Best Design for Glycol Chiller

[bellinmi88]

I am looking for advice on what the best design (for a DIYer) would be for automating my chiller to move glycol to 2 Fermenters and 1 Brite tank.

My original thought was to use basic temp controllers to turn on a pump and open a motorized ball valve.

Would anyone be willing to share their thoughts on this? I have a small 3 BBL Brewery with Jacketed FVs and a Brite Tank.

Would a BCS be suitable for a job like this?

 

[iijakii]

A pump and 12v ball valves with either BCS would work great. Could make a panel with multiple STC units as well.

 

[augiedoggy]

I use 24v activated solenioid valves which are activated by the double pin relay which also supplies 240v at the same time to my chiller pump which pumps the coolant through a manifold that all my valves are supplied from... Stc 1000+ units are used for each fermenter to control ecah valve and the main pump. I would think your setup would work better with a real electric ball valve since the flow rate is limited for the solenioid controlled valves I use and have seen. But otherwise the setup I went with would work well for you... I'm controlling temps for 3 smaller 12and 8 gallon Conicals now with ease off one smaller chiller.

 

[MichaelBD]

I use 24v activated solenioid valves which are activated by the double pin relay which also supplies 240v at the same time to my chiller pump which pumps the coolant through a manifold that all my valves are supplied from... Stc 1000+ units are used for each fermenter to control ecah valve and the main pump. I would think your setup would work better with a real electric ball valve since the flow rate is limited for the solenioid controlled valves I use and have seen. But otherwise the setup I went with would work well for you... I'm controlling temps for 3 smaller 12and 8 gallon Conicals now with ease off one smaller chiller.

Where and how do you place your STC1000 NTC probes?

 

[augiedoggy]

Where and how do you place your STC1000 NTC probes?

I made thermowells and on two of the conicals I simply bought a rubber stopper and driller 2 holes one for the airlock and one for the probe which is made from 5 /16 stainless tubing capped off at the end with jb weld which is foodsafe when cured. On the third conical I used a TC tee and have the probe installed in the vertical opening and a sampling valve I use as a blow off tube in the side opening.

 

[raining_turtles]

I just built a controller for the brewery I work for to do this exact thing with a bcs 462. We used 12v ball valves as some of the other local breweries have had issues with the 12 and 110 volt solenoid sticking in the open or closed position if sediment gets in the system. So far it is working brilliantly. just know that they set the temp drift as 4 degrees in hysteresis mode as a default. Once we took it to 1/2 degree, we held rock solid.
We left our glycol chiller controlled by its own controller, but put a temp probe on the glycol out line so we can see the bath temp in the brewery (glycol chiller is upstairs, brewery is down stairs).

 

[BrunDog]

...I have a small 3 BBL Brewery with Jacketed FVs and a Brite Tank...

That's funny. Awesome, but funny!

I have a miniscule 0.119 gallon brewery! Make it 0.167 BBL if I push it.

 

[bierdeblanche]

Would a glycol chiller be more energy efficient than using a fridge/freezer for controlling fermentation temps on the 5-10 gallon scale?

 

[aangel]

Would a glycol chiller be more energy efficient than using a fridge/freezer for controlling fermentation temps on the 5-10 gallon scale?

No. Double no considering that, for the most part, people will be using a fridge/freezer to chill the glycol itself. Glycol chill units are hella expensive.

Advantages of using freezers:
-far less setup work
-efficiency (closed space)

Disadvantages of using freezers:
-space, since you'll need multiple freezers if you've got a pipeline with beers at different temperaturesbased on the temperature you want to main
-cleaning out the goddamned mold that, inevitably, grows inside the freezer.

Advantages of glycol:
-bling
-you only need one actual chiller.
-space savings.

 

[TrashWoodBrew]

My homebrew setup is smaller than yours (Half BBL) but I use the BCS, one 12v pump, 12v water heater, and 4 12v ball valves to cool three fermenters. Works great and the parts (window AC, cooler, valves + pump) was pretty inexpensive considering alternatives.

In fact - I live in CA and am sitting on a plane from TX right now... watching my BCS control the temp of my fermenting art

 

[oakbarn]

I made a glycol chiller from a $119. AC from Home Depot. All I did was bend the coil into a 75 qt cooler and moved the temp bulb to the near the hot side line of the compressor. Did not mess with electronics or fans. Just cut a small piece of the cover for the lines. Works great with BCS 462 and some ball valves and a pump