My Quantor MiniChilly | Brewtools Edition Glycol Chiller

A quick walk-through of my Quantor MiniChilly 09 Glycol Chiller. I show the replacement of a faulty temperature controller and highlight some features of the system as it is so far.
UPDATE: i was contacted by quantor with concerns about placement among other things regarding the chiller. I have addressed them at the end of this updated video. it is otherwise the same video.
Also important to note,
My videos are not official Brewtools or Quantor videos. These are videos of how I like to set my stuff up and doing research of your own and making your own informed decisions is highly recommended. I’ll generally try not to lead you down a bad path but I make mistakes all the time.

[@twolittletanks]

Thanks for this super useful video! I received mine without proper instructions so this is great!

[@BentGateBrewing]

I like that you made some corrections at the end. Certainly seems hard for most home brewers to have this in another room though 😂

[@MasteringHomebrew]

Thanks. Haha Yea I get it but not practical at all. Will probably be just fine.

[@ItsReck1]

That’s a beast of a glycol chiller lol. You plan on adding more than two brewtools fermenters? I think you had the SS brewtech unitank prior.

[@Grasdackelparty]

Hi, thanks for your great videos, I find them very informative and enjoy watching them. What I would be interested in is how noisy would you rate the cooler? I have next to the living room a small niesche in which I want to put my fermenters and am unsure whether the Quantor cooler is not too loud. What is your experience with it?

[@MasteringHomebrew]

Hi! Thanks for the compliment! Its not terribly loud in my opinion and maintains temps very well so it does not cycle on every time a solenoid opens. It really depends on ambient temps too. The whining from the flowjet pump would be a bit annoying in a living room situation i think but i guess it depends on size of the space too. Cheers!

[@user-yj4ls8wc4b]

Hello, I want to ask how in this diagram, when the solenoid valve is closed at the inlet, the cooling liquid does not go through the circuit through the T-piece to the unitank outlet? Shouldn't there be a non-return valve at the exit from the unit tank?

[@MasteringHomebrew]

No the outlet wont let glycol in because of the back pressure from a full & closed jacket. A check valve would be redundant.

[@sirax1414]

What do you recommend to use with this mini chilly and the heating accesory from brewtools? Is for the F40

[@MasteringHomebrew]

Im using ink birds for now

[@alexmckean2105]

Hey, where did you get that wall organization rack? Trying to find one myself...

[@MasteringHomebrew]

Its from a Swedish interior design shop here in town i found. Here is a link. www.granit.com/se/forvaringstavla-rutnat-42x60cm-krom-400416/

[@davidfoster6028]

How do you set your chiller to chill below 0 C? I can only get mine to go to 0 or -1 C at best in App mode 2 or 3. Do you know what some of the various menu options within the blue controller actually do? I contacted Quantor but haven't gotten a response.

[@MasteringHomebrew]

From 9:17 in the video i set the lowest temp value on the blue controller. My chiller came with a sheet that has all the codes and process instructions to change the values. Im not sure what everything means though. I do know the low temp value needs to be changed for the chiller to go lower.

[@stephenlunn3049]

@@MasteringHomebrew I have a Minichilly 03 and there weren't any instructions included for reducing the lowest temperature value to -6°C. By following the steps you show in your video I have now been able to do this. Thank you for your help!

[@kingzor100]

seeing this video made me think that then quantor included a pump but i got my 03 today with suprise no pump... youd think they could type that in the desriptions "require pump none included"

[@MasteringHomebrew]

I think the pumps start at the 09 models. I also had to double check because it doesn’t say it’s not included but it also doesn’t say it is included like the 09 model does. You can still set it up with your own pump but you have to make sure it’s powerful enough to be able to push glycol through both jackets. I think it has to do with the reservoir size and mounting space but I could be wrong.

[@knacrr]

From what I understand the manifacturer was concerned about overheating, do u you think it's overheating/heating too much?

[@MasteringHomebrew]

After 10 months of use, I have not experienced this. It does get warm to the touch when I’m crash cooling. I keep the ambient temperature in the room at about 15°C on average. If the ambient temperatures rise a bit It seems to handle it, but I’ve only had the chiller for one summer and since im in Norway only had a few days of temps in the 30s. Something I did notice is the condensation that appears inside when ambient temperatures are higher. It dilutes the glycol mixture down and eventually overflows the tank. It happened to me when I was a lagering a batch last summer when i went out of town for a month. keeping the temperature cool around the chiller seems to eliminate this. Luckily I’m in norway so I can just crack a window and it’s enough.

[@knacrr]

​@@MasteringHomebrew one more question, is the bottom cone cold as the upper part during lagering?

[@MasteringHomebrew]

@@knacrr yea the cone is cold even though no glycol runs through it. Everything is cold.

[@knacrr]

why did you get this new chiller? Any problem with the SS brewtech one?

[@MasteringHomebrew]

The one i had just wasn’t powerful enough for what i wanted to do expansion wise. The ss one was nice. It worked great for me. Only sometimes the temp controller would get stuck at 0° every few weeks but otherwise it was good.

[@knacrr]

@@MasteringHomebrew any problem you encountered using SS brewtech glycol chiller with brewtools F80 unitank? Any pump can be used right?

[@MasteringHomebrew]

@@knacrr yea it should work just fine. Multiple tanks on the smallest chiller will struggle to maintain crash cool temps though but 1 tank it will be good.

[@michaelkurak1012]

What solenoids are you using and at what voltage?

[@MasteringHomebrew]

Im using these linked here at 24V, 10W www.brewtools.com/products/solenoid-valve-tc34mm-nc-dc24v-0-3-bar-45mm-orifice-7713021-p0000000726

[@michaelkurak1012]

Yes, I was just about to tell you that I answered my own question. I realized that it was probably a complete BrewTools system. Thank you.

[@michaelkurak1012]

@@johanlantz3216 I will be going from 120v to 24v. I have not a clue what to use. I was going to check eBay for some old computer power brick or some such thing. Maybe you have a better idea.

[@MasteringHomebrew]

@@johanlantz3216 im actually using a couple of different ones since sourcing them was a bit of a pain locally for me. This is the one i had to buy online linked below. It is in Norwegian though. Its basically a universal 24VDC power adapter you can set the voltage to on the brick. www.kjell.com//no/produkter/elektro-og-verktoy/stromforsyning/stromadaptrer/acdc-stromadapter/justerbar-utgangsspenning/luxorparts-justerbar-stromadapter-924-v-dc-24-w-p45187?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIodDlv9vl9wIVCoODBx2_VATPEAQYASABEgJvovD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds If you watch my other video on the set up you can see me put together another power adapter i found locally at the hardware shop this is that one www.clasohlson.com/no/Batterieliminator,-24-W/p/36-4400

[@DrunkPlanetcraftbeer]

What do you think the whole setup? It was easy to put it together? How much the whole setup? Worth it? Can a homebrewer invest on one without fear? How loud is the noise? As can we have one in a small apartment? Sorry about all the questions, is important for us on the other side 👊 Great video as always, thank you!

[@MasteringHomebrew]

The video i made before this one is the set up video I made for the lines and the chiller. It was pretty easy to set up and a worthwhile investment if you plan on expanding your cold side in the future or want to use this kind of solution for chilling. At the end of that set up video I cut the music and display the sound of the pump and the chiller running together and independently. Definitely worth checking out. The whole set up will run you a few thousand $/€/£ when it’s all said and done and it really depends on your set up and how much you intend to use it if it will be potentially “worth it” for you. I’m really looking forward to the brewtools temperature controller I’ve been hearing about and I’m really interested in dialing in the glycol system in the future. For a small apartment I think the smaller version of the MiniChilly might be best since the normal homebrew pumps are much quieter than the pump in the 09 version. The compressors on the MiniChilly‘s are quieter than the SS Brewtech chillers so in a small apartment I’d imagine the smallest MiniChilly would be ideal. I don’t think quantor is quite used to the fact that people will be putting these in their homes where space is minimal so im interested to see its performance this coming summer.