Just got the Brew-boss condenser for my 1bbl pilot system and tested it out yesterday. It worked fine, condensed the steam, lowered the electrical usage requirements, etc. but it did have a low evaporation rate as has been noted before. I tested it at 20 gallons and the rate was fine, I think 8%, but at 40 gallons I'm guessing there is just too much restriction with the smaller camlock. Generally 4% is the minimum target, which is about what I hit when I tested it at 40 gallons, but I would prefer to be in the 6-8% range. The other option is to just boil for longer, but 30 extra minutes every batch adds up.
This is a commercial version of a condenser https://conical-fermenter.com/SP500CONDENSER-1325-Condenser.html , which is what made me figure that the diameter of the kettle outlet can make a big difference. Imagine if you were to just create a steam stack on your lid to go out the roof or wall, you wouldn't expect a 1/2" camlock to be able to vent enough steam but for the smaller pots a tri-clamp seems to be about proportionally right compared to larger systems. Going from a 1/2" camlock to even a 1" ID tri-clamp is 4x the area.
I have a dual 1bbl pilot system as well as a smaller 1/2bbl tank that I'll use for wort for yeast propagation, so at the least I'll be able to use the brew-boss for that. For the 1bbl tanks, I'm making a tri-clamp version like the ones that other people have mentioned on here and will let you guys know how the testing goes.
This is a commercial version of a condenser https://conical-fermenter.com/SP500CONDENSER-1325-Condenser.html , which is what made me figure that the diameter of the kettle outlet can make a big difference. Imagine if you were to just create a steam stack on your lid to go out the roof or wall, you wouldn't expect a 1/2" camlock to be able to vent enough steam but for the smaller pots a tri-clamp seems to be about proportionally right compared to larger systems. Going from a 1/2" camlock to even a 1" ID tri-clamp is 4x the area.
I have a dual 1bbl pilot system as well as a smaller 1/2bbl tank that I'll use for wort for yeast propagation, so at the least I'll be able to use the brew-boss for that. For the 1bbl tanks, I'm making a tri-clamp version like the ones that other people have mentioned on here and will let you guys know how the testing goes.