Fementation Chamber

my fermentation chamber is half way built but stumped on the thermostat and computer fan wiring. I know there is going to be 2 wires from the 110 to 12 volt plug along with 2 wires from the fan. Am I right in putting the hot wire from the plug to the "cooling power supply" on the thermo and the "hot" wire from the fan to the "cooling output" and the attach the grounds from the plug and fan?

Hi

What kind of setup are you building?

If you are wiring computer fans on a swamp cooler and it's hooking to +12 VDC then your hookup sounds about right.

Bob

I am doing the Son of a Fermentation chamber...just a bit bigger. I will be able to do 2 different kinds at a time. The only issue I am going to have is this winter when my front porch is cold. May have to invest in a small heater for out there to help regulate the temp.

So had everything wired up but still would not go. Looked at it some more then took the jumper out and put it on the other side for the cooling output and fan and then ali bing it worked! Would have taken some pictures of the build but was in a cramped space as it was. Will have finished product pics up hopefully this weekend.

Had a brainstorm today. I was thinking to myself how could I make this thing even better. I came up with 2 options. First I could use a 5000 btu ac and build it into the back of it. With this option I still will have condensation to deal with that come out of the rear of the ac. My other option would be a 1.7cf mini fridge($65) built in to the rear which would be controlled by an external controller. What do you all think?

Ok so a little bit of an update with pictures. So I spotted a mini fridge on CL for $20 and jumped on it. It is only a 1.7 but was surprised to find out that it was an electronic cooling unit. Which means no tubing or the likes. I am going to integrate the fans and coolers along with the electronic board in the back. I am thinking of going down to get a project box from radio shack for the board to keep it closed in. Anyone ever used these before, the cooling system?

Not the prettiest setup but then again who sees the back! Just have to put the interior fans in and hook it back up and see what it does.

I like to see how low the temp can be held at.

Me too. Going to be firing it up in about 5 minutes or so.

So it has been running for about an hour and a half now and has dropped around 15 degrees or so. I do notice one thing I need to do and that is notch some of the insulation so that more of the grate around the fan is allowed to do what it should. I will post a picture to show how it is in a bit.

Here is the way it is

70 degrees right now at start up.

So after 45 minutes dropped 10 degrees. I think this will work out great for my ales just fine. Just waiting to hear back on a 5 cf chest freezer so I can get this octoberfest started.

Temp Update Looks like after 2 hours I was able to get it down to 55 on the coldest setting. I am going to give another hour to see where it stabilizes at. Only draw back is it is running non stop. I really do not think it will raise hell with the electric though only the components if I continue to run it at the highest setting permanently.

Temp Update So after 3 hours on max it is still stabilized at 55. Turned it down to the middle setting and going to leave it alone over the night and see what it is at in the morning.

I think this unit is going to work just fine for helping to maintain ale fermenting temps on the lower end which is a plus and goal achieved.

is your plan to still add frozen bottles to the bottom?

I had thought about it which would help lower the temp some I would think. The other thing is I may get more life out of the ice chunks. They would last about 10 hours but then again it is on my porch which was staying about 85-90 at that time as well. Lately it has been between 75-80. The plan is to move this into the spare bedroom if I can fit it through the doors :rockin:. The idea was to have this just for ales and get a small freezer for doing 1 lager at a time.

Hi

You probably want at least a five degree margin on your chill capability simply to maintain control as the room gets warmer. Something closer to ten would be much better. Fermentation throws off heat and you need to pump it out of the chamber ....

Bob

Bob any ideas on how I can "pump" it out? I should know tomorrow or even tonight on the exact temp since I am putting together the controller for the freezer once I do get it. I could also use it for this to better maintain certain temps as well. I just have to hook up the probe and get it in and finish attaching the outlet. Ran out of time to take any pictures or even finish. Now time for me to head off to work!

So everything is hooked up and running. Going to monitor it. I have the dial turned up all the way just to see what it will do. I had it set on 1 out of 5 all day and with the front porch around 85 it came back up to 50! I also got my hands on a 5cf chest freezer for $60. Hoping to have that running tomorrow some time. Would start it tonight but in order to get it home I had to lay it down in my car for about 20 minutes. May try it late tomorrow morning or just wait until Sunday morning for good measure.

Ok so I checked the temp this morning and it was held at 7.7c which is 45.86f. Not too bad for a 1.7cf fridge unit supplying a 10cf space. I think this is just going to be a perfect spot for my ales. I think I am going to keep the temp controller on this one and purchase a second for for the freezer that I am going to use for my lagers.

Ok so wanted to give an update on the monster. It is working awesome. It does cycle nicely considering it is a tad warm atm on the front porch. Even with the dunkel fermenting it is cycling like a normal fridge. I leave it on the coldest setting and have it set at 18 degrees Celsius with a .5 degree difference. I could actually go higher with that but have been happy thus far. I would really like to find another one of the fridges that I used (actually I did for $30 this time but that is for beer storage!) and double my cooling power! Also one thing I wish I would have done was make the interior higher by about 3". The only way I could do this now is to take out the "cooling" area that was meant for the ice blocks at the bottom.