At fairs I scoop ice out a typical igloo cooler. I'm thinking of purchasing a cold plate to chill my water line and thought it would be a good idea to place it at the bottom of this cooler. I was wondering in the instance that the cooler needed to be closed, what would be the best way to snake my vinyl tubing to the outside? Is a cold plate cooler my only other option? My only problem going this route is that I plan on connecting my water line to a bar gun vs. the cooler's spigot.
Best way to thread tubing from inside/outside of a cooler for a cold plate?
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You typically don't want a cold plate to be sitting on the bottom of a cooler (where all the melted ice collects). Unless, you have a drain valve for it to run out. If you don't have a valve, you'd want the cold plate to be elevated so it remains in contact with ice. To raise it up you could make a frame work of PVC for the plate to sit on.
To pass the hose(s), you could just drill hole(s) and pass them through the lid (or towards the top of the wall) with grommet(s).
Or you could get fancy and run them through bulkhead fitting(s).
To pass the hose(s), you could just drill hole(s) and pass them through the lid (or towards the top of the wall) with grommet(s).
Or you could get fancy and run them through bulkhead fitting(s).
Excuse me for asking but what is a PVC in this case?
From what I understand, some water around the cold plate helps "transfer the cold" from the ice to the plate. Ice "nuggets" contain fairly large air pockets that actually insulate. The water/ice mixture that forms naturally on the bottom around the plate has much better/closer contact with the plate's surfaces. The plate lies on the bottom of the Igloo cooler, with all the ice on top and around the sides.
Look for jockey box "bulkhead" fittings to connect your water tubing. Or just drill 2 small holes toward the top to feed the tubing through. A hose clamp or nylon tie on the inside prevents it from pulling out. You'll need to keep the drain port for its intended purpose, to periodically drain off excess water.
Using already cold water will help your ice last longer.
Instead of a cold plate you can use stainless coils. Look at various jockey box designs.
But a cold plate is arguably more efficient in cooling.
Look for jockey box "bulkhead" fittings to connect your water tubing. Or just drill 2 small holes toward the top to feed the tubing through. A hose clamp or nylon tie on the inside prevents it from pulling out. You'll need to keep the drain port for its intended purpose, to periodically drain off excess water.
Using already cold water will help your ice last longer.
Instead of a cold plate you can use stainless coils. Look at various jockey box designs.
But a cold plate is arguably more efficient in cooling.
PVC tubing (Polyvinyl chloride), aka plastic plumbing pipe.
My Jockey box, PVC frame to raise the cold plate up (I have no drain on this cooler).
Cold Plate sitting in PVC frame work. Note Beer-In bulkhead on top left of lid:
I know this may defeat the purpose of this post but would I be okay by having my cooler open while I work or partially ajar when I'm not, or does it need to be completely insulated? In doing so I guess I wouldn't need any sort of passages? If no, would creating my own jockey box (sans a spigot) out of a small cooler with your suggested mods be a better solution?
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You said you're scooping ice out of that cooler.
Is that ice that goes into the beverages you serve?
If so, can you keep it clean/sanitary for consumption? Even with lid open or ajar?
If you leave the box open, the ice may melt somewhat faster on top, which could make the surface hard, and more difficult to scoop.
A few Q's:
How much do you serve per hour? That's important for sizing your cold plate.
How do you produce your carbonated water?
Yeah. This is the ice that I scoop for the beverages. I don't necessarily keep the lid open at all times. I open/close it upon each order. As far as melting, the ice usually holds up until the end of our events (5hrs) and the melting ironically is when we reach the bottom. As far as how many we serve; about 40 drinks/hr. No carbonation needed. Just serving lemonade with a 6 channel non-carbonated wunderbar gun.
You also may be wondering, "why do you need the water cold if there's no carbonation?". I'm also mixing the drinks in a cocktail shaker and running into the problem of it expand/leaking due to the warm liquids shaken inside.
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Even when shaken with ice?
Where is the source water coming from?
5 gallon water jugs that I plan on pumping with this electrical device.
I would show up with the water jugs already cold, put them into a keg style tub and surround with ice. Then keep your consumable ice in a completely separate cooler.
I think here lies the issue. I've used ice but probably not enough. I know it may defeat the purpose of such a post but if my problem is resolved with this alternative, in your expert opinion, would this eliminate the need for a cold plate?
If I understand correctly, at the moment you're shaking ice, ambient temp (unchilled) water, and syrup together. Is there any ice left after the shake? If none or not much, have you tried shaking with more ice? Are you using commercially bagged ice, such as the 20# bags at the grocery store?
I am with @Bobby_M, starting out with chilled water would get you a lot closer to the intended serving temp of the beverage. Now keeping 20-some gallons cold at an event needs some planning, you'd need coolers or large bins, and plenty of "packing" ice.
If need be, you can then chill the already cold water further down with a cold plate. Similarly to what we do when serving beer on a jockey box, the kegs are already cold and kept cold during the event.
