CFC issues

[Ozwald]

Wondering if anyone might have some insight on this. I'm puzzled.

4 tests:

#1:
195+ wort in
48 water in
slow wort, slow water
82 in fermenter

#2
195+ wort in
48 water in
slow wort, fast water
82 in fermenter

#3
120 wort in
48 water in
slow wort, slow water
82 in fermenter

#4
120 wort in
48 water in
slow wort, fast water
82 in fermenter

Something's not adding up. Everything's hooked up correctly, running in correct directions, everything's been calibrated with lab grade equipment & double checked before each test. Only constant is speed of wort through chiller. Can't run it any slower. Thoughts?

[BeaverBarber]

I believe someone touched on this on a recent episode of the Session...JP? I believe he said that he used to use CFCs, but now he prefers immersion chillers because he was having the exact same issue you're having. I use a CFC exclusively, I run it very slowly, and I get final wort temps around 90 degrees with ground water temperatures in the low-70s. Sorry I couldn't get you better news.

[Kbar]

I can't achieve pitching temps in a single pass so I whirlpool. About 5 minutes. BK to Pump to CFC back to BK into a tangential inlet.

[Ozwald]

I can't achieve pitching temps in a single pass so I whirlpool. About 5 minutes. BK to Pump to CFC back to BK into a tangential inlet.

That's how I did the last two tests. I whirlpooled with a built in arm back into the kettle for over an hour to get it down to 120. It still was at the exact same temp going into the fermenter as when I did it straight from knock out. The only thing that makes sense is inefficiency with the chiller itself. The ground water is 30 degrees lower than what I'm getting in the fermenter, so I can't think of anything but poor design/engineering. I'm using the convoluted chiller from B3. I was planning on doing dual CFC's when I had the money to add the 2nd one, but after the last 2 tests, I think it'll just be a waste of money. If it can only pull 120 to 80, I highly doubt a 2nd one will make a difference. My only option is to add a prechiller to bring the ground water even further down, & get it within a few degrees of freezing.

What I don't get is the Californians using them & having some degree of success. Is the ground water ever at 48 or below there? Perhaps there's a manufacturing error in mine?

[Kbar]

Yah, something is afoul........

In winter, with 45F water temps, I am only whirlpooling for 2 minutes max, and embarrassingly, to say, I even did that well with a partially clogged CFC. It is only a 30 Pate CFC from Ebay. $80 3 years ago, free S&H, 1/2" female pipe ports all around as well.

[Guido]

This might sound stupid, but the water and the wort are running in opposite directions?

[BeaverBarber]

This might sound stupid, but the water and the wort are running in opposite directions?

That's not a dumb question at all. I've got the same chiller he's got, and it can easily be hooked up either way. All you have to do is turn the chiller over so that the input from the hose goes in the top rather than the bottom.

[Ozwald]

This might sound stupid, but the water and the wort are running in opposite directions?

Everything's hooked up correctly, running in correct directions

Trust me, that's not something I could overlook if I tried. Plus, with the way I set it up, it's impossible to hook it up backwards unless I switch over to cleaning mode. The one thing I didn't add in the first post is that it's the Convolutus from B3. I sprung the extra $50 or so to have the fittings put on to save some time as I was really busy when I ordered it. I would've questioned the general efficiency of the chiller, but I figured this was about as high quality as CFC's go. I'm still scratching my head. The numbers don't lie, but they don't add up either. The only thing I can think of is something's wrong with the chiller itself. Maybe not a leak, but a bad inner tube? I might just have to call B3 & see what they say. Maybe swap it out to see if anything changes.

with a partially clogged CFC. It is only a 30 Pate CFC

My CFC doesn't have pates at all. Or plates for that matter. I think you mean a plate chiller I know, same concept, but I've got way too many OCD issues to trust whirlpooling through one. The more I looked at them, the only way I'd go with plates is with a commercial grade exchanger that could be disassembled for cleaning.