Water Bath container leak

[laserghost]

I don't have enough space yet for a chest freezer fermentation chamber, so I've used a water bath for every single brew I've done over the last 3 years. I'm about to purchase my 3rd holding container as the first two have leaked and failed.

I've been using the large rectangular plastic bins (Sterilite brand ~45 gal), and can fit two glass carboys at a time. I fill the water level up so the beer is completely submerged under the water line – maybe 25–30 gallons, and I use aquarium pumps to circulate, and sometimes heaters if necessary.

My first tank eventually failed (it was a disaster), and I was lucky enough to catch my second tank failing before I lost all of the water. I reinforce the side with a 2x4 mounted across the wall, and with the last one I reinforced the raised bottom area as well in an attempt to prevent buckling. Not sure where the leak occurred on the last one.

Just wondering if anyone else has had this issue and possible solutions.

 

[d3track]

Shorter bins or less water, especially for cooling - you put an old t-shirt over the fermenter and let the bottom sit in the water. It will soak up the water and then evaporate, cooling the vessel.

 

[ChelisHubby]

I will be doing a larger 2 carboy water bath in the future and I think I will spring for a large 150 quart Ice chest to deal with the possible leaks.

 

[laserghost]

cooler is a good solution.

 

[ChelisHubby]

The cooler is not cheap, it will stabilize temps much better so you have less work for better beer. I am using cheap fiber board insulation for the top, on a small chest and I keep it in a warm 85 + degree room in the summer and it is only the first 5 days that I worry about heat and the yeast does most of the heat making in 3 days. By day 5 after pitching I only need a small 12 ounce bottle of ice a day to hold 68. The real good part is that the temp of the water bath is within 1 degree of the beer , That is because water soaks up the heat much better than air. There is a reason we don't drive air cooled cars any more.

 

[capt82]

Disregard

 

[JimRausch]

Sounds like with two failures with the sterilite brand, it's time to try a different one. I use the old standby heavy duty plastic rope handle tubs(also known in the horse world as muck buckets), but they only hold one 5G container at a time.

 

[ChelisHubby]

The muck bucket it what I started with , I was change Ice bottles almost as fast as a horse eats sweet molasses. That is when I thought I would try to cut the heat exchanger losses. A tall square cooler makes a unbelievable difference.