hp chiller with 3300 BTU/Hr published rating. That going to be enough hp and BTU on the larger tank? Or have to maintain proper conditions with insulation, ambient temp, etc? Trying to figure out if just going to one larger tank ends up more efficient than how these are also set up to go to several smaller ones.
                        TIA
                        Last edited by 5PHC; 10-07-2020, 03:09 PM.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Jay Newbie View Post
                          I purchased a 2hp Penguin Chiller along with 7 pump kits. about 5k total to my door. Testing looks great. I'll update after I crash and chill full tanks with it,
                          How did this work out for you? I'm looking at a similar setup for 6x7bbl plastic fermenters (maybe the 3.5hp chiller).

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by itivino View Post

                            How did this work out for you? I'm looking at a similar setup for 6x7bbl plastic fermenters (maybe the 3.5hp chiller).
                            couldn't be happier with this chiller. handles everythging without issues. 5 ferm and a bright tank. It will freeze the tank if you drop the temp probe out while cleaning. ask me how i know this lol. solid 9 inch wall of crystal clear ice wrapped the inside of my tank. Thankfully it didn't spit the tank wide open. what it did do was make a killer 10.4 ABV ice beer that of course I didnt sell per it being distilled. Although it was awesome.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Jay Newbie View Post

                              couldn't be happier with this chiller. handles everythging without issues. 5 ferm and a bright tank. It will freeze the tank if you drop the temp probe out while cleaning. ask me how i know this lol. solid 9 inch wall of crystal clear ice wrapped the inside of my tank. Thankfully it didn't spit the tank wide open. what it did do was make a killer 10.4 ABV ice beer that of course I didnt sell per it being distilled. Although it was awesome.
                              Awesome! Thanks for the info. I've had my share of kegs freezing in the chest freezer with the probe outside of it...#BudIce

                              Is it working for you indoors and quiet enough, or have it outside?

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X