What temp melts a plastic carboy?

[sablesurfer]

Let's say, I didn't have a chiller, and I forgot to buy ice, so I only have ground water at the moment.....

....if I chill to 150F, will that warp the carboy?
....do I need to get under...120F?

(Trying to squeeze in two brews today, so need to get into carboy to start the second....no, I didn't plan very well, than you. )

 

[Auger]

I'd check with the manufacturer, they may provide a max temp rating.

 

[dsaavedra]

Upper limit for Better Bottles is 140°F http://www.better-bottle.com/faq.html

 

[porterpounder]

http://www.better-bottle.com/technical.html

Working temp is below 140F

 

[sablesurfer]

Thank you, that gives me a range to shoot for. I know way back in the day I warped one pretty badly, so hoping to learn and not do it again.

 

[brewcat]

Fill up your bathtub with cold water. No ice needed. That should get temps down relatively quickly. The large volume of cold water stays cold.

 

[passedpawn]

Let's say, I didn't have a chiller, and I forgot to buy ice, so I only have ground water at the moment.....

....if I chill to 150F, will that warp the carboy?
....do I need to get under...120F?

(Trying to squeeze in two brews today, so need to get into carboy to start the second....no, I didn't plan very well, than you. )

Aw come on, what could go wrong

 

[IslandLizard]

Aw come on, what could go wrong

I always wondered how one can make 3 gallon carboys in a jiffy.

 

[sablesurfer]

That is impressive. LOL.

 

[davidst]

I don't have the better bottle brand, but my two plastic PET carboy's both came with instructions to never put anything above 125 in them.

 

[agrazela]

I always fill my Better Bottles and plastic Big Mouth Bubblers at 140°F. Other brands I cannot attest to.

In fact, one of my BMB's came a little warped brand new, and when I filled it with 140°F water it "popped" right in to shape and has been flawless ever since. True story!

 

[kh54s10]

I can tell you that wort at low mash temperatures will deform a better bottle. I forget the reason but I siphoned into my better bottle at a little under 150 degrees. So at only 8-9 degrees above the stated max temperature there was a little warping on the bottom of my bottle. Not enough to make much difference but there none the less..

 

[sablesurfer]

Just to follow up on this thread. I have chilled last two beers to under 120 and then transferred to my carboy. No issues. This means only one water change in the bucket and one bag of ice in second water.
Then I put in fermentor and let it cool to basement temps over night. I like this process a lot.

It hasn't seemed to impact my hops so far.

 

[Oginme]

Just for information sake, the temperature you are looking for is the 'glass transition temperature'. This is the temperature which a material will loose its rigidity and become plastic/rubbery -- basically the point at which it will deform permanently. For most carboys (PET) this occurs around 67C to 81C: 142F to 168F.

 

[TampaGary]

From experience I can say that 165 caused a rather large indentation in my PET carboy. Buckets can take higher temps.