DIY Homebrew Glycol Chiller / Heater

build utilizing Ss FTSs system

As a home brewer I feel the next best part to tasting our own beer is
building our brew systems. There are many small steps that we can take
that will drastically improve our finished products. One of these is
fermenting at a constant temperature. This can be accomplished in a
myriad of different ways depending on how simple or complex you want to
be. The best part is that complex doesnt have to be expensive. I knew
that I wanted to couple my new Ss FTSs system with a glycol heater/chiller
unit even before I received my unit. The question was how to do this. I
searched for a prebuilt system that I could outright purchase. Yes, they are
out there provided you dont mind dropping $2-3k for just the glycol
system alone. I figured there had to be a less expensive way. After more
searching I settled on a system utilizing a standard window A/C unit and an
aquarium heater. What follows is how I built my system. What you need
to realize is that are countless different ways to put together a system like
this. Im sure this isnt the best system out there. But, it works fantastic
for my setup. I urge you to modify this system to best match your setup.
Utilize things that you may already have on hand. The window A/C unit
doesnt have to be new, any size unit will work. Even a dehumidifier could
be modified as the cooling portion of this unit. Use an old cooler that is
just laying around gathering dust. Leftover CVPC or PVC from another
project. All total I have less than $125.00 in this unit. I dont think you can
beat that and I had the enjoyment of creating it to match my system and
tasting the improved end result our brews!! So, use this guide as what it
is meant to be, just a guide of how one person built a system to
supplement a superb product that Ss Brewing Technologies has made
available to our community.

Component List

54 QT rectangular cooler Smaller or larger will work. Two could even be coupled together for a heating
reservoir and another for a cooling reservoir. This is probably my next modification using a solenoid valve
to switch between heated or cooled glycol as needed.
5,000 BTU window A/C unit again, larger or smaller will work
300 watt aquarium heater I would recommend using a 300 watt unit as it will heat a 54 qt cooler filled
with Glycol quickly. But a smaller unit would also work. It will just take longer to initially heat the
reservoir.
Johnson Controller for controlling the A/C unit and maintaining the temperature of the coolant.
CVPC pipe, fittings, valves, cleaner & cement
Remember use what you have around or can pick up inexpensively and easily. Modify this setup so that
it is custom to your brew system.

Step 1 : Glycol Reservoir Prep

The cooler will serve as the Glycol Reservoir. Any reasonable sized cooler could be used. However, the larger you can go
the better cooling and heating ability your system will provide. I had a 54 qt cooler on hand so that is what I used for my
system with a 7 gallon Ss Chronical. To prep the cooler we need to drill holes for the outgoing and incoming glycol lines.
I used CVPC on my build partially because that is what I had lying around and it is easy to locate and relatively
inexpensive. You could use PVC or copper if desired.
Start by laying out your outgoing & return glycol lines to best suit your particular setup. Then drill holes for these two l ines
in the hinge side (back) of your cooler. A step drill works well for this task drill through from the outside partially and then
drill through from the inside the rest of the way so that you have a hole all the way through the cooler. You may have to use
a knife to clean out some of the foam insulation between the plastic walls of the cooler. Try not to drill these holes
oversize.you want a snug fit on these lines.
Then youll want to cut, fit & dry assemble your CVPC so that you have an outgoing glycol line from the FTSs pump and a
return line after the glycol runs through the FTSs coil on the fermentor. Youll want the return line to form a Tee (with holes
drilled in the underside) as in the pic below. This will allow the return coolant to flow over the evaporator coil that will be
submerged in the glycol. This will also promote a flow of coolant in the reservoir.

Step 2 : Glycol Line Build in Reservoir

My goal with the inlet and outgoing lines was to have the glycol pumped from the bottom of the cooler utilizing the pump
supplied with the FTSs system and then after circulating through the FTSs system in my Chronical it would return to the
reservoir tank and be sprayed over the evaporator coil submerged in the tank. This setup would create a constant movement
of glycol in the tank so that it minimizes hot or cold spots in the coolant.
The T part of the return line has a series of holes drilled into the bottom of the pipe that allow the returning glycol to spra y
onto the condenser coil.
This setup in the pics below works well. I would like to see the pump supplied with the FTSs system a little larger. It will wor k
with this setup but the return flow isnt quite as great as I had hoped for. Other than that the cooling and heating capacity of
this system is fantastic with my 7 gallon Ss Chronical.

Return Line T spray bar

Drill 1/8 holes in the bottom of this spray bar so that return
glycol sprays on the evaporator coil

Outgoing line from pump

Aquarium Heater
FTSs pump

A/C Evaporator Coil

Step 3 Chiller Unit Prep

Remove cover off of A/C unit usually just some Phillips head sheet metal screws are what is attaching the cover.
There will be a front plastic grill cover that snaps on the other side of the unit as well remove this as well to give access to
both coils and the interior of the unit.
I also removed the blower wheel and adjustable louvers, front grill and filter and set all of these pieces aside. You will
probably discard these later. The only cover that I put back on was the large metal cover attached with the Phillips head
screws.
Our goal is to get the evaporator coil out and positioned so that it will sit in our glycol reservoir tank (cooler)
The evaporator coil is the smaller of the two coils. The condenser coil is the larger one and has the fan mounted next to it.
When the A/C unit is mounted in a window the condenser side is on the exterior of the window.
Metal Cover

Condenser Coil

Step 4 : Rotate Evaporator Coil

This is by far the trickiest part of this whole build. So, take your time doing this. Once this is completed then the rest is
pretty much just assembling everything together.
Once you have all of the covers off and you have access to the interior of the unit youll want to reposition the evaporator
coil from a horizontal position (left diagram below) to a vertical position as is seen in the right pic below.
To do this you will need to bend the two copper tubes attached to the Evaporator coil and twist the unit to a vertical
position. WARNING : DO THIS VERY SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY BEING SURE NOT TO KINK EITHER OF THESE COPPER TUBES
OR BREAK THEM. These tubes carry the refrigerant that allows the unit to cool. If you break or kink these tubes the unit
will no longer function properly.
The good news is that every window A/C unit that I have seen have plenty of length in these soft copper tubes to
accomplish this without to much trouble. I cant stress enough though that you need to take your time performing this
part of the build.

Bend these two

soft copper
tubes very
carefully !!

Step 5 : Fit Chiller to Reservoir Tank

The next step is to fit the chiller into the reservoir tank (cooler).
Youll want to align the chiller next to the reservoir tank so that it is centered under the return spray bar. When you
have it centered use a black marker to mark where the two copper lines for the evaporator coil enter the tank.
More than likely youll have to set the A/C unit on something to get it to sit at the right level in the reservoir tank.
Use a dremel tool to notch enough room for the copper lines to sit low enough that the lid on the cooler will close
completely.
At this time since you have the dremel tool out make two notches on one end of the top lip of the cooler to allow
access for the electrical cords for the FTSs pump and aquarium heater. (See pics below)

Notches

Notches

Step 6 : Mate Glycol unit to your fermentor

Now its time to mate the unit to your brew system. This is where it really
becomes a custom design to what fits your system. This can really be fit into
any brewing setup with a little creativity.
Youll notice that I have on my system below piping that not only pumps glycol
into the FTSs system in my Chronical but that I also have a couple of valves that
allow me to direct cooled glycol into my counterflow chiller instead of using tap
water. I use a larger pump than what was supplied with the FTSs for this
operation and it works great at cooling my wort to pitching temps in a matter
of minutes.

Step 7 : Finishing touches

Step 8 : Operation
Plug the Chiller into a Johnson temperature controller and run the thermocouple into the glycol reservoir. When cooling
is needed set the Johnson controller 15-20 degrees cooler than your fermenting temp and program your FTSs to cooling
mode and set at the temp youd like to ferment at.
If heating is desired turn off the Chiller and turn the aquarium heater on. I utilize the built in temp control on the
aquarium heater. But, this heater could also be plugged into the Johnson control. Its your preference as to which way
you set this up. Set the FTSs controller to heat mode and the temp to your fermenting temp. I usually heat my Glycol to
85 degrees. It will take about 45 minutes for a 300 watt aquarium heater to get my glycol up to temp.
Because of my climate I really have no need to switch between heating and cooling in the same 24 hr period. That would
be a limitation to this setup and the FTSs controller in general as a manual change from cooling to heating or vice versa
would need to be made.
Because of this I plan on adding a second reservoir tank for strictly heating and then the other one for cooling purposes. I
will plumb these with electronic solenoid valves and Im hoping that at some point in the future the FTSs controller might
be available with an option that allows it to automatically choose between heating and cooling mode to even further
automate the fermenting process.

Summary
The Ss Brewing Technologies FTSs and Chronical systems
are truly a very well built, versatile system for the home
brewer . All components are of very high quality at an
amazing price point that has not been seen in this market
before.
With just a little imagination, some materials that you may
already have laying around or that are easily accessible
you too can have a glycol chiller / heater system that will
undoubtedly improve your finished product immensely.
My hat goes off to the crew at Ss Brewing Technologies
and I cant wait to see what they come up with next!!

Built & written by David M. Kucko 1-17-2015