ZeroGoo Hydration Bladder Dryer Review
January 15, 2009 by Carl Martens
Filed under Gear, Gear
In the past I have thrown out and replaced my fair share of bladders that have developed mildew because of improper care by yours truly. I have tried the hanger method, but that takes a considerable amount of time and even then I haven’t had the desired results I would expect. Enter ZeroGoo. The $34.99 Hydration Bladder Dryer from ZeroGoo is a product that addresses unwanted buildup in the bladder. I had first become aware of ZeroGoo through a mountain bike forum. I contacted the owner, Trent Ballentine and he agreed to send a unit for review.
The ZeroGoo hydration bladder dryer was specifically designed to fit into the opening of a CamelBak wide-mouth bladder. It fit perfectly. The unit, when plugged in, uses a small 12 volt motor to power a fan that inflates the bladder to eliminate unwanted growth from occurring.
The noise produced by the fan is somewhere in between a microwave and a hair dryer. At times the noise produced can be somewhat bothersome.
We only tested the product on bladders that had been filled with water. During our first test I emailed Trent during our third hour of testing to inquire how long on average the ZeroGoo unit should take to dry a bladder. Trent responded via email stating that in Denver it takes about 30 minutes. Trent attributed the longer drying time to Georgia’s humidity and because of this he would expect three hours drying time. On multiple occasions we let the ZeroGoo unit run over night and throughout the day and the end result was never a dry bladder.
The unit only inflates the bladder and does not blow heated air into the bladder. Trent stated that he didn’t want to use a heater in the design since water is present and heat would release solvents from the plastic bag.
Below is a video of Trent Bellantine on Outdoor America explaining the ZeroGoo hydration bladder dryer.
Unfortunately, our test results here in Georgia proved to be no quicker than the drying time of the hanger method, 3-4 days. We have sent the unit to our correspondent Matt Brady who will test it in Arizona to see if a dry desert climate will yield different results. The design of the CamelBak bladder does not adequately allow for air to pass through the bladder and as a result makes the ZeroGoo unit no more effective than the hanger method. Our conclusion from the south is that, although it appears to be a great concept the particular unit we received was not able to perform like we had hoped.
We’d like to see one of two things: a heated version of the ZeroGoo to help dry the bladder or CamelBak’s bladder design to change to allow for easier drying and cleaning.
Stay tuned for our upcoming review of the DAKINE AMP hydration pack which utilizes a HydraPak Reservoir allowing for easier cleaning and drying of the bladder.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you Related Posts
This post was written by:
Carl Martens - who has written 67 posts on Mountain bike product reviews, bike builds, trail reviews, forum, and tips – MTOBikes.com.
Carl H. Martens is founder of Made to Order Bikes, Inc. Originally from the burbs of Chicago, IL he now resides in the city of Roswell which is located just north of Atlanta. He enjoys riding Big Creek which is just down the road from where he lives.
[...] If you are familiar with the traditional hydration reservoir like the bladder found inside of a CamelBak you are well aware of one major problem, the inability to easily clean the bladder. After a ride a year ago or so I said the following to my girlfriend, “it’d be great if there was a bladder that sealed like a Ziploc so it’d be easier to clean.” My thought was that if the opening at the top was larger it would be easy to clean the inside of the unit without using the “hanger” or “freezer” method and eliminate the need for something like the ZeroGoo unit that we previously reviewed. [...]