r/Homebrewing • u/atoughram Advanced • 2d ago

DIY Chiller

Built with mostly spare parts I had laying around, it brought the 28qt cooler full of water down from 68f to 33f in 30 minutes. I probably have $100 bucks into this thing.

https://imgur.com/a/y6KI2ay

18 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

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3

u/[deleted] 2d ago

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u/atoughram Advanced 1d ago

It really wasn't hard to build, just be careful when pulling the AC unit apart. I cut the base of the AC unit off with a jig saw and a metal blade so it would be more compact. I put it all on a Harbor Freight furniture dolley that I had laying around.

1

u/HohepaPuhipuhi 2d ago

Wort cooler, or fermenter tempt control? Or both, or neither? I'm gonna need more pics 

2

u/atoughram Advanced 2d ago

Fermentation temperature control. I have a chamber with heat and AC in it already, and it's controlled with Fermentrack. I could never cold crash with the AC unit. I recently bought a used Blichmann Fermenator with a cooling coil on it, so I'll give it a go on my next batch. I'll be using Fermentrack to control a TP-link WiFi switch on the chiller circulation pump.

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u/HohepaPuhipuhi 2d ago

Cool

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u/atoughram Advanced 1d ago

I can take more pictures if you're interested in building one.

1

u/1fastsedan 2d ago

I built something similar. If you throw some glycol in the tank too you can run it lower. I keep the glycol mix at 28. I recommend the glycol with corrosion inhibitor to keep the AC coil rust to a minimum.

1

u/Ok_Key_4849 2d ago

I run glyocl in my brewing setup too, keeps the coil from freezing up solid when I'm crashing lagers.

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u/atoughram Advanced 1d ago

I've got Glycol on order :) With tap water, the evaporator froze solid getting it down to 33f.

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u/Hotchi_Motchi 2d ago

I got one of these for $90 and it works a lot faster. https://www.dudadiesel.com/choose_item.php?id=HX1230BWGH

Yours looks a lot cooler than mine, though, and we both wind up with chilled wort

1

u/atoughram Advanced 2d ago

I'm not using it for a wort chiller, I'm using it for a fermentation chiller. I agree on the plate chiller, I have one also (Duda Diesel even), and they are hands down faster than a copper coil in the kettle.