My New Fermentation Cabinets

I have a lot of projects going on right now... Today, I bought two 13.7 cu ft frost free upright freezers to convert to fermentation cabinets for my new 14 gallon fermenators. I chose freezers over refrigerators because I can safely drop them below freezing to help clear the beer - ala "bright tanks". I also ordered two Love controllers. Man I love those things...

I got one wired up this evening but had to use a piece of scrap wire as I didn't have what I needed, so I can't finish it up until tomorrow.

I'm very pleased and think they are going to look very professional when finished.

Here is my first test run after figuring out the wiring:


And after installing in the door:

Nice !! where are you getting the Love controlers?? and How much $$$
Cheers
JJ

Jaybird said:

Nice !! where are you getting the Love controlers?? and How much $$$
Cheers
JJ

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From Cole-Parmer @ http://www.coleparmer.com/catalog/product_index.asp?cls=25656 They are $49 each...

I've used both Ranco and Love and really prefer the Loves due to their smaller form factor and installation options.

Sweet!!! thats a killer price..
Man I have been spending a bunch of time on your "walk in cooler" thread.... I am getting pumped. What does that thing cost to run do you think??? less than a LARGE (TRUE) two door pepsi fridge ??
Cheers
Jay

I haven't put the kill-a-watt back on it for some time but the last time I did was during the entire month of August. I forget the exacts but it ended up costing $12~14 for the month... pretty nuts. Its still running strong at 34 degrees. In fact, I just loaded 500 lbs of grain in it today:

ya I saw that thread Killer Bro just KILLER!!! "12-14 for the month" NOT BAD!! Looks like you have some brewing to do!!
JJ

I gotta get all these projects done first... can't even maneuver through all the construction right now. Yeah, I'm completely satisfied with the walk-in cooler. We use it for everything from my brewing supplies and kegged beer to excess groceries and sodas.

Got one of the fermentation cabinets finished this evening. I replaced the inner door with textured sheeting like in my walk-in cooler. That stuff is $30 per sheet and the freezer door is too large to cut two solid door panels out of one sheet - so I had to improvise and piece it together at the bottom.

I screwed up a little on my measurements for the hole for the backside of the controller - had to re-cut so its way bigger than it should have been. I blame it on the beer. Oh well, at least it is on the inside...

your a mad man!!!!:rockin:
JJ

We have that freezer! Hmm would the SHMBO mind I wonder?
Did you add anything else besides the Love and the sheeting?

brrman said:

We have that freezer! Hmm would the SHMBO mind I wonder?
Did you add anything else besides the Love and the sheeting?

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No, I kept everything else intact so it would still be a full functioning freezer if it ever gets decommissioned. I guess the door shelving it gone forever, but other than that, it is now just a precision controlled deep freezer (or fridge).

Wow, nice clean install! I love the placement of the controller. One of my co-workers is selling that exact same freezer because he's moving out of town and I'm probably going to grab it off him.

Well, here they both are together - all finished. I'm in hopes my new fermenators will be here sometime this week...

If you were not an electrician, can you wire together those controllers? Is setting them similar to setting the dual stage Ranco? I'm running two of those on freezers I set up yesterday (and one freezer **** the bed, DAMMIT!). THey cam pre-wired, though. How do you wire these up?

I'm using dual stage so I can have a heat lamp wired inside it for winter time (it's in an uninsulated garage). Do these handle dual stage or would I just run a low wattage bulb in winter 24/7 to generate enough heat?

nathan said:

If you were not an electrician, can you wire together those controllers? Is setting them similar to setting the dual stage Ranco? I'm running two of those on freezers I set up yesterday (and one freezer **** the bed, DAMMIT!). THey cam pre-wired, though. How do you wire these up?

I'm using dual stage so I can have a heat lamp wired inside it for winter time (it's in an uninsulated garage). Do these handle dual stage or would I just run a low wattage bulb in winter 24/7 to generate enough heat?

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These are single stage and there is no way to wire them together, but I would think Love makes dual stage controllers. Its very similar to a Ranco, just much sleeker IMO. I'm no electrician and can't advocate enough the danger of messing with electicity if you don't know what you are doing - but, I knew the existing thermostat was obviously a hot switch, so all I needed was to find a common line that was always on - which took a little digging but wasn't that difficult after following the wiring.

John Beere said:

These are single stage and there is no way to wire them together, but I would think Love makes dual stage controllers. Its very similar to a Ranco, just much sleeker IMO. I'm no electrician and can't advocate enough the danger of messing with electicity if you don't know what you are doing - but, I knew the existing thermostat was obviously a hot switch, so all I needed was to find a common line that was always on - which took a little digging but wasn't that difficult after following the wiring.

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Or you could just put the controller in the main power cord and set the internal thermostat to coldest. I wired mine into the middle of a 15 foot extension cord. I installed the controller into a project box from Tandy and velcroed it to the top of the fridge. It doesn't look as schmick as yours does, but I still have an untouched fridge with no holes in the door and the wiring untouched.....as if it's ever going to be anything except a lagerator

Wow! Very impressive

PeteOz77 said:

Or you could just put the controller in the main power cord and set the internal thermostat to coldest. I wired mine into the middle of a 15 foot extension cord. I installed the controller into a project box from Tandy and velcroed it to the top of the fridge. It doesn't look as schmick as yours does, but I still have an untouched fridge with no holes in the door and the wiring untouched.....as if it's ever going to be anything except a lagerator

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But if you cut the main power line, how does the rest of the mechanics (defroster, light, etc) work when the controller toggles off?

my current setup has the main power plug into the ranco dual stage. The sensor goes in through the ice-maker mounting hole, and a wire for a dome lamp runs through the hole as well. The lamp has a ceramic heating bulb. The heater is stage 2, set to a low temp, and the freezer is plugged into stage 1, with a max temp. The whole freezer turns off when it reaches temp. No light when you open the door. No fan.

I think the idea is that since you aren't even keeping this at freezing, it won't be a defrosting issue, but I'm no thermodynamysist.

If this controller can be wired to the main power line, I can probably figure that out well enough. I wonder if any local GRABASSers have done a wiring with one of these...

Well, I am purposefully going to be dropping these below freezing to clear the beer before transfering to kegs. Also, I have some experience with this sort of stuff with my walk-in cooler and I can tell you that it will freeze up even if you aren't dropping the temp below freezing - especially when there is a lot of moisture in the air. So I liked the idea of going in like I did and just replacing the existing thermostat and leaving everything else alone.

John Beere said:

But if you cut the main power line, how does the rest of the mechanics (defroster, light, etc) work when the controller toggles off?

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It doesn't

I decided to wire a plug inside each freezer as well as put the top shelf back in so I can make my starters in them as well. After putting the top shelf in, it was obvious that a 2000 ml flask sitting on top the stir plate would not fit on the shelf - so I did surgery on the stir plate to make it install through the grating.

Plug:


Shelf and Fermenator:


Close-up of the stir plate mounted under the grate:

that's some serious beer porn.

Very, very impressive! :rockin:

see, you are great, but you are making me feel WEAK! I was planning on putting my stir plate into my ale freezer (and I'm using 7 and 5 gallon carboys, rather than conicals). I had thought of maybe just cutting an extension cord and pushing it through the icemaker hole where my other wiring ran (full of great stuff now, but I can push through I bet), then rewiring the cord on the outside, and plugging it in, so I'd have the other end in the freezer for the stir plate.

then you go and wire a real wall outlet on the inside of the freezer... that runs it's fan and lights even when not cooling... If you lived nearby I'd have to pay homage with beer.

Do you fill your conicals while they are inside the fridge, or do you have to lift them up into the fridge once they are full?

Chimone said:

Do you fill your conicals while they are inside the fridge, or do you have to lift them up into the fridge once they are full?

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No lifting. Just use my march pump to push the beer in through the racking arm...

I have that freezer too. I cut the shelves off the door to accommodate a 14 gallon Blichmann, but just left the cardboard in place with foam behind it. Yours looks much nicer. I am starting to brew some warm fermenting Belgians and need to get heat into the unit too. I have Love's on my hot side of the brewery and would like to have them on the freezer too. Tell me if this logic works. Use a SPDT switch to alternate between heating and cooling functions with the heat leg going to the dome lamp and the cooling leg to the compressor/coil. I would naturally have to switch modes on the Love too. I haven't opened mine up to look at wiring yet; Any specific recommendations appreciated.

Thanks
KD

Sounds like it would work to me... as long as only one was enabled at a time.

Very nice. Hmmm, I wonder if two will fit in the Brewhaus? They should not take up more than 5 feet of wall space.

How is it pumping wort into them and racking beer to kegs?

Pumping into them has not been a problem. I've been pushing the beer out into kegs using CO2 - which works, but was not my initial plan. The initial plan, which I'm still going to do is to build a large box, about 18"~20" tall, to sit both the freezers on. This would elevate them to a point where the fermentors could easily siphon into a keg and create a large cabinet for storage underneath.

How do you clean and sanitize the conicals?

John Beere said:

Pumping into them has not been a problem. I've been pushing the beer out into kegs using CO2 - which works, but was not my initial plan. The initial plan, which I'm still going to do is to build a large box, about 18"~20" tall, to sit both the freezers on. This would elevate them to a point where the fermentors could easily siphon into a keg and create a large cabinet for storage underneath.

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I was thinking of building a supported shelf in the freezer for the same purpose. The racking port is 18" from the top of a corny, so maybe about 20" ifyou want to rotate the racking arm down into the cone further.

I just wish I had the space to set up some of this, but I do have to ask, can you post a drawing of the hookups for the fridge and love controller. The more I see, the more I think I might be able to use one.

Sweeeeett!!!!

Kauai_Kahuna said:

I just wish I had the space to set up some of this, but I do have to ask, can you post a drawing of the hookups for the fridge and love controller. The more I see, the more I think I might be able to use one.

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+1 Yeah baby. Drawings please.

EdWort said:

+1 Yeah baby. Drawings please.

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I missed Kauai_Kahuna's request... let me see what I can come up with.

Serious stuff there John. I really like the uprights much better. I too push my beer into a large fermenter and then use CO2 to transfer to kegs and I love it. I also have used both Ranco and Love and prefer the Love hands down. I am using a chest freezer now so it kinda steered my way of having to use the pump and stuff. When I got over the fact that I am a small brewery using "lazy" but necessary equipment just like the large guys have to, I was blown away that I hadn't done it before now. I love hooking up a hose and hitting a switch. These freezers are some bad dogs though. Absolutely love the fabrication Q, but where are the rocket launchers and oil slick???? Huh???

Thanks! You can see them and everything in action on this thread starting at post #41 - https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=39422&page=2

Because these freezers are frost free, you don't get any condensation leaking out and onto the floor, correct? My freezer is an old POS that I received free from a friend, but it leaks on my floor and is a pain. I am interested in these frost free freezers, what model did you use?

Thanks, awesome projects!