help on setting up a prechiller

[huntfisher]

I am going on my second batch Saturday and the weather is much hotter than my last batch. I was wondering how you setup a prechiller, and is a pump necessary. I have two wort chillers 25 ft. Do I just place one of the wort chillers in a bucket of ice water and then connect the hose to the other wort chiller. How long should the line run between the two wort chillers Also, some sources state that you should just use the prechiller after you get rid of most of the heat, is this true. My tap water has been between 78-82 degrees after running it for five minutes.

[Rezzin]

If you plan on using 2 chillers then yes, I would use the tap water to first get your temps to <100 then switch over to your prechiller. You would do exactly what you said, put your chiller in a bucket, add ice, then run it through. You'd probably want to keep the length of tubing as short as possible (but long enough to make sure you can move it where you want) to minimize cold loss.

If you're not getting the results you want, you may want to try a sub pump and a single chiller. Works well.