Insulation for chiller

I have been trying to build a fermentation chiller from the "son of fermentation chiller" specs. I have checked Ace, Lowes and home depot in Atl looking for 2" extruded polystyrene insulation and have come up empty handed. I bought two sheets of 3/4" and glued it all together but it turned out like crap, unusable crap. I've been using the swamp towel method but I can't get a consistent temp, it fluctuates too much for my likin'.
Can I special order the 2" through a local store?
Is there a better chiller to be aspiring for?
Is nitrating toluene dangerous?
The answer to all these questions and more, in your post that I am thankful for.

I dont know the answer to any of your questions, but this

GrundleCruncher said:

The answer to all these questions and more, in your post that I am thankful for.

Click to expand...

made me crack up. And your name did too. Who calls themself a grundlecruncher?

GrundleCruncher said:

I have been trying to build a fermentation chiller from the "son of fermentation chiller" specs. I have checked Ace, Lowes and home depot in Atl looking for 2" extruded polystyrene insulation and have come up empty handed. I bought two sheets of 3/4" and glued it all together but it turned out like crap, unusable crap. I've been using the swamp towel method but I can't get a consistent temp, it fluctuates too much for my likin'.
Can I special order the 2" through a local store?
Is there a better chiller to be aspiring for?
Is nitrating toluene dangerous?
The answer to all these questions and more, in your post that I am thankful for.

Click to expand...

i bought the 1½" polystyrene from home depot and it works great. can you get that size?

When I went to home depot they didn't have any polystyrene, they only had a compressed fiberglass. It was 2" and had a good r-value but I didn't think fiberglass would be a good material to use.

One option might be to build it as a cabinet with an actual frame, rather than using the foam as the entire structure. This is how I built mine, and I think you'd have less trouble with using multiple layers of thinner foam because the layers don't need to be structurally sound, they just need to be held in place.

What type of glue did you use?

I've used the spray on adhesive (the most common I've found is the 3M stuff, about $2.99/can) on foam insulation before and it worked like a charm.

WARNING: Do not use the spray adhesive in an enclosed area. LOL! It was awhile back but we used it in our garage with the door open and still WHOA!

I just made one last week with 2" foam board (hidden treasure from buying a house!) and it works great! I used (3) 2-liter ice bottles to cool the chamber to temp and now it only takes (1) 2-liter to keep it at temp! The bottle lasts between 1 to 1 and 3/4 days.

I would imagine if you used the spray adhesive and kept them compressed whilst drying they would work good. I also used 1" staples pushed into the sides for support. They seemed to do a great job for (1) keeping the boards together while I expando-foamed the seams and (2) stabilizing the entire structure.

Cheers!

built mine, and I think you'd have less trouble with using multiple layers of thinner foam because the layers don't need to be structurally sound, they just need to be held in place.[/QUOTE]


I agree with evan with the structure, I almost did the same. The 2 in. seems to be working great for me as structure is concerned all except for the foam seems to be compressing under the weight of the beer.

As for building a wood (or other sound material) structure and insulating that, go for it!

I used liquid nails as per the instructions I followed...it seemed to dissolve some of the insulation while drying. Which is why I wanted the 2" so I didn't run into that problem again. The spray would be a lot better at not dissolving the foamboard, I'll remember that if i can't find 2"; I don't mind a little fumeage its good for the sinuses

My problem is I am a poor college student and i live deep in the city, I don't have resources for fabbing wood structures and the sort. Do hardware stores custom cut small orders like this?

If all else fails i could try it again using the spray adhesive and staples but everything would be soo much easier if I could get my hands on a 2" piece.

You might try a real "Building Supply" store instead of those big box stores.

I seriously doubt anyone is going to cut up a piece up for you.

our home depot charges per cut, so do most of the smaller stores. sometimes you can get them to do it for free. i usually make the big cuts there just so i can get it home, then do the rest at home.

It may just be the time of year. The Home Depot near my house carries a lot more insullation in the Fall than they do this time of year.

As for the chiller, how steady will one of these things keep a full carboy?

I built a wooden box (but it looks like crap!) with a hole in the back for a mini dorm fridge...I'm looking to get some insulation for it as well. I was looking at the 1/2in to 1in sheets to insulate it with. Not sure how well it will work but it will be nice to not have to swap out ice bottles and be able to accurately adjust the temp (once I get a ranco or jonhson controller...)

If you haven't built your chiller yet then maybe this is an option for you...I bet you could find a little fridge for cheap. Mine is an 18in by 18in square that I got from my brother-in-law.

good luck whatever you decide to do!