After a longish delay the TanksUk conical has arrived.
The quality of these is superb, as ciderghead said, the Rotational moulding is a very expensive method of moulding plastic, but the internal finish is like glass.
The plastic is super tough as my drill bits will testify and the lid and seal/ gasket is very good quality.
See pics below
Features
Sealed lid with rubber gasket, although manufacturer suggests its not designed for pressure really, but comfortably holds a few psi
I have installed a taster valve / racking arm working beautifully
I have installed a dump valve 1" diameteroutlet and 3/4 inch stopcock to ensure wont block with gunk/ hops and so on.
I have added a hose attachment to bottom dump
I have added a pressure release valve adjustable from zero psi to 3 psi
I intend to modify the two STRONG fermenters as in pics to ensure it is absolutely stable.
All fittings are removable in minutes and can be boiled or pressure cooked to ensure sterility
Advantages:
No need to worry about trub and excess yeast after the boil. Just transfer the lot and dump via the bottom valve as appropriate.
You can primary and secondary as well as spund in them.
If secondarying in them then drop off the excess yeast to prevent off flavour develloping
They comfortably hold 34 litres of fermenting (2 x cornies)
The cone shape allows a natural circulation of yeast, that why breweries use conicals. (up the middle and down the sides)
Looks great ;)
Wow looks great! What does something like that set you back?
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4
its on the cards for a group buy subject to enough interest.
Theres two things you can make a stend out of 2 x 1 and a 3 foot piece of plywood or as ive done 2 old fermenters. The plan is to bolt the two togethwe and work oy from there. I get those from the local bakery, they are twice as strong as the homebrew ones.
Costs I am working on, at this point all I know is the tank is 50 sterling on its own. The bottom plumbing will be about 20 euros and the optional ide valve will be about 7 euros on brass.
Shipping cost me 20 sterling, however a pallet holds 20 and costs 180 sterling so lets say 12 euros shipping on a group buy
as you see in the pics including 20 sterling shipping my one cost well under 100 because I dug out some old plumbing from the garaage.
expect it to cost u 50sterling tank 20 sterling shipping= = 85 euros and 15 will cover plumbing. Then make a stand
Looks good. Can you buy these virgin & add your own hardware? Could you drill the lid for an airlock? Would it fit in a larder fridge for ferm control? Cheers.
HI tom u didnt read the first post obviously :o its all in there, have a read of the first post above
size re fitting in fridge
height 27 inch Inc release valve and drain plumbing width 18 inch.
remember its a 40 litre vessel which will brew 34 litres.
If using in a fridge u need enough height to siphon off, otherwise pump is the option. :)
With 36ish KG its not going to be easy to move so needs to be on some sort of stand e.g the effort in the pics
@ hop bomb
more info here forya ;)
Quote from: brenmurph on September 13, 2013, 07:11:47 AM
its on the cards for a group buy subject to enough interest.
Theres two things you can make a stend out of 2 x 1 and a 3 foot piece of plywood or as ive done 2 old fermenters. The plan is to bolt the two togethwe and work oy from there. I get those from the local bakery, they are twice as strong as the homebrew ones.
Costs I am working on, at this point all I know is the tank is 50 sterling on its own. The bottom plumbing will be about 20 euros and the optional ide valve will be about 7 euros on brass.
Shipping cost me 20 sterling, however a pallet holds 20 and costs 180 sterling so lets say 12 euros shipping on a group buy
as you see in the pics including 20 sterling shipping my one cost well under 100 because I dug out some old plumbing from the garaage.
expect it to cost u 50sterling tank 20 sterling shipping= = 85 euros and 15 will cover plumbing. Then make a stand
Sounds good to me... I'd be interested anyway if there is a group buy going on. Just need to get home and measure the fermentation fridge as its not the biggest but then again I have been thinking about upgrading to a chest freezer... perfect excuse. 8)
For everybody's info
If its a group buy the plan is to have it for under 100 euros inc bottom trap dump valve and modified pressure release to blow at 3psi ( very important) so ready to use at that price. U arrange your own stand depending on where and how u would use it e.g. in a fridge, free standing in a warm room or other scenario. The 33ltr fermenter is perfect as in pics ( pics are only a 20 ltr fermenter so a disused / scratched 33ltr would be a great stand for the conical, there must be tons of them around :)
For the handymen & women among ye....the base conical without fittings will be 75 euros on a group buy of 20 on a pallet. The conical pics shows the threaded lid and rubber gasket and the bottom end has an embedded 1 inch thread to which u add ur plumbing to suit your installation.
Theres about two hours work doing the fitting I show in the pics, bottom valve, pressure release and tasting valve / racking arm
What would be the max volume? Sorry if I've missed that detail. All I see is your 34l comfortably.
Sent using a complex system of semaphore and ninjas.
Ignore that I reread the title.
Sent using a complex system of semaphore and ninjas.
Cool.. prob 34 litres, that was my thinking so I can brew a batch to fill 2 x cornies
Bren,
Any chance of a photo of the naked conical so we can see the various additions!?
All u need to see is in the pics really. Pic 14 shows the cone end, take off the brass work and the bottom of the cone has a 1 inch thread embedded in the mould.
Ignore the small 10mm stainless tap and the racking arm inside, they were added, and I added the pressure relief valve to the lid.
So naked conical has:
1 The complete sealed lid assembly as per pics
2 The bottom cone with an embedded 1 inch brass thread
thats it
You need plumbing on the bottom of cone depending on your setup and if u want a tasting valve u can add a small 10mm brass lever valve, a simple mod allows a racking arm.
Racking arm allows tou to start racking from the top of the liquid which will be clearer. if u wanna bottle of a few for bottle conditioning the racking arm allows you take wort with a certain amount of yeast still present depending on the amount you want in the bottle. it may also allow to bottle some off a few days earlier.
the stand / base is a simple fermenter. Ideally one of the 33 ltr ones, which should be plentiful as most people have one around spare.
Otherwise you could make a stand easily. The metal stands were 50 quid but shipping was expensive meaning it wasnt economical and worthwhile
Are they made for brewing or have you repurposed some dairy equipment?
Sent using a complex system of semaphore and ninjas.
they are new biodiesel fermenters made from virgin hdpe plastic rotationally moulded and completely glass like smoothness inside no joins or seams.
Cheers.
Sent using a complex system of semaphore and ninjas.
I have two 60l versions of these and the first thing I'd say if anyone is getting some is to beware of the lids. I has to dump both the lids that came with mine. One, the lids supplied are shit and don't seal properly and two, they are fitted really badly.
When I commented on this Rich (the maker) said he had sold a pallet of tanks to some German brewers and they were unhappy with the lids too.
I replaced both lids with marine inspection hatches which cost over €40 each plus €40 for Plexus glue.
Fitting lids to a plastic tank is really tricky to do well. I made a circular template and cut the hole with a router. A jigsaw (as used by tanksuk) leaves a horrible rough edge, sure to breed bugs. Plexus is the only glue I could find which bonds these plastics and is silly expensive. I can't think of any other way to fit a lid without through-bolting, which only distorts the tank anyway.
The only other hassle I had was I had to build an extra wide fridge. Maybe the 40l fits in a regular fridge?
I find these tanks great, and highly recommend them, but only if you are willing to go to a LOT of extra hassle to make them work.
If not, and you are happy doing 30ish litre brews, do yourself a big favour and stick to the 33l bucket.
If you feel like going conical, why not get the 60l? The extra cost is minimal and then you can do a decent size brew!
End of rant.
nice rant :)
Ok some clarification on Chrisses points. Agree with some / most.
Lids:
Lids are not claimed to be pressure tight, Rich made that very clear, Rich also told me the duttch and german brew clubs are delighted with, with the exception of the lids.
Rich is at this moment working on a new mould and WILL have the future batched with a moulded thread eliminating all the lid problems, that is his mission and it WILL work.
Re cutting with a jigsaw. Im not sure if this is correct....my one is clearly moulded into shape.
Re pressure and my lid, It comfortably holds 3psi. I feel the prob may be when people put 10-20 psi warps the structure. from the outset I put a max 3psi pr valve.
Re seals the quality of the plastic and silicone gasket is v good. Put a smear of veg oil on and it seals perfectly, no need to use a spanner.
Re size... the 40 litre allows a 34 litre brew fits and fills 2 x cornies and at 18 inched wide should fit a fridge setup.
As Chris points out they are very good and the rotational mould is fine.
As an entry to conical fermenting I think its a great thing. the bolts on the lid are stainless and using oxy action & hot water and leave for 10 minutes there will be nothing left alive in and around the lid I assure u. However this prob will be eliminated with the new version and the great news:..............the price may be coming dows as rich says...The current lids are expensive.
Thanks chris for your constructive criticism, I feel Rich from tanks UUK is a fab guy with a fab product and he is a small one man operation doing a great product...we should have a good look at the product and assess the next modified version before being too critical about it.. Remember Rich designed these as biodiesel fermenters where a rogue bateria or yeast will not be a prob,,. for the brewwers among us he is working at this moment on the perfect homebrew conical....lets give him all the support we can....No one else is doint this.....
Did you say the opening for the lid is now moulded as part of the tank? If so this would be a huge improvement and would take 99% of the hassle out of fitting a lid well. I would still prefer to glue the lid in place. When I took the lids off mine the edge of the hole was badly pulled out of shape by the bolts so there was no way it would sit right. I had to use an oversize hatch.
Bren, you are 100% right and I never suggested that Rich is anything but a good guy. If he can mould the opening for a lid, or even better, an internal thread for the lid you have a great fermenter at a really great price.
The big downside is that plastic is a pain in the arse to work with cos you can't weld it or glue it (except with really expensive glue) The upside of course is price and I would not have conicals otherwise.
yes he is moulding a threaded receiver for the lid as an integral part of the conical. Then a simple screw cap same as what is already on it just screws on with a rubber Oring.
If you are familar with the plastic homebrew kegs Rotakeg and so on it would be exactly like that otherwise see this and the lid will work the same as this picture...conical and lid thread all one mould
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gLu8BKFb78
Ok quick 1,2,3 on rotational moulding
They take a very fine plastic powder or fine pellet (Bren can you ask them what grade they are currently using I suspect one from Borealis?) and any other process aids to help flow.
They then tip these into a large moulding and rotate on 3 dimesional axis all inside a huge oven at circa 180-220 degrees.
The resin slushes aroound the inside of the mould and forms a very uniform smooth layer
In volume production they have three stage, oven, filling, cooling
Issues are to create a screw thread they still have to create a sealed unit and then cut the top off.
If there were rough surfaces, best way to eliminate would be a heat gun very very carefully.
You can imagine the size of one for an oil tank.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fr_s_xG78AA
grand will ask him durin the week.
That's some shed you've got John!
Nothing in comparison to the one on the East Wing
Sent from my Fukushima Daiichi Geiger counter