Cool. I also heard from an insider that the chilling time is much faster than other chilling methods if you merely lift and swish the chiller in the wort. Supposedly as fast if not slightly faster than a CFC or plate chiller at a typical pace. Something like single digit minutes for 5 gallons.
Supposedly thinner walls on the SS version helps speed the process, too.
Cheers.
Jaded talks about it here.
I like the design of their counterflow, it looks like you can really get in there with a brush to clean it.
You need to have good flow in and out, turbulent flow will eliminate the boundary layer.
The wort side needs to be stirred. I have a thermometer in my brew kettle, if you the wort a good stir it will drop 5-20 degrees quickly. Why? The chilled wort will stay by the coils, stirring will mix it all up. If you just chill and not stir you can get there, but you’re at the mercy of weak bouancy forces to mix. That is slow.
Ahoy!
Shakedown cruise of the SS Hydra complete! It has surpassed my minimum goal of being at least faster than my old copper chiller, and perhaps then some: it seems flow rate has a considerable impact on getting peak performance.
I used the same two stage procedure I’ve been using with my 50’ x 3/8" copper chiller: run tap water to at least below 100°F, then switch over to a utility pump circulating ice water.
Flow rate of my kitchen faucet for the first stage was just 2 gpm, while JaDeD says 6 gpm is optimal. The pump will surpass this of course. Temperature of the tap water was 46-47°F.
First stage, in 6 minutes 6.6 gallons of wort were down to 88°F. Lately I’ve been around 10 minutes to get into the 90s, but the difference here wasn’t huge.
Second stage recirculating ice water (after a 3 minute pause to switch over) took it down to 44°F in just 10 more minutes. Last time out was just over 20 minutes to 49°F. So there was a significant difference.
I think I could improve performance by learning optimal methods for stirring and agitating. Especially at the beginning of today’s run, I was struggling with this, because the configuration of the Hydra won’t allow the same stirring technique I’m used to – there’s a lot more going on in the kettle. I started to get the hang of it. It’s also confusing me because it’s wound, and has the in/out fittings, backwards from my homemade chiller. But overall, with a total elapsed time more than 1/3 less than the fastest I can do with my old copper chiller, and having gotten more than 5°F colder than when I usually call it quits, I think I’m pleased. It’s stainless, and it’s fast. Even if not as fast as advertised, at least in my circumstances (again, advertised speeds clearly depend on flow rate. So I can only make a relative comparison to my old chiller.)
Next time I will probably switch over to pumping ice water a bit sooner, since that is clearly where I got the best performance.
I found stirring cumbersome enough that I attached a whirlpool arm.
The irony is, the Hydra itself would probably make the best stir stick, since it has so much area. It will move wort around way better than any spoon. But I was a little taken aback at how heavy it is when full of water, since it’s so light on its own! Anyway, that was the first use. I know I’ll only get better results as I get used to it. Pretty happy with it, it’s definitely a big upgrade for me.
I used to whirlpool with my Hydra but now I simply lift it carefully and set it back in a few times while the water is running. The lifting and returning stir the wort enough to keep the temperature dropping.
Edit: The same effect could probably be accomplished by just gently turning the Hydra left and right.
So just occasionally moving it around? That sounds easy enough. I’ll try that next time. Thanks for the tip.
So today was my second run with the SS Hydra, and I’m learning how to get the most out of it. I tried just gently moving the chiller around, rather than stirring the wort, and the improvement was significant. Even including several minutes each for initially hooking up and getting it in, and then switching to recirculating ice water, I took 7 gallons from boiling to 44°F in less than 20 minutes from flame out, and that’s still with my paltry 2 gpm on the tap water stage. I am very pleased with this thing. 
Very cool! Glad you’re enjoying it. If you have a chance, I’m sure Clay woukd love to hear your results.
Had another brew with this yesterday, still loving it, JFTR. Getting the time down even more as I learn just the right amount of moving it around.
And yeah, Denny, gonna shoot Clay an email now I’ve really got some experience in!
Great to hear, Robert!