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MoreBeer Conical - add coil chiller?

 
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perogi




Joined: 12 Feb 2012
Posts: 850
Location: NH

Drinking: Perogi Pale, NEIPA, Nutter's Crossing Nut Brown Ale, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter Clone

Working on: Max's Maibock


PostLink    Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2018 3:03 pm    Post subject: MoreBeer Conical - add coil chiller? Reply with quote


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Hi all,

I've had a MoreBeer 14gal conical for 6 years and for the most part I'm pretty happy with it. Recently I got another conical/unitank that uses an immersion coil to chill. I just built a glycol chiller from an old AC unit and I'm very impressed with how well it chills so I'd like to install an immersion coil in the MoreBeer conical but unsure where to source a coil. SSBrewtech uses a 6" TC cap and Spike uses a 4" TC cap (The MoreBeer uses a 3" tc cap). At first I thought I could use the Spike one and get a reducer (in this case an expander) to make it fit but they made the immersion coil a bit off-center so I'm not sure it will fit. The 3-4" reducer is almost $50 dollars...

TL;DR; has anyone used an immersion coil in their MoreBeer conical?

Thanks as always,
perogi.
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mvakoc




Joined: 19 Sep 2011
Posts: 152
Location: Evergreen, CO


PostLink    Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 3:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am in the exact same boat with 2 morebeer conicals and 1 Ss unitank. Blichmann to the rescue. I bought their chiling coil.

https://www.blichmannengineering.com/products/fermentor-cooling-coil

I haven't yet installed it due to not being able to find my punch but it seems like it will work as well as the Ss. I CIP clean and rinse with 180 degree water before sanitizing so am not super concerned about using weldless connections.
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perogi




Joined: 12 Feb 2012
Posts: 850
Location: NH

Drinking: Perogi Pale, NEIPA, Nutter's Crossing Nut Brown Ale, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter Clone

Working on: Max's Maibock


PostLink    Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 5:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This looks like the solution I've been searching for. Thank you!
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JMD887




Joined: 31 Jan 2018
Posts: 120
Location: Akron, Ohio

Drinking: Two Hearted Ale

Working on: American Red IPA


PostLink    Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 6:54 pm    Post subject: Re: MoreBeer Conical - add coil chiller? Reply with quote

perogi wrote:
I just built a glycol chiller from an old AC unit and I'm very impressed with how well it chills so I'd like to install an immersion coil in the MoreBeer conical but unsure where to source a coil.
perogi.


Where/how did you figure out this dark magic of a converting an old AC unit?!?
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perogi




Joined: 12 Feb 2012
Posts: 850
Location: NH

Drinking: Perogi Pale, NEIPA, Nutter's Crossing Nut Brown Ale, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter Clone

Working on: Max's Maibock


PostLink    Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 2:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi JMD887,

In a nutshell I opened up the shell of the AC unit, traced the wires the off/on switch and wired them together. Then I realized that the compressor wasn't turning on so I looked at the circuit board and noticed that I needed to complete the circuit for both the on/off switch and the compressor wire.

One thread is here: http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31680 but I used the following threads to work it out.

I plan on building this sled to roll it around: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/the-ole-window-ac-glycol-chiller-build.650039/

Hope this helps!
perogi.
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Ozarks Mountain Brew




Joined: 22 May 2013
Posts: 737
Location: The Ozark Mountains of Missouri


PostLink    Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 3:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

perogi, just curious how low can you get on your unit? I was thinking of building the same thing
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"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
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perogi




Joined: 12 Feb 2012
Posts: 850
Location: NH

Drinking: Perogi Pale, NEIPA, Nutter's Crossing Nut Brown Ale, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter Clone

Working on: Max's Maibock


PostLink    Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 10:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have it set to 28 degrees F right now. I could easily get it colder. I used this chart to figure out what ratio glycol to water: https://www.mychiller.com/GlycolChart.html

I usually only chill down to 36-40 degrees for cold crashing. My ambient is 64 degrees in my basement.

hth!
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Ozarks Mountain Brew




Joined: 22 May 2013
Posts: 737
Location: The Ozark Mountains of Missouri


PostLink    Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 10:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

so with it that low does it run constantly or off and on
_________________
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
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perogi




Joined: 12 Feb 2012
Posts: 850
Location: NH

Drinking: Perogi Pale, NEIPA, Nutter's Crossing Nut Brown Ale, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter Clone

Working on: Max's Maibock


PostLink    Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 10:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Definitely not constantly. The cooler I chose is insulated really well. There's about 9 gallons of liquid in the cooler and it holds temps really well. Building this was one of the best things I've done for my brewery.
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JMD887




Joined: 31 Jan 2018
Posts: 120
Location: Akron, Ohio

Drinking: Two Hearted Ale

Working on: American Red IPA


PostLink    Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2018 12:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

perogi wrote:
Hi JMD887,

In a nutshell I opened up the shell of the AC unit, traced the wires the off/on switch and wired them together. Then I realized that the compressor wasn't turning on so I looked at the circuit board and noticed that I needed to complete the circuit for both the on/off switch and the compressor wire.

One thread is here: http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31680 but I used the following threads to work it out.

I plan on building this sled to roll it around: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/the-ole-window-ac-glycol-chiller-build.650039/

Hope this helps!
perogi.


thanks for the info- looks like something worth looking into... at some point.
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perogi




Joined: 12 Feb 2012
Posts: 850
Location: NH

Drinking: Perogi Pale, NEIPA, Nutter's Crossing Nut Brown Ale, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter Clone

Working on: Max's Maibock


PostLink    Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2018 1:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's probably the one thing that I wished I did a long time ago. Buying ice and swapping ice packs got old very quickly. It was really easy once I started to play around with it. Be careful though, there's a lot of electricity going through there.

From what I hear, if you can get an analog one (non-electronic board), it's much easier.
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wscottcross




Joined: 03 Jul 2015
Posts: 212
Location: CT

Drinking: Launch IPA, Double Sunshine clone, Maple Coffee breakfast stout

Working on: expanding my beer horizons (and my beltline)


PostLink    Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2018 10:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

And that's what the Coolbot does for you without having to take apart an AC unit. Not the cheapest option, but does work VERY well. I ran one in an insulated shed and it would keep the whole shed below 40F even through the summer months with an 8000 BTU window unit and all you have to do it attach a small heater wire to the room air sensor to trick the AC unit into going below 60F.
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Kal clone controller, 30 gallon Spike Brewing kettles, 6 tap keezer
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perogi




Joined: 12 Feb 2012
Posts: 850
Location: NH

Drinking: Perogi Pale, NEIPA, Nutter's Crossing Nut Brown Ale, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter Clone

Working on: Max's Maibock


PostLink    Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2018 11:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've heard great things about the coolbot. Sadly, I don't have a good dedicated space for that and I like the ability to control each fermenter separately (I've fermented saisons and 'normal' ales at the same time). If I can convince SWMBO to let me create a cold room in my basement for a Coolbot to store kegs, I think that would be ideal.
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