Question 1

Can it be used to cool beer in a fermenter through a cooling coil? Is the internal pump high pressure?

Accepted Answer

Yup, it can. That is what I'm using it for. You need a pump though (normal for most FTSS) and a small reservoir where the pump can be in as there chillers reservoir is closed off.

Range is down to 4'C, think it is rated for up to 100L aquarium. So should be able to cool a 25L batch easily.

Personal experience: Holding temp for both ales and lagers works as expected, cold crashing is difficult as it won't go below 4'C - however it is 1/5th of the price of most Glycolchillers.

My setup is as follows:
1) SS BrewTech Brewbucket 13L / 3,5Gal
1.1) Neoprene isolation for the bucket
2) SS BrewTech FTSS (includes pump, neoprene, controller etc)
3) HC-100A chiller
4) Silicone hoses (comes w/SS BrewTech)
5) Small 1L reservoir for the pump

The cooling flow is as follows: 
1) The chiller is connected with a short hose to the small reservoir (call it "chiller out")
2) In the small reservoir the pump is and it is connected to the coil in the Brewbucket lid (call is "Lid in")
2.1) Pump is controlled the small controller which has a probe in a small "rod" the lid to read temp of brew
3) From the coil in the lid ("Lid out") it then goes to the chiller ("chiller in")

With that setup the chiller only runs every 30 minutes or so to cool the internal reservoir and the temp is stable. Set the hysteresis to 1'C (ehh temp  leeway, English is not my first language - sorry for errors). Key to holding temp is insulation of the fermentator.

I use the SS BrewTech bits as it was "plug and play" and that I already had the Brewbucket, that being said you can probably create your own FTSS with parts from here and there to reduce costs even further. Might also be other brands on the market.

Hope this helps.

Question 2

Can this item be used with this chiller? https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/b09k4pd3sv/ref=ask_ql_qh_dp_hza

Accepted Answer

I can't see why not, although it's purpose is to clean the tank water before the main tank filter. As the chiller has no inbuilt filtration due to it being a simple pass through, this device isn't really necessary,

Question 3

Can I connect it to an external filter system?

Accepted Answer

Mine is and works perfectly. Today (25/07/2019) air temperature was 36 Celsius but water temperature was 23 Celsius. I find that filtering the water BEFORE it goes through the chiller helps keep the pipework within the chiller clean.

Question 4

People mention a pump being required - is it a pump or a filter that is needed?

Accepted Answer

The chiller has no inbuilt pump to get the water from the tank to the chiller and back into the tank again. If you already have a filter/pump then you don't need a separate pump.

ASIN	B008POXRO4
Best Sellers Rank	110,439 in Pet Supplies ( See Top 100 in Pet Supplies ) 1,069 in Aquarium Water Treatments
Customer Reviews	4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars (40)
Date First Available	25 July 2012
Guaranteed software updates until	unknown
Material type	Metal
Package Dimensions	42.7 x 40.4 x 26.8 cm; 9.89 kg

Hailea HC-100A Reservoir Chiller

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