mother of fermentation chamber fan question

I am building a mother of fermentation chamber and i am trying to figure out exactly where the fan needs to go . I can't tell from the pictures if you cuta hole in the back panel and place the fan there where it is open to the outside or if you just place the in front of the back panel and do not cut a hole in the back panel . Any help is appreciated thank you!

Hi

There are maybe 50 different designs around all being referred to as a "mother of fermentation chamber". Yours may or may not be the same as others.

Normally there is a chamber with the water bottles in it and another chamber with the fermentation vessel. The fan blows air between the two chambers. You need both a hole to let the air into the second chamber and another hole to let it out. Both holes go to the main chamber where the fermentation vessel is. The fan comes on when cooling is needed in the main chamber. It turns off when the chamber is cold enough.

Bob

Srry should have stated the wort o matic one I believe I got my plans . I have all the holes just trying to figure placement of the fan for best circulation . I wasn't sure if the plans showed the fan recessed into the back panel or not .

I made a SOF chamber and the hole goes into the back wall leading to the ice chamber.

There are some pics of mine in this thread. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/best-tools-son-fermentation-chamber-340884/index2.html

sdwrestler1012 said:

I am building a mother of fermentation chamber and i am trying to figure out exactly where the fan needs to go . I can't tell from the pictures if you cuta hole in the back panel and place the fan there where it is open to the outside or if you just place the in front of the back panel and do not cut a hole in the back panel . Any help is appreciated thank you!

Click to expand...

Hey I've built one of these puppies... are you referring to the one that has the upper level for 2 carboys, and under neath are 3 compartments for ice blocks??? If so, you put like a "false back" on one of the end compartments, and cut a hole in that and seal your fan in there, so that behind the fan, there is like 5 or 6 inches before you hit the back of the actual fermentation box. Then put a big hole in the "floor" of your ferm side, so the fan will blow air up into the fermentation portion of the box. I cut some thin plywood and ran it up to the top of the box, making an air duct so that the cold air would be forced all the way up and then fall (warm air rises to the top) so that way you are pushing the warm air to go through the ice block compartments as opposed to cooling already cool air.

Clear as mud, but hopefully I helped. I'll be firing mine up today!!!

Ok so a false back thats what I thought just was not sure. Now if I can just get all my foam pieces to fit together better thanks to my crooked cutting . Any suggestions in how yall improved the insulation on it .I tried putting weather stripping at the cracks but didn't help much .

Duct tape!!!

sdwrestler1012 said:

Ok so a false back thats what I thought just was not sure. Now if I can just get all my foam pieces to fit together better thanks to my crooked cutting . Any suggestions in how yall improved the insulation on it .I tried putting weather stripping at the cracks but didn't help much .

Click to expand...

Caulk and tape all the joints.

Hi

If the cuts are really bad, get a can of spray foam. I'll fill big gaps better than caulk.

Bob

sdwrestler1012 said:

Ok so a false back thats what I thought just was not sure. Now if I can just get all my foam pieces to fit together better thanks to my crooked cutting . Any suggestions in how yall improved the insulation on it .I tried putting weather stripping at the cracks but didn't help much .

Click to expand...

I made my cuts on a table saw, so my joints were pretty good. I just used foam board adhesive that comes in the caulk gun tubes, and then silicones the corners when it was fully assembled. Actually used deck screws to hold it together while the adhesive was drying. Worked surprisingly well.

This is a pretty old post, but hopefully someone who has built this can help me with one thing. Whats the best method for passing wires through the foamboard and then closing it back up so there are no leaks?