Condenser Cooling Water

[kuraokami]

Hello!

Newb question here but what do you guys do with the output water from cooling your condenser. It's pretty hot so i've been using it to initial rinse out some of my equipment. I don't see why not but I was wondering if there was any reason it wouldn't be safe (using copper tubes instead of the ones that came with the t500).

Also if it's safe.... is it safe to kickstart mashing by using the hot water ?

[Salt Must Flow]

It should be just hot water. I send mine down the drain.

I do notice that my clear input tubing remains clear, but the output line is very dark like rust or something. I don't know if it has anything to do with the copper condenser, but there is definitely something staining only the output tubing. If I put some toilet bowl cleaner through the line it cleans it very well, but with use it turns dark again. I use water straight from the well, not through a water softener so it could be rust. It appears heat has something to do with it though because only the hot tubing gets this discoloration. Very strange.

[Yummyrum]

Domestic Hot water services used copper tanks for years . They still would if it was aa cheap as vitreous enamel coated steel .

So don’t worry about it .

[6 Row Joe]

Down the drain unless you want to recycle then you will need a barrel of some size and a few gallon milk jugs filled with ice. I ran my 3 gallon pot off a 5 gallon bucket with a jug of ice in the middle of a hot summer day. Your T500 is larger so a 15 gallon garbage can would work fine. Snap on the cap when you're done to keep the mosquitos out. You can run it for a long time.

[Chauncey]

I've done everything from down the drain to flooding my yard on accident a few times. I've also often used the water to start new wash and clean stuff.

[Dancing4dan]

Hello!

Newb question here but what do you guys do with the output water from cooling your condenser. It's pretty hot so i've been using it to initial rinse out some of my equipment. I don't see why not but I was wondering if there was any reason it wouldn't be safe (using copper tubes instead of the ones that came with the t500).

Also if it's safe.... is it safe to kickstart mashing by using the hot water ?

I’ve never seen any color in the water from the PC condenser.

I used it to do two corn meal and yellow label mash today. I adjusted the flow through the PC to give me the correct temp in the fermenter. I added a needle valve to the water output side of the condenser a while ago. Gives great control.

[Bushman]

As mentioned my water is just warm so I either run it out on the ground or water garden areas.

[NZChris]

My condensate temperature is always controlled, so the cooling water is always at the minimum flow rate needed to achieve that and is usually hot enough to wash dishes, put another wash down, kill weeds, whatever. I've even cooked an egg in the top of a flake stand while making gin in a small copper alembic.

[The Baker]

As mentioned my water is just warm so I either run it out on the ground or water garden areas.

Me too but my lawn has a few bald patches from the water being allowed to get too hot!.

Geoff

[gurkan]

I don't have a direct access to sink/drain and need to move the water manually during the runs. So what I do is letting the hot output from worm condenser to back in the ice bucket which I collect the cool water via an aquarium pump. The hot water I'm letting in the ice bucket doesn't drastically increase the temperature of the bucket and it saves me some manual labour. I renew the ice bucket every hour or once it started to become warmer than the bottom of worm condenser.

But sometimes I collect the hot water seperately in a washtub and sprinkle some salt in it for some good old foot soak, indulging myself after a long day of hard work. If you have never tried to treat your feet with hot water and salt, you're missing a big time

[greggn]

If I put some toilet bowl cleaner through the line it cleans it very well, but with use it turns dark again. I use water straight from the well, not through a water softener so it could be rust. It appears heat has something to do with it though because only the hot tubing gets this discoloration.

Possibly, the toilet bowl cleaner has etched the inside of the tubing and that now-pitted surface is trapping particulate matter that just flows through your input tubing.

[StillerBoy]

I do notice that my clear input tubing remains clear, but the output line is very dark like rust or something. I don't know if it has anything to do with the copper condenser, but there is definitely something staining only the output tubing.
It appears heat has something to do with it though because only the hot tubing gets this discoloration. Very strange.

Has nothing to do with copper or the hot water.. It's just iron oxidation from the iron in the water after it is allowed to dry during non usage.. similar effect in hot water tanks over time.. in our use it stays in the hose.. if you care to not have such a build up, rinse it with cold water after each usage..

My water goes down the drain most times when I have no other use for it such dissolving sugar..

Mars

[BrewinBrian44]

It should be just hot water. I send mine down the drain.

I do notice that my clear input tubing remains clear, but the output line is very dark like rust or something. I don't know if it has anything to do with the copper condenser, but there is definitely something staining only the output tubing. If I put some toilet bowl cleaner through the line it cleans it very well, but with use it turns dark again. I use water straight from the well, not through a water softener so it could be rust. It appears heat has something to do with it though because only the hot tubing gets this discoloration. Very strange.

I use raw well water for my condensers so I don’t waste softener salt during my runs, I also have the same thing you describe with the tubing only on the output side. It’s actually rust you’re seeing from the iron in your water. The heat inside the condenser rapidly speeds up the oxidation of iron to into iron oxide “rust,” that’s why you only see it on the hot side tubing. My shotgun PC is stainless steel, so it’s definitely not copper that’s causing it.

If it were copper, it would likely be green rather than brown.

[Salt Must Flow]

I do notice that my clear input tubing remains clear, but the output line is very dark like rust or something. I don't know if it has anything to do with the copper condenser, but there is definitely something staining only the output tubing.
It appears heat has something to do with it though because only the hot tubing gets this discoloration. Very strange.

Has nothing to do with copper or the hot water.. It's just iron oxidation from the iron in the water after it is allowed to dry during non usage.. similar effect in hot water tanks over time.. in our use it stays in the hose.. if you care to not have such a build up, rinse it with cold water after each usage..

My water goes down the drain most times when I have no other use for it such dissolving sugar..

Mars

I drain the hoses after every use. It does this more noticeably on the hot water line and only faintly in the cold water line. As you mentioned, I believe it is the iron in my well water and after searching online I read that rust is accelerated with heat. The hot water also leaves rust stains on any surface if left in contact for any good amount of time too. This is the only thing I've ever observed regarding hot water that exits my condensers. I'm not making claims of safety concerns, it's just an observation. I don't know if there would be any off flavors produced by this, whether this much rust is bad for a wash/mash, but I probably wouldn't want to use it for a wash/mash. I always use Reverse Osmosis water for my fermentations.

This is a pic after a single use.

[StillerBoy]

I don't know if there would be any off flavors produced by this, whether this much rust is bad for a wash/mash, but I probably wouldn't want to use it for a wash/mash.

Picture of my outlet water line, it's discolored as well, but it's been in used for over 4 yrs now, used by-weekly..

As to the water having high iron content, my water has iron in it, don't remember the number but not to high recall, but I mash/wash with it and the results are good, maybe not like if I had spring water or such..

Mars

12" water lines

[Archee72]

My water quality is fine so I use it for my next wash. Get the temp right, add the goodies and then pitch the yeast. No water wasted

[kuraokami]

My water quality is fine so I use it for my next wash. Get the temp right, add the goodies and then pitch the yeast. No water wasted

This is what I was thinking. It just seems a waste to let the water go already heated. Thanks for the info!

[kuraokami]

I don't have a direct access to sink/drain and need to move the water manually during the runs. So what I do is letting the hot output from worm condenser to back in the ice bucket which I collect the cool water via an aquarium pump. The hot water I'm letting in the ice bucket doesn't drastically increase the temperature of the bucket and it saves me some manual labour. I renew the ice bucket every hour or once it started to become warmer than the bottom of worm condenser.

But sometimes I collect the hot water seperately in a washtub and sprinkle some salt in it for some good old foot soak, indulging myself after a long day of hard work. If you have never tried to treat your feet with hot water and salt, you're missing a big time

Amazing!

[8Ball]

Costs me around $3 for a thousand gallons of city water. It runs out on the ground.

[Bryan1]

I have a 5,000 gal rainwater tank beside my shed and I just use a 12 volt flojet pump and the output water from my PC goes straight back into the rainwater tank. also by putting 4 litre a minute thru the PC no heating of the water takes place as the flow is fast enough for it. Now with my RC the needle valve when running is less than a 1/4 of turn from fully closed.

[Deplorable]

Costs me around $3 for a thousand gallons of city water. It runs out on the ground.

Yep. I run mine to the storm drain that grains to the drainage ditch, which leads to a stream. I use more water in a typical shower than I do during two 12 gallon stripping runs. Besides I figure I'm doing my part to dilute all the pollutants that run off the streets and lawns into the salmon spawning stream the ditch feeds into. So "it's for the environment ".

[8Ball]

Costs me around $3 for a thousand gallons of city water. It runs out on the ground.

Yep. I run mine to the storm drain that grains to the drainage ditch, which leads to a stream. I use more water in a typical shower than I do during two 12 gallon stripping runs. Besides I figure I'm doing my part to dilute all the pollutants that run off the streets and lawns into the salmon spawning stream the ditch feeds into. So "it's for the environment ".

Right back into the aquifer for me. All good.

[shadylane]

Also if it's safe.... is it safe to kickstart mashing by using the hot water ?

I hope it's safe, because I've mashed with it.
During the winter, I've saved the hot water in a barrel for the barn cat to sleep on.