FINALLY! My fermentation chiller - Page 2

**Lil' Sparky** · 05-16-2008, 02:54 PM

That's a nice box!

**Liquidicem** · 05-16-2008, 03:29 PM

Can't wait to see the finished product!

**Dr_Deathweed** · 05-16-2008, 07:10 PM

Report on my morning activities

I got most of my plywood and 2x4's cut to size when i realized a couple design flaws....
1) stability. This thing is going to be VERY top heavy with all my text books, and while vertically stable, I was worried any horizontal movement might yield in disaster. So I decided to add some cross braces to my design with no harm done. I will just have to go pick up another 2x4 or two when I get around to framing the second door.
2) size of the fermenter. When I started measuring I was ending up with an inch in length missing in my frame and and inch too much on my foam. After about an hour of scratching my head on sketchup I realized where I had gone wrong. My original design had a 1 inch divider between chambers, while my new one(and the plans I followed) had a 2" divider. I love sketchup, but when pieces overlap and you cant tell its kinda annoying. Everything looks square and aligned, then oops.... here is an inch of over lap I didn't see... no harm done, I will cut a 1" divider and shave an inch off the length f my chamber.

After the head scratching, I got some of it framed up while enjoying a pint of a modified version of Orfy's Hobgoblin clone.

I did a little mock up to make sure that 4 cornies would fit where I planned

And a mock up in the room where it will be located

With the door open

That is about all I can do on the cabinets for now. I am waiting to get me some Hardy backer board for the bottom, and a 2x6 that will have a latch for the doors. this afternoon I may start on the bookshelves, or just kick back and enjoy the wonderful weather outside with another pint or two

jas0420 · 05-16-2008, 07:59 PM

I don't recall if you were planning on having a "back" to all of this or leaving it open, but you might consider that too for a solution to your horizontal stability concern.... Just a sheet of thin plywood or masonite will go a long way to stabilize things.

**Dr_Deathweed** · 05-16-2008, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jas0420

I don't recall if you were planning on having a "back" to all of this or leaving it open, but you might consider that too for a solution to your horizontal stability concern.... Just a sheet of thin plywood or masonite will go a long way to stabilize things.

I was planning on putting a back over the cabinet side, but leaving the back open behind the fermentation chamber. I may reconsider this though.... I think that the half-back plus the two cross braces I have already done should get me the stability I am looking for.

**BrewSapiens** · 05-17-2008, 04:15 PM

I noticed in the background of the corny fit mock-up, that whatever was in that cage is now OUT OF THE CAGE! Hope you didn't feed it after midnight!

**Dr_Deathweed** · 05-17-2008, 10:40 PM

Today was going great until I started smelling smoke, but I will get to that...

I got the base on and finished framing it up, as well as got the compressor and most of the foam insulation put in place. I used OSB for the base, but glued some Hardy board on top where the fermenters will be. this stuff is supposedly impermeable to water, so if I ever have condensation of an overflow, I do not have to worry about ruining my wood..

With most of my stuff in place, IO decide to start wiring it as a single chamber so I can let it run overnight to see how well it holds temperature. I hook up the power supply to the thermostat and....

it works!!!!

Now to just add the relay and hook it to the compressor and.... I start smelling smoke.... A test i ran at least a dozen times, but now it doesn't work. I look around and see this:

The neg battery terminal has cooked through. I hope I didn't fry my thermostat... I look around and everything seems to be wired correctly, the only difference between my successful test run and now is the addition to the cooling circuit and the relay, and those are on a different power supply than the thermostat... I think I am done for the day, I will scratch my head over this one tomorrow. Now to spend some time with the neglected feeling SWMBO.

ScubaSteve · 05-18-2008, 09:57 AM

Probably too late for this....but:

1. Some people ferment in cornies using foam control drops. I'm seriously looking at experimenting with this, as the footprint/durability/mobility is WAY better. You could really cut down the size of this thing with cornies vs. carboys.

2. Probably obvious, but make sure you can fit it thru the door. I made that mistake once building a cat condo. Never again.

3. This thing is gonna be heavy. Especially with that backerboard and 2x4"s...it adds up real quick. Maybe you could treat some plywood with a waterproof stain?

I know this is unsolicited advice, but if it helps at all, I'll be happy

**Dr_Deathweed** · 05-18-2008, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScubaSteve

Probably too late for this....but:

1. Some people ferment in cornies using foam control drops. I'm seriously looking at experimenting with this, as the footprint/durability/mobility is WAY better. You could really cut down the size of this thing with cornies vs. carboys.

2. Probably obvious, but make sure you can fit it thru the door. I made that mistake once building a cat condo. Never again.

3. This thing is gonna be heavy. Especially with that backerboard and 2x4"s...it adds up real quick. Maybe you could treat some plywood with a waterproof stain?

I know this is unsolicited advice, but if it helps at all, I'll be happy

Thanks for the input, I had thought of most of those things already:

1. I had thought about this, but I ran into a hieght issue if I wanted to do a bookcase as well. Plus I like to see whats going on with fermentation, and try as I might, looking through stainless steel is a bit of a chore

2.&3. This thing is actually a bit smaller than it looks in pictures. It is only a couple inches longer than 5' and about 18" wide. The backer board I am using is only about 1/4" thick, 3' long and 18" wide, just big enough to cover the bottom of the fermentation chamber. I am still able to move it quite easlilly by myself, albeit a bit akward. With this size I can stand it on end to move through doorways and hallways. The bookshelf top will also be seperateable in case we ever have to move. 2 smaller pieces are much easier to carry that one giant one....

keithd · 05-18-2008, 04:32 PM

How did the coil bending go, and how did you do it without crimping the lines?

I'm thinking about making a fermentation chamber with one of those dorm fridges, albeit much simpler - one chamber for two 5-gallon buckets/carboys.
-keith