Rv anti freeze

[jackfire57]

I live in the northeast, winters very cold and the question is, has anyone added rv anti freeze to their cooling water ?

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

Here's my opinion. Don't get chemicals around where you're running, if somehow that got into your run it could be BAD. Why not just drop an aquarium heater in your reservoir?

Rusty

[jackfire57]

Heater be a good option

Thanks

[Reefer1]

+1 on the aquarium heater it' my goto for mash/ferments.
However i do plug the heater connected into a secondary controller with a temp probe, just in case the heater thermostat sticks on, i did have that happen once.
Reefer1

[Deplorable]

You considering this as a measure to raise the boiling point of your cooling water, or keep it from freezing?

[jackfire57]

Keep it from freezing

[Yummyrum]

Vehicle antifreeze is Ethylene Glycol. It has a similar toxicity as Methanol.
Propylene glycol is the food grade version that is added to Ice-cream .
I agree, keep Vehicle antifreeze away from your stilling area .
Alas the food grade version is about 10x the price . But whats the price of your loved ones .

[jackfire57]

This is Rv anti freeze ~ nontoxic

[shadylane]

Keep it from freezing

Maybe use diluted ethanol for antifreeze.
30% would be none flammable and lower the freezing point to -18c
On second thought, the alcohol would raise hell with most pumps.

[Bradster68]

They also make a heater for cattle troughs. Also to keep The water from freezing. They work really well. I use them for my chickens. Depending on how big your water tank is, a fish aquarium heater might not be enough. You can pick them up at any grain store. Not sure how cold it gets there. But I'm way up here in Canada in igloo country and they work great.

[SW_Shiner]

There's been a thread recently on barrel heating. Focused on ferm temps but i can't see why one of the options wouldn't work for your use case.

viewtopic.php?t=93726

[Dancing4dan]

This is Rv anti freeze ~ nontoxic

The product you are talking about is used to keep recreational vehicle potable water systems from freezing and breaking during winter months. Canadian winter months…. They are different. We just had a few days of -25*c. Not sure this is a thing in warmer parts of the planet.

Our RV potable water system is drained and flushed with this product every year in the fall. Then it is drained and flushed with fresh water again in the spring when it is refilled with potable water.

When I recirculated my coolant water I sure didn’t want it getting into my product!

[Wooday]

If you're worried about your reservoir freezing between sessions, I second the stock tank heater mentioned above.

My actual advice would be to go electric and do it in your basement.

[jackfire57]

Thanks

[subbrew]

Depending on how often you run it may not be a big issue. I use a 55 gallon barrel as my cooling water reservoir. If I either do a stripping run or spirit run 3 times in a two week period I rarely get more than a skim of ice. I do keep a board and blanket draped over the barrel when not in use. And the tank is sitting in an unheated metal building. In cases of a week of below zero weather I use the stock tank heater previously mentioned.

[Salt Must Flow]

Depending on how often I operated the still and the volume of the reservoir ... if a couple months went between runs, I'd just drain the reservoir and not have to worry about it during the coldest time of the year.

[Ridgeback816]

How cold are you talking about the easiest way to lower the freezing point of water not to mention the cheapest was is just to add salt but even the sea freezes sometimes so it depends on how cold your area gets

[shadylane]

Depending on how often I operated the still and the volume of the reservoir ... if a couple months went between runs, I'd just drain the reservoir and not have to worry about it during the coldest time of the year.

Kinda what I was thinking.
In my neck of the woods, tap water costs around $.01 a gallon, electricity is around $.12 kwh.

[jackfire57]

Thanks

[fiery creations]

I live in the northeast, winters very cold and the question is, has anyone added rv anti freeze to their cooling water ?

No but I wish I had. Cold snap hit and I ended up with a 255 gallon ice cube with my pumps still in it. Lot of time with boiling water over the top until I could drain it. Hope my pumps aren't busted

[Bee]

I had a leak in my PC once. Cooling water was mixing with product.

Just sayin'