Maxi 310 fermentation Chiller

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graysalchemy

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Well now I have figured out how to conect a coil up to my maxi I decided I better make a copper coil for it especially since my fermenting beer reached 22c this morning. Not so much of a worry now that it is nearly a week in the fermenter but all the same.

So I made this

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out of 10m of 10mm copper.

It is now attached to the chiller and busily keeping my fermenting beer down to 19.5c. The Maxi is attached to the cooling side of my temp controller so it just come on when it gets too warm.

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Hopefully better controlled temps will result in more consistent brewing. :thumb: :thumb:

I now also plan on attaching a water feed through it to chill my water prior to going in the wort chiller on brew days. In winter it is fine the water is never much above freezing but in summer tap water temps rocket and the difference in temp between wort and chiller decreases making it difficult to get the wort down to pitching temp. Anyone tried this is it worth it. :hmm: :hmm:
 
Thats an excellent idea - I use an ATC-800 connected to a maxi cooler and a sumbersible heater to control fermentation temps but never thought of using the maxi to chill water going through the wort cooler. :doh:
 
Well you struggle with water temps in summer. I am just going to put some hose attachments on the other two pipes and get some more hose so the chiller can stay were it is. Obviously I will have to put a bypass (which it came with ) back onto the infow and outflow of the pump so that just recirculates back round.

:thumb: :thumb:
 
FV idea is a good one. However DO NOT under ANY circumstances use a cooling loop through your maxi, you will break it. It isn't designed to cool at that temperature and likely you've just torch the compressor rendering it useless. If you meant using it to cool a barrel of water and then use that barrel to run through your wort chiller then of course that'd work fine, direct cooling though. A very expensive mistake.
 
I realise that :thumb: . What I was meaning was to pass the flow of water from the hose through the other inlet and out let as you would beer, but obviously it would be under pressure from the tap and not pumped. It is just to get the temp of the water down in summer. i wouldn't be recirculating it. :thumb:
 
For the most efficient heat exchange I'd only be using the Maxi line once you're down to say 35-40 deg c. Using it before then may actually be counter productive by increasing the temp of the coolant before you really need it, to give the biggest difference between wort and chiller.
 
I guess you took a break from picture framing during that build.... :D
 
Strangely enough I`ve just finished my maxi cooler build, which also incorporates a small heater. Just need to connect it to the coil in the fermentor

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Basically the idea is just to use the python cooling loop with the additional of a heater. The STC was added and will take direct temps of the wort / beer. In normal use if the temp is OK everything is switched OFF. The STC then just controls either the heater & python pump OR the Maxi & python pump. Mine only has an internal thermostat device which I didnt alter.

It is certainly possible to by pass the internal thermostate if needed and replace with an STC if required.

I`m planning on testing the set up with an 80 to 100 brew in the very near future to see how it performs.

BTW all credit to "wallybrew" for the idea - its not mine.

Cheers
 
Very interesting Barneey - so when the unit is heating, does that mean the warm water is flowing through the reservoir of the maxi chiller?

What heater do you have inserted in the stainless t-piece?
 
Just a note of caution for something to look out for using the python recirc line, which may or may not apply to you. The Python is designed to be on all the time and the return on mine passes through the ice block. In use, the water would freeze solid in the return when the pump was switched off, so it'd work initially but then fail later as no recirc, here's the original thread . I 'toyed' with the idea of integrating the STC100 into the maxi box but thought I'd try and keep it original for re-sale purposes, if and when, but then due to 'issues' with the return freezing up I had to make mods anyway :lol: :roll:
 
Cheers for the link V1 I had been told of your experiments with the Maxi but could never find the thread, would have helped of course if I had been looking on the right forum :doh:


As for the heater in the tee piece it was a standard towel rail heater http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/180863975955 I made the housing out of a piece of stainless 1/2 tube I had, but easily doable in copper.

I still have to try the system out, but plan to do a 4 kit batch very soon (still haven't replaced the rest of my AG equipment yet). But back to AG my main problem at the moment is the plate isn't getting down to the temp I want to pitch at so the idea is switch on the maxi on brew day to build up the ice bank, plate cool into the fermentor and let the maxi get to the temp required before pitching, whether I switch the recirc coil for the water bath coil for this I don't know yet. All a bit trial and error for me at the moment but nothing ventured
 
Can't say for G myself, naturally, but a fv is just a fv. I clean my conicals the same way as I did my 60ltr plastic barrel fv, which was cleaned in the same way as my plastic buckets, A good clean with a a soft sponge with either warm washing up liquid solution or hot oxyclean soln, then a rinse with water and then sanitation with videne solution, followed by a swill with boiling water. I know videne is seen as no rinse, as are a lot of others, but I'd rather use plain water to flush....personal preference :thumb:
 
Vossy1 said:
How do you clean and sterilise the big fermenter?
Is that for G K..if that makes sense :lol:

By the looks of my recent brewing not very well :lol: :lol:

I am like V I clean with either oxy or washing soda when fermentation is over, get all the carp off with a cloth then rinse. Then on brewday I steam either over the Boiler or a kettle for 5-10 minutes and then spray with Videne, then just rince out with a little boiling water.

My chiller coil which goes in the FV sits in a bucket of Oxy or washing soda to clean and in a bucket of Videne to sterilise before going in the FV.

:thumb: :thumb:
 
graysalchemy said:
I realise that :thumb: . What I was meaning was to pass the flow of water from the hose through the other inlet and out let as you would beer, but obviously it would be under pressure from the tap and not pumped. It is just to get the temp of the water down in summer. i wouldn't be recirculating it. :thumb:

Yeah I reread this shortly after and :doh: seems my tablet doesnt do forum replies though. I only mentioned it because someone on another forum was wanting to do the whole recirc thing.

build look good mate, nice one :)

Barneey, how do you ensure that you always have liquid in the python line? I only ask because I followed cornelius's instructions and my pipe is empty except for when the pumps running even though theres 12m of pipe attached to it.
 
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