10 gallon igloo water coolers

[brandicomo]

i ended up with 10,000 10 gallon igloo water coolers from a business i had renting them out to a company for hydration for their employees. After covid, they could only use bottled water, no coolers. The coolers are used but aren't cracked or damaged. They are mostly just faded. Can't they be used for home brewing? i originally paid 500k for the 10k i have so i'd like to get something for them even if it's just a few dollars but this is the only repurpose i can for them i can think of. If not they will have to be brought to a landfill where they will sit for the next million years. Any suggestions?

 

[cmac62]

Man that is a lot of coolers!! Not sure how you want to sell them. I'd guess in a lot, but I don't think anyone is going to buy that many used coolers. Can't really sell them individually, shipping would be ridiculous. I suggest you see if you can find a non-profit somewhere that can use them is some way. Good luck.

 

[day_trippr]

Can't they be used for home brewing?

Yes, they could be used as mash tuns and as hot liquor tanks.
Hopefully they were already fully amortised and this is just a way to purposefully recycle them...

Cheers!

 

[grampamark]

I hope the 500K was for an entire lot of surplus items and not just the coolers. The current retail at Wally World is $60. For a lot of 10K, bought from a distributor/importer, the price, new, would probably be less than $30. There has to be more to this story, or the OP is new to the liquidation business.

 

[moreb33rplz]

That's a lot of coolers

 

[Dr_Jeff]

My understanding was, that he bought them and had been leasing them out and whoever they had been leased to, no longer needed them.
Given the simple fact that they are faded, the investment had likely been recovered and a profit was made.

 

[PCABrewing]

With sun fading of HDPE also comes deterioration.
I would not be surprised if they crack if impacted.
I have some HDPE buckets that I used in the garden and they spent a lot of time outside.
They break pretty easily. I think the UV depletes something in the plastic.

 

[Yesfan]

Can't you recycle them? I'd try to do that before filling up a landfill with them.

 

[grampamark]

My understanding was, that he bought them and had been leasing them out and whoever they had been leased to, no longer needed them.
Given the simple fact that they are faded, the investment had likely been recovered and a profit was made.

That makes sense. I read it that the OP had bought them from the rental company.

 

[bracconiere]

sell them on ebay? if you want a profit, buy a bunch of cooler conversion kits, and sell them there as mash tuns....

 

[Closet Fermenter]

I think the UV depletes something in the plastic.

I have often wondered if the hot water in a dispenser designed to hold cool water may be depleting something into my beer as well. So, I saved my pennies and replaced my cooler with stainless steel. It may be my imagination, but I think the beer is better. In any case, I have a little more peace of mind about not consuming chemicals leached out of a plastic cooler.
You could grow a lot of tomatoes in 10k coolers!

 

[pletchdl]

Polyethylene is not stable to UV exposure, but most have some level of stabilization that eventually gets depleted with enough exposure. The UV light has enough energy to break molecular bonds, causing chain scission of the PE molecules, resulting in free radical formation, and with exposure to oxygen, causes a self-propagating reaction that causes further chain scission and polymer embrittlement.

 

[Closet Fermenter]

Polyethylene is not stable to UV exposure, but most have some level of stabilization that eventually gets depleted with enough exposure. The UV light has enough energy to break molecular bonds, causing chain scission of the PE molecules, resulting in free radical formation, and with exposure to oxygen, causes a self-propagating reaction that causes
further chain scission and polymer embrittlement.

Yeah, what he said!

 

[Yesfan]

I have often wondered if the hot water in a dispenser designed to hold cool water may be depleting something into my beer as well. So, I saved my pennies and replaced my cooler with stainless steel. It may be my imagination, but I think the beer is better. In any case, I have a little more peace of mind about not consuming chemicals leached out of a plastic cooler.
You could grow a lot of tomatoes in 10k coolers!

After seeing another member here do it years ago, I bought a Bayou Classic kettle and shoe-horned it into my Home Depot cooler mash tun. 7 years and still going strong. I've upgraded since this pic (covered the HD logo with a Chop & Brew sticker).

 

[Closet Fermenter]

After seeing another member here do it years ago, I bought a Bayou Classic kettle and shoe-horned it into my Home Depot cooler mash tun. 7 years and still going strong. I've upgraded since this pic (covered the HD logo with a Chop & Brew sticker).

Hey, that’s fantastic! I have never seen that done before, but it’s a great idea. I have two igloos that I have not used in awhile that I may be able to put back into service this way. Thanks!

 

[Yesfan]

Hey, that’s fantastic! I have never seen that done before, but it’s a great idea. I have two igloos that I have not used in awhile that I may be able to put back into service this way. Thanks!

If you need more Igloo coolers, I know a guy..............


In my case, the particular BC kettle's dimensions worked with my HD cooler. I had to remove the plastic liner and shave some of the insulation out to make it fit. Not fun, but worth it. I don't know if those two items are still sold by Amazon and Home Depot since it's been seven years.

If I find that thread, I'll link it to you.

EDIT: Here's the link Ben the Brewman's Stainless Cooler Mash Tun

 

[Homebrew Harry]

I'm wondering how many employees does it take to drink 100,000 gallons of anything that isn't beer ?

 

[mashpaddled]

sell them on ebay? if you want a profit, buy a bunch of cooler conversion kits, and sell them there as mash tuns....

With 10,000 coolers he'll leave quite a business to his great grandkids still converting coolers to sell on ebay.

 

[Homebrew Harry]

sell them on ebay? if you want a profit, buy a bunch of cooler conversion kits, and sell them there as mash tuns....

I hope he gets a bigger price break on the conversion kits than he did on the coolers !

 

[Dancy]

After seeing another member here do it years ago, I bought a Bayou Classic kettle and shoe-horned it into my Home Depot cooler mash tun. 7 years and still going strong. I've upgraded since this pic (covered the HD logo with a Chop & Brew sticker).

What a great idea! What’s the size of that Bayou Classic kettle?

 

[Yesfan]

What a great idea! What’s the size of that Bayou Classic kettle?

44qt. Check one of my earlier replies. I think I put a link to it on Amazon. It's still available, but don't know if that same cooler from Home Depot is.

 

[Dancy]

Thanks! Sorry I missed that - scrolled ahead too quickly.