Keezer Temp Stratification. Wow!

Having foam issues with my new keezer and am pretty sure I have the balance correct. So, decided to test the temps. Placed 1 cup of water on the bottom, 1 cup on the hump, and one at tap level and let sit for 24 hours. Temps were 34, 42, and 51! Guess I need a fan!!

Are there any fans I could put in there that wouldn't require any wiring?

Craig311 said:

[...]Are there any fans I could put in there that wouldn't require any wiring?

Click to expand...

There are small-ish battery-powered fans on the market, but I doubt they'd run anywhere near long enough to make them viable for keezer service.

I have a home built tower cooler in my keezer (uses a 40mm CPU fan) and now an 80mm fan forcing air into a dryer that also stirs the air in the keezer very nicely. They're both 12VDC, and run off an AC/DC wall-wart located outside the keezer and wired through a grommet I installed in the back edge of the lid. Very small hole (around a 1/4"D iirc) as the wire is around 18 gauge. Not a big to do to install...

Cheers!

Hi

To do any good, you need the fan to run continuously. That's going to suck more power than a rational battery will supply. Go with some sort of plug into the wall setup. I happen to like using industrial power supplies and stashing them in the compressor chamber. Others have a lot of luck with wall warts.

Either way, get a couple of good fans. Newegg is a pretty good place to shop for them. Something 120mm or larger and 30 dba or quieter is a good idea. For a "next to my chair" installation, you may want < 20 dba fans.

Bob

Thanks for the replies! However, I was a bit unclear with my question. I didn't mean no wire. I meant something that I could just plug in and run the wire into the freezer without having to do any "wiring". I'm a complete idiot with that stuff to the point where I didn't understand a lot of the terminology in your responses. I would need a step by step for anything other than plugging something into the wall.

It's pricey, but you can go to radio shack and buy a 12 volt PC fan, and ask them for a power supply, with appropriate adaptor tip. They will sell you a wall wart with a little adaptor that plugs into the fan wires. Probably cost 30.00.

Or you can get the fan, and find an old cell phone charger, and strip the wires and twist them together yourself. If the fan doesn't turn reverse the wires. It's really really simple. Tape up the wires, once you got it right.

Hi

You can indeed buy a desk fan that runs on 110V, run the cord through the lid and just plug it in. That puts high voltage in the freezer and I would not recommend you do that.

Alternative:

1) Buy two of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835242011

2) Buy one of these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-12V-100...ccessories&hash=item3cc5877265#ht_3295wt_1119

3) Get some of this:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_302989-6337...&Ntt=speaker+wire&pl=1&currentURL=&facetInfo=

4) And a pack of these:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_123065-1270...55&Ntt=connectors&pl=1&currentURL=&facetInfo=

You also may need basic hand tools like a pair of pilers and wire cutters. If so Lowes (and every other big box store) has those as well.

5) chop the "not into the wall" connector off of the wall wart.

6) chop the connectors off of the fans.

7) use the connectors to hook it all together. Black goes to black, red goes to red.

8) Hot melt glue the fans where you want them or to a scrap piece of wood.

9) plug it in and enjoy the breeze.

Yes indeed there are ways to do it all for free if you have the parts already lying around the house...

Bob

Thanks again for taking the time to respond! Sounds easy enough and I'm much less intimidated.

Carlisle_bob... I have everything in your post on hand with the exception of the fan. Being impatient and having 2 kegs on tap (and tired of wasting beer to cool the lines for a decent pour)... If I could find a fan locally at a radio shack or pc repair place... Am I right in assuming the following specs would get me where I need to be?...

12V DC
120mm (minimum)
< 30 DB

Also, not sure what the speaker wire is for in your post. Would that be to simply extend the length of the power supply cord if necessary?

Craig311 said:

Thanks again for taking the time to respond! Sounds easy enough and I'm much less intimidated.

Carlisle_bob... I have everything in your post on hand with the exception of the fan. Being impatient and having 2 kegs on tap (and tired of wasting beer to cool the lines for a decent pour)... If I could find a fan locally at a radio shack or pc repair place... Am I right in assuming the following specs would get me where I need to be?...

12V DC
120mm (minimum)
< 30 DB

Also, not sure what the speaker wire is for in your post. Would that be to simply extend the length of the power supply cord if necessary?

Click to expand...

Hi

The speaker wire is to get the wall wart DC into the freezer. The cords on them are rarely long enough to make it all the way from the nearest outlet.

Just about any fan that is quiet and moves a reasonable amount of air will do. Newegg gets stuff here next day if I order by 5 for standard shipping. I stopped looking for stuff localy a while ago.

Bob

I agree with Bob. Grab a cheap PC fan and use whatever DC power supply (aka wall wart) you have lying around in your junk drawer or tucked behind your computer. Doesn't have to be 12V, I think as long as you're moving the air a little bit you'll be fine. An old cell phone charger at 5V might even be OK, I went with a 9V supply from an old cordless phone system and it works great.

Where do people like to place their circulating fans? I have mine lying in one of the baskets that came with the freezer, pointing straight down. However if I get more kegs I will have to get rid of the basket.

I mounted mine with L-brackets on the inside of the collar, right below the shanks so there's a lesser chance I'll bonk it with a keg. It's blowing down so when I open the freezer I don't lose all the cold air instantly. I think it doesn't matter too much where you put it, any circulation helps

I saw another build where someone put it on the end of a piece of plywood and put that on the hump with the CO2 tank supporting it. That'll work too. Or someone else mounted it to the lid, another right to the mini dehumidifier. It'll work anywhere really.

Once again, thank you for all of the responses. As with most things in my 6 year, slowly progressing, homebrew career (going all grain, making a starter, etc)... Actually doing it is much less daunting than it appears.

Anyway... Used what I had around the house and picked up a 80mm Altec fan that puts out 38cfm (I neglected to mention in my original post that I only have a small 5cf GE freezer with a 10" collar). It was all I could find in stock locally and figured I'd give it a shot knowing I only spent $9 dollars on the thing and could upgrade if needed.

So... Took about 5 minutes to get the thing set up and blowing in the keezer. I set up the 3 cups in the exact same locations and am looking forward to seeing the temps tomorrow! When I open the lid, I can feel the air moving so I think I'm probably in good shape.

Be sure to report back! I didn't do any thorough testing like that for my system.

zachattack said:

Be sure to report back! I didn't do any thorough testing like that for my system.

Click to expand...

I certainly will! Just noticed that after about 4 hours of the fan going the lid is cold to the touch. First time I noticed that. So, I'm hopeful that this small fix has done the trick.

Temp readings with the Thermapen to follow!

Took the temps this morning.

Before Fan: 34, 42, 51

With Fan (12 hours on): 38, 39, 40

Can't wait to try pouring a beer this afternoon!

I'll take that. What's the temperature setpoint?

zachattack said:

I'll take that. What's the temperature setpoint?

Click to expand...

I'll take it too! Using an analog Johnson controller set at 38 (probe is at the bottom of the freezer).

Working from the home office today and couldn't resist... Perfect pour!! About a finger and a half of head with a good flow rate and appropriate carbonation retained in the beer.

Temp: 38-40 (depending on point in the fridge)
PSI: 12 (both kegs)
Line Length: 8'
Beers: Homebrew (carbed at 12PSI "set it and forget it" method) and Sixpoint Righteous rye ale

BetterSense said:

Where do people like to place their circulating fans? I have mine lying in one of the baskets that came with the freezer, pointing straight down. However if I get more kegs I will have to get rid of the basket.

Click to expand...

Hi

I've been building little wood structures that sit on the hump for my various ones. The fans mount on the "bottom deck", the CO2 manifolds mount on the "upper deck". The dehumidifiers sit down by the fans. Everything gets held in place with zip ties, screws, or double sided tape. That way nothing falls into a fan...

Bob

carlisle_bob said:

Hi

I've been building little wood structures that sit on the hump for my various ones. The fans mount on the "bottom deck", the CO2 manifolds mount on the "upper deck". The dehumidifiers sit down by the fans. Everything gets held in place with zip ties, screws, or double sided tape. That way nothing falls into a fan...

Bob

Click to expand...

This sounds like an interesting idea -- could you post a picture of your setup (or have you already posted it somewhere else so I can take a look)? Thanks!

carlisle_bob said:

Alternative:

1) Buy two of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835242011

Click to expand...

Sorry to resurrect an old post, but why two? Is the fan not powerful enough for a 7cf freezer by itself? And would you arrange them in series or in parallel for maximum output?

I only have one fan and I underpower it (run on 9V instead of 12). It's a much smaller size than that one and it's plenty for my 7 cubic foot keezer.

jwbeard said:

Sorry to resurrect an old post, but why two? Is the fan not powerful enough for a 7cf freezer by itself? And would you arrange them in series or in parallel for maximum output?

Click to expand...

You arrange them in parallel... That way they're both getting 12V. In series they divide the voltage and they're not running full speed.