Took a gamble and it paid off

[movet22]

So I built myself a no-weld CFC by re-purposing my DIY IC and using an old garden hose. I also bought one of those mega-cheap sub-$20 Chinese ebay pumps to feed the wort through the CFC.

Well yesterday was brew day and my pump has not come yet. Really worried about my lack of chiller, I decided to roll the dice and try a gravity fed CFC with incredibly small amounts of space between the BK and the CFC and then between the CFC and the corny I was fermenting in. Maybe about 8'' between each- could have been less (I will measure and take a picture after I post this).

I guess my point is that gravity CFC is indeed possible even with limited space! Thank god it worked out!

 

[Monster Mash]

Using a CFC to chill without a pump isn't really a problem but if you want to clean it properly its best to recirculate your cleaner and sanitizer though it. A pump is much easier for doing that.

 

[movet22]

So all in I had ~6'' of vertical space from the ball valve to the CFC and 14'' of horizontal run. I got a great flow. as for as sanitizing, I ran star san through my MLT as a final cleaning step through the CFC right before attaching it to the BK valve (supplementing my sanitation efforts with my spray bottle on anything that may be in question, better safe than sorry )

Now if only that darn pump would hurry up and get here...