Finally ordered the Blichmann Therminator. Tips?

[bowlboundgman]

I have been looking at buying the Blichmann Therminator since the fall. I brew 5-10 batches and my small immersion chiller was not cutting it. I bought the Therminator from Adventures in Homebrewing last night, they had the same 199 price but their shipping was only 10 and they gave me a $10 in credit for future purchases.
It seems like everyone has different opinions on how to care for it. From what I read,
I will use fine mesh hop bags (I am making a spider)
I will boil it prior to use
After I use it I w plan on running (gravity) boiling water then pbw
Any other suggestions that work well for people?
Thanks

 

[pkananen]

I use male camlocks for my wort in/out, and I have a T with dial thermometer on my out (from brewhardware). I mount mine at the same level as my chugger pump. I always use a paint strainer bag on my hop spider.

I run some water from BK during my mash to rinse. I recirculate during last 15 of boil to sanitize. I recirculate during start of chill if my tap water is kind of warm. To clean, I rinse with tap water first (I often reverse in/out at some point). Then I recirculate hot PBW for 10 and then I rinse with tap water. It's easy!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Doctor_M]

Buy or make one of these http://morebeer.com/products/blichmann-therminator-chiller-backflush-hose-assembly.html

 

[bowlboundgman]

I appreciate the help

 

[VladOfTrub]

Good investment. I've had mine eight years. Never had a problem, never had to bake it, never looked back. Clean as Blichmann recommends and keep hops out of it. Mine is hard piped, valved in and bolted to the brew stand. It can't be turned to drain. A Blichmann Hop Rocket is used as a hop back upstream to pick up boiler hops. I don't use hop bags. After brewing I backflush and flush again in direction of flow, back and forth a few times. Before brewing, boiling water is pumped through it. At the beginning of the brewing season, hot PBW is pumped through it and flushed. Again, keep hops out of it and there won't be any problems. What I did, is place the pump in such a manner that the pump intake is connected to the wort outlet of the chiller. My reasoning is, the pump pulls cool wort through it, keeping the pump cooler. During sanitizing is the only time boiling liquid goes through it. The March pump connected to the system is also eight years old and never have had to replace anything in the pump. The boiler is 30 G, a lot of wort has gone through the chiller system.

 

[oakbarn]

I have a Blickmann and one from Duda Diesel. The Duda one works much better than the Blickmann and I have order a third with Sanitary fittings!

 

[oakbarn]

I also have one of the Brewers Hardware trub filters in front of the Heat Exchanger. We flush ours with PBW for an hour after brewing!

 

[Doctor_M]

I also have one of the Brewers Hardware trub filters in front of the Heat Exchanger. We flush ours with PBW for an hour after brewing!

Can you post a picture how this is positioned?

 

[CoolZone]

We use a Therminator as well and I use the Hop Rocket ahead of it for different brews (it is a great filter when filled with whole hops). Cleaning is a bit of a chore, but as others have stated above, flush with PBW, back flush, flush again, and sanitize before the next brew.

 

[atoughram]

I have a Blickmann and one from Duda Diesel. The Duda one works much better than the Blickmann and I have order a third with Sanitary fittings!

I just bought a Duda too - I was really surprised at how fast that thing can cool wort...

 

[sandyeggoxj]

I have a Blickmann and one from Duda Diesel. The Duda one works much better than the Blickmann and I have order a third with Sanitary fittings!

Did you order it from Duda with sanitary fittings?

 

[VladOfTrub]

"I have a Blickmann and one from Duda Diesel. The Duda one works much better than the Blickmann and I have order a third with Sanitary fittings!"

Is the increase of performance due to the Duda being a larger heat x? Same process flow rate, same coolant temp and GPMs in the comparison?

I'm wondering if a Duda can use direct expansion, instead of glycol?

 

[BreezyBrew]

I have a Duda. It's the long model and cools a 5 gal batch as fast as I can push it. Love it.

 

[atoughram]

I have a Duda. It's the long model and cools a 5 gal batch as fast as I can push it. Love it.

That is what I have and the same initial experience also. It's a B23A 30 plate

 

[bowlboundgman]

I was between the duda and the Blichmann. I know I lot of people with the Blichmann and read a lot of positive review. The final factor was the resale value on ebay. People are nuts paying almost full price for used Therminators. I was impressed with the duda disiel mircon filter bags that I bought to make hop spiders.

 

[oakbarn]

We use a Therminator as well and I use the Hop Rocket ahead of it for different brews (it is a great filter when filled with whole hops). Cleaning is a bit of a chore, but as others have stated above, flush with PBW, back flush, flush again, and sanitize before the next brew.

The Hop rocket is a great filter. If we are not hopping, I fill it with those SS scubbie things. After brewing we throw them in some PBW and wash them out.

 

[Leukass]

ss scrubbies huh?
a friend of mine uses coffee filters.... What scrubbies are you referring to?