Fermwrap - 2 for 1?

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BoogieBrandBooze

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I'm pretty sure if you cut a fermwrap in half you can just get another set of clips and a plug and essentially get two wraps from one (it's made up of two 1ft sections). My question is will these now much smaller wraps produce enough heat (with a temp controller of course) to adequately warm a 5 gallon batch?

This stuff appears to be the same and is rated 20W per foot:

http://www.reptilebasics.com/11-flexwatt-heat-tape.html

Assuming Fermwrap is rated the same would 20W be enough?
 
-or-

How about buying the heat tape and clip/plug set from the link above and making your own? Look like Fermwraps go for about $40. You could make your own for $12.

Just a thought.
 
Yup, I was thinking that too and might just do that. But the reason I asked about splitting my existing one is because I was talking to another homebrewing friend about building his own. I sent him links to the clips/plugs and the heat tape and he was going to place an order. I figured if I could split mine into two I would just ask him to order the clip/plug portion for me and we would split shipping. If it would work just as well as a "whole" one then I'd go that route. If not, then yes, another $6-$10 for a full-sized one makes perfect sense.

So....anyone know if 20W is sufficient for 5 gallons?
 
I made my own out of that stuff, works great. I can post pics if you want. I actually kind of made a tutorial but never posted it.
 
I made my own out of that stuff, works great. I can post pics if you want. I actually kind of made a tutorial but never posted it.

Sounds like some useful info... if ya have a chance post it up. I'm sure there are people here that would love the info.
 
Please do!

I'd also like to see it. I had bought an aquarium heater a couple of winters ago and was using it to heat a water bath for fermentation, but its dead and I need a replacement. This looks to be a cheaper (and less messy) route to go. subscribed.
 
I ordered 3 more fermwraps from reptilebasics after bending over for my first fermwrap. They are the same thing. If you order from reptile basics, you can have them assemble them for you and it comes just like the real thing.
 
Excuse the not so focused pictures... and the fact I kind of took pictures of different sides of the ones I was making haha.

So in the spring I needed a couple more fermwraps so I ordered two online at around $30/each (they're even more at some retailers). After a week my order still hadn't shipped (apparently they were out of stock and mistakenly didn't contact me but thought they had)... I was getting antsy and searched around on the major forums to see if anyone had ever made their own or had any reasonably priced non-light bulb alternatives. I was surprised to find nothing here (though maybe I didn't look hard enough?). They looked pretty simple to make so I figured they must have a huge markup unless that heating tape was expensive.

I eventually found a "homemade fermwrap" thread on the BN forms where someone else was looking for cheap alternative. It was only 7 posts long with two people mostly discussing a website malware issue. I'd expect such a thread to be more popular! A website one guy posted had a tutorial on making something that looked exactly like the Fermwrap, with the same parts and everything.

Apparently people make these in the Herpetology community as they need to heat cages for the snakes and reptiles they keep as pets. You can even wire them in parallel.

The heat tape is called "Flexwatt" and comes in various sizes: 3" (10 watts per foot), 4" (8W), 11" (20W) and 17" (20W). The commerical Fermwraps we see are made from approximately 2 feet/panels of the 11" Flexwatt.


Some Flexwatt comes in panels has nifty little cut here lines about every foot. (Each panel is 12.5" to give room for the wide cut here area, check end of thread to see completed comparison pic). The retailer I bought from recently switched to the non-panelized stuff. With the non-panelized, you just cut to any length in the clear plastic, between the black heating elements. Don't cut through the black elements! I used a yard stick and boxcutter to cut mine nice and straight, scissors would also work cut through it fine if you have a steady hand.

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So, let's get started:
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Chop the end off a standard extension cord you can find at Walmart for around a $1.
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Pull apart the two wires about 12 inches. You might need a knife to make a small incision between the two wires to make it easier to pull.
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Then, cut about 1/4" of the insulation off each wire with cutters, or a sharp knife.

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Insert one wire into a metal connector. You can simply put the bare wire into the hole and crimp it closed with pliers. I pushed the brown cord a little ways in so it was snug in there before I crimped.

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Slide the Flexwatt into the metal connector's slot so it's teeth align with the shiny silver metal strip. Fold the connector piece sticking up down and into the plastic. You can hear the teeth bite into the plastic and touch metal. Crimp it in place with pliers (not pictured). Repeat on the other side with the other one.

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Then, give the metal connector and cord a nice wrapping with electrical tape so you don't get shocked. Also insulate the metal strip on the other side with electric tape.

Top is homemade, bottom is commercial:
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That's it. You're Done!
Plug it into your temp controller and you're good to go!


Total Cost Each:
2 feet of 11" Flexwatt $7.20
2 Metal Connectors $1.00
6 foot Extension Cord $1.00
Total $9.20!

The commercial example uses electrical tape on the end opposite of the metal connectors, but opt for clear plastic insulators over the metal connectors as pictured above. The retailer I purchased from will sell you a kit of 2 metal connectors plus the clear plastic insulators that snap in place for $2.50 (supposedly if you fill it with silicone you can make these waterproof). Otherwise the metal connectors alone are 50 cents each. They also have pre-stripped extension cords for $2.25 if you'd prefer to go that route.

Alternatively, you can also bypass the metal connectors by scraping off a little plastic on the Flexwatt's metal strip and soldering the extension cord directly to the metal, then insulating with electrical tape (follow the brewing network link to a website for more info). So at most these could cost you $11.95/each, at the very least around $8.20, not including solder/electrical tape/shipping. Sure beats paying $30-40 each!

I bought all the parts from The Bean Farm as they ship USPS and being from Alaska I didn't want to spend overly inflated $30 which is what UPS charges us. If you're not in AK/HI you might find a cheaper retailer. They were fast though! Ordered on a Sunday night, Shipped on Monday Morning, arrived Wednesday.

And now... I share a tip I haven't seen before. I REALLY HATE taping things to carboys. Go to your local office supply store and get a pack of really big rubber bands. They'll hold em to the carboy nice and tight and you don't have to deal with any tape falling off. These are 7" (107's) and a little hard to get on the 6.5 gallon carboy but work. Longer would be better easier though.

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2 for 1? More like 3-5 for 1 :D
 
Hey just wanted to bump this and say thanks so much for the very informative instructions, this is gonna be great to have in the winter.

Cheers!
 
I use my carboy hauler to secure it, as well as the temp probe. I fold up a rag, then put the probe touching the carboy, then the rag over the probe (so its not open to air), then snap the buckle of the hauler over it.
 
hey thanks for the link. I've been needing to get some. my basement is nive right about this year for lagers but i'm going to want to do some more ales this winter so im going to need more. Also another heads up, i was looking around that site and they have ranco non-wired for pretty cheep also.
 
+1 for reptile basics, another hobby of mine is snake breeding/keeping and I have many things from Rich and he is a great guy to order from. His shipping is super fast and will take care of you.

Chromados
 
I realize this is an old thread, but thought I'd post this. If you're in Canada and want some of this stuff it's available through www.mrherp.ca

I just ordered a bunch of 11" and it worked out to $22 per 2' heater with the clips and shipping included. It turned out he had just sold out of the 11" so he offered 17" at the same price. Great service and fast shipping.
 
any longterm results using these? how safe are they in case you overflow it with foam? silicone waterproofing good enough?
 
I use it.
I don't see how there could be ANY long-term effects with this stuff. I have (2) 4' lengths of 12" wide heat tape from reptile basics that wrap my 15 gallon drum fermentors. There is so much surface area/watt, that it never really even gets "hot". I think at 4' in length, I am running somewhere around 80-90 watts of heat. Don't think of it like a 100 watt light bulb. There is SO much more surface area than that of a bulb. At any given time, I can hold my hand on it for as long as I want. There is absolutely NO risk of this thing heating up too hot and damaging something. Plus, I am running it in my chamber where I am lagering one beer and fermenting an ale with this setup. (see my signature)
FermChamber%2024.jpg
 
I've been using these for a couple years with Johnson temp controllers with no issues. I've gotten them covered in blowoff and wort and whatever else might be around the brewery without a problem. They work great and clean up great too. Of course, with any electrical thingamabob be careful if it's plugged in and you're standing in a puddle or something.

And to echo Huaco's comment above, I don't see how it will ever get hot enough to cause a serious issue.
 
Anyone have experience with these and a corny keg fermenter? I am concerned about not enough of the surface area covered. Being somewhat OCD I don't want to overwrap in a spiral. I would rather it just go once around.
 
Anyone have experience with these and a corny keg fermenter? I am concerned about not enough of the surface area covered. Being somewhat OCD I don't want to overwrap in a spiral. I would rather it just go once around.

Did you see my picture of a 15 gallon drum? Your corny keg will bee just fine...
 
Did you see my picture of a 15 gallon drum? Your corny keg will bee just fine...

Huaco, I did see the pic. How you wrapped it is what I was somewhat concerned about. You have a slight overwrap and there are sections of the drum not covered by the heat tape. I am just wondering about the uniformity of heat exchange (no hotspots/coldspots) and I don't necessarily want to wrap it spiral-like as you have. My cornies average 27" in circumference and I was thinking that I could have the 12" heat tape cut to this and would wrap around with no overlap and not off kilter. The only thing is my cornies stainless steel sections are about 18" in height so this configuration would leave about 3" below and above with no heat tape coverage. Will the heat transfer from the tape warm the lower and upper sections and if so will it do it evenly?
 
I just bought a fermwrap heater with a Johnson temp controller. While I know it's not supposed to feel hot to the touch, should it at least feel warm? It doesn't feel like it's working and my carboy temp dropped to 60 from a 70 degree set point last night.

Currently have the fermwrap plugged directly into the outlet to see which part may be failing. The controller appears to at least be attempting to call for wrap to be on.

Thanks in advance for any help!
 
when I first started using it, I wondered the same thing. however, it was able to keep an ale at fermentation temperature while I laggered another beer in the same chamber. so yes, it undoubtedly works very well!
 
I just bought a fermwrap setup and Ive had a temp controller for a while now. A few questions I have if someone would be kind enough to answer...

Where is the best place to place the probe of the temp controller? Its a Johnson analog one.
Can I lower the temp controller to do Lagers/Pilsners etc.?

My basement game room is about 64-68 degrees all year. All Ive done are ales to this point, but I'd love to get into brewing some Saison ales, Pilsners and Lagers.. Thanks for any tips!
 
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