Chilling wrap/jacket? Does this exist?

[danb35]

I was watching a review of the Brewbuilt X2 jacketed conical on YouTube the other day when I had a thought: Sure, a jacketed conical is the bee's knees, but they're pricey, and it isn't something you can incrementally upgrade to (i.e., it isn't a feature you can add on to a fermenter you already have). But why not add a jacket?

It seems to me it should be pretty straightforward to make something that would wrap around the outside of the fermenter and have either tubing or channels in it. Chilled water or glycol would flow through these, and presto! Instant jacketed fermenter. And if sized appropriately, it could be used on much more modest fermenters too--the buckets, Fermonsters, Fermzillas, etc. But I don't see anything like this on the market, and it makes me wonder why.

I don't think I'm all that smart or creative in this regard, so if I've thought of this, it seems others would have too. So is it just a dumb idea for reasons that aren't apparent to me? Or is it actually out there, and I just don't know where to look? Or is this really an original idea?

 

[Whisky River]

It’s a great idea, I contemplated something similar a while back but then came across some references to these. Ive never seen one first hand so I can’t comment on quality and there might be other companies making them as well but I’ve seen this one referenced a few times around here.
https://www.gotta-brew.com/products/cool-zone-cooling-jacket.htmlUnfortunately the fine print says that they won’t work with diaphragm type pumps so for now that means no good for me.

 

[natmartin]

I've used one of their cooling jackets on kegs, and they worked great.
I think the biggest problem with using it on my CF5 is that there are ports above the cone.

 

[danb35]

So someone had thought of it before--makes sense. I'll have to check it out. I already have an Inkbird and a pump, so shouldn't need to add anything else.

 

[schmurf]

I did a hack a while ago where I use an old and small freezer to chill a keg for lagering, it works pretty well and could be applied to a fermenter I suppose. View attachment 20230515_133230.jpg
Silicone tubing wrapped around the keg.
View attachment 20230515_133242.jpg
The tubing connect to the freezer.
View attachment 20230515_133340.jpg
And in the freezer, a container with glycol and water and a small pump.

I've got an inkbird temperature probe attached to the keg set to 1 degree Celsius.

 

[Basspaleale]

I've been using one for a couple of years now and it works great. I have a 6 gal plastic water can that is filled with glyco/water mixture, setting in my freezer which is located next to my fermentation box. I use a 16 gal keg for my fermentor. I brew nothing but lagers and I ferment at 46 deg.

 

[Whisky River]

Could anyone who has one of these please post a close up picture of the quick disconnect fittings that they use at the ends of the hoses? I’m wondering if they would work with some fittings I already have attached to an old cooler project I tried.

 

[dtashmore547]

I made something like this with a water geyser jacket, strapped 10mts of 5mm plastic hose on the inside and ran chilled water through it, chilled the water with a glycol chiller. just tied the jacket around my fermenter with string and covered the top with some of the jacket cut-offs. worked ok but took some time to reduce the temperature as I only chilled the water to 18 degrees, kept the temperature pretty well though.

 

[Basspaleale]

Could anyone who has one of these please post a close up picture of the quick disconnect fittings that they use at the ends of the hoses? I’m wondering if they would work with some fittings I already have attached to an old cooler project I tried.

If you go to the Cool Zone web site and in the product description, you'll find a link to their quick connect couplings. Those are better than any pics I could send.

 

[Ballaratguy]

What’s the cool zone web site?
I can’t find them & CoolZone.com is not listed

 

[jschein]

What’s the cool zone web site?
I can’t find them & CoolZone.com is not listed

This is the site
https://www.gotta-brew.com/categories/cool-zone-kits/cooling-jacket.html
Here are the disconnects
https://www.gotta-brew.com/categories/accessories/fittings-and-tubing.html

 

[HopSing]

I have completed a proof of concept of this idea using a 50 foot roll of 1/2 inch vinyl tubing, which I "folded" in half and secured with zip ties every few feet to make wrapping it around the outside of the fermenter easier. I use a cheap pond pump in a cooler with ice water and frozen plastic bottles to attach the hose to. I then connect the pump to a timer switch that runs for 1 minute then turns off for 10 minutes. I plug the timer switch into a temperature controller. The probe of the temperature control is taped to the outside of the fermenter then covered with insulation (coozie I cut in half).

When the temp controller calls for cooling, it turns on the timer switch which will run the pond pump for 1 minute pushing ice water through the tubing which is wrapped tightly around the fermenter and covered with a blanket. After it runs for 1 minute, the timer turns off the pump for 10 minutes until the temperature is reached.

Total investment was < $50. It definitely works to bring the fermenter down a few degrees off of room temp. I've pulled it down up to 10F degrees cooler than room temp, but you're not going to get into true lagering temps with this setup. For me, 34/70 at 65F works great.

Happy to snap some picts if you're interested.

~HopSing.

 

[DuncB]

This would be a basis for a cooling jacket ideally without the evaporative cooler just plugged into a low pressure glycol or hack it a bit to make it work.
More expensive than a fridge but a lot smaller.

https://www.amazon.com/Mattress-Coo...58&sprefix=cooling+bed+single,aps,306&sr=8-54