Conical Heating - aquarium heater in glycol reservoir!?!

[Beer:30]

For those of you with conicals: how do you heat them. I want something that will plug into my inkbird, but I’m a little gun shy with seed mat / brew belt style heaters. In the past my seed mats (actually used for seedlings) have always burned out eventually. Anything more dependable out there? I have two 27 gallon fermenators.
I will be adding a glycol chill coil through the lids for cooling. I already have the conicals wrapped with reflectix with vinyl tubing beneath from an earlier DIY chill project. I’m wondering if I couldn’t just pump glycol from a reservoir with an aquarium heater through this tubing. I have a few submersible pond pumps. Don’t know if even a larger aquarium heater (or two) would be effective enough.

Pipe dream?

TIA

 

[jangevaa]

It will be very inefficient to heat/cool your glycol reservoir, and means it's tied only to a single fermentation in the event they progress different/are different beers/you want to experiment.

You could try drum heater belts or similar. Lots on ebay. I'm using just 30 litre stainless fermenters with 200 watt silicone heating belts of this type (beyond overkill for my scenario and I expect would be suitable for your much larger fermentors). They can very hot depending on what you get...

 

[Beer:30]

I was thinking the heated reservoir would be used the same way as the cooling one: one Inkbird and pump per fermentor so they would circulate hot glycol on demand as needed. Both can ferment at separate temps based on what each Inkbird is set at. I just wondered how everyone else is working their heating system. Probably all brew belts I would imagine.

 

[mongoose33]

Why don't you try something like a Fermwrap, which is made for heating fermenters?

There are several on this page: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=fermwrap&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

ANother alternative is whether you have a neoprene sleeve or similar on your fermenter. Spike offers a heater designed to fit the lower part of the fermenter inside the sleeve. Works well, at least mine does.

 

[Jag75]

I have a fermwrap and they work wonderfully. I have the heat pad from spike on my cf5 and have had great success with it as well.

 

[Jtvann]

I was thinking the heated reservoir would be used the same way as the cooling one: one Inkbird and pump per fermentor so they would circulate hot glycol on demand as needed. Both can ferment at separate temps based on what each Inkbird is set at. I just wondered how everyone else is working their heating system. Probably all brew belts I would imagine.

I've done this with my unitank. I didn't heat glycol, but there's no reason you cant. I used a very small fish tank heater in a igloo cooler. Temps in my garage were in the 20s. As long as you'll not need to both heat and cool, you'll be fine doing this. I had a 90 degree warm water reservoir and it worked just fine.

The heating pad in the unitank could not keep up with that much of a heating demand. Warm water worked just fine.

 

[Beer:30]

I've done this with my unitank. I didn't heat glycol, but there's no reason you cant. I used a very small fish tank heater in a igloo cooler. Temps in my garage were in the 20s. As long as you'll not need to both heat and cool, you'll be fine doing this. I had a 90 degree warm water reservoir and it worked just fine.

The heating pad in the unitank could not keep up with that much of a heating demand. Warm water worked just fine.

Awesome feedback. Since I already have the reflectix in place on the conicals, I’m leaning toward this set up. Thanks all for the feedback! Love this page!

 

[Tom R]

I heat my glycol with this 500W immersion heater.
https://www.amazon.com/DERNORD-Imme...hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584138857656340&psc=1

Works great in my DIY chiller. About 11G capacity.
I switch between heating and cooling modes manually.

I first tried a 500W aquarium heater, it died within a week. I don't know why. The linked one has been going strong for almost two years.

 

[augiedoggy]

your chiller and heater are going to both be working harder sucking electricity but as long as you have the delays set right they shouldnt be fighting each other. I used a silicone heater strip myself under the reflectix but then I also have mutiple fermenters and fish tank heater setup in the chiller wont work with that so your limiting your expansion options which is no big deal if you have no plans for multiple fermenters.

 

[verboten]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/...ng-system-anyone-use-yet.663438/#post-8739933

We are discussing it for our anvil systems right now. I’m going to give it a shot.


I have my sparge water heater set at 45°C, and the temp jumped right up to 73°F after a few minutes. The heat pad was holding it around 68° F and could not get it any higher with the inside temp at 31, and the covered area at 39. I'm expecting both temps to rise a bit with the big Mass of warm water in there. It works, it will take some time to equalize, but once it is, I think it will maintain just fine.
View attachment 657758View attachment 657759

 

[verboten]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/...ng-system-anyone-use-yet.663438/#post-8739933

We are discussing it for our anvil systems right now. I’m going to give it a shot.


I have my sparge water heater set at 45°C, and the temp jumped right up to 73°F after a few minutes. The heat pad was holding it around 68° F and could not get it any higher with the inside temp at 31, and the covered area at 39. I'm expecting both temps to rise a bit with the big Mass of warm water in there. It works, it will take some time to equalize, but once it is, I think it will maintain just fine.

Can't get the photos to work in that post

View attachment 657763

 

[verboten]

Temp profile after warm water pumping

 

[jmc1010ku]

I heat my glycol with this 500W immersion heater.
https://www.amazon.com/DERNORD-Imme...hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584138857656340&psc=1

Works great in my DIY chiller. About 11G capacity.
I switch between heating and cooling modes manually.

I first tried a 500W aquarium heater, it died within a week. I don't know why. The linked one has been going strong for almost two years.

Do you submerge the wires? i am wondering if i would need to rig up a float so the wires don't contact the glycol. Thanks!

 

[Tom R]

I have submerged the wires accidentally. I doesn't seemed to have done any harm.
I usually have it suspended with the wire exit just above waterline.

 

[bstiber]

I'm thinking about heating glycol as well and use selenoid valves to switch between the glycol heater and the glycol chiller. I have the glycol chiller built. going to build the glycol heater out of a pot with lid that will be insulated, submersible heater element, separate inkbird to control the glycol heater. The lines to will have a Y split going to and from the fermenter. There will be 4 selenoid valves for the lines to/from the fermenter after the Y split. Hot side will be plugged into the hot side of the inkbird for the fermenter which will have the pump and 2 selenoid valves plugged into it. The cold side will have the same. think this is how the commercial cooler/heater combo units work.

 

[KeizerBrewr]

Just keep things simple. Fermwrap works just fine with conicals. I use one on my Catalyst with good result.

 

[KrakenCoffeeRoasters]

I'm making my own Fermwrap for my (used) Catalyst that is being delivered today.
Redline Science Heat Tape (All Sizes)
I went with a 6" wide by 3' long piece and had them wire it up for me. Total cost: $18.87 shipped. I'll plug it into an Inkbird 308.