4.6 cu ft Fridge to 10.1 cu ft Fermentation Chamber Conversion

After a nice score on CL (a side-by-side fridge/freezer for our basement) SWMBO offered up our 4.6 cu ft Haier to me to do with as I wish. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately depending on how you look at it), I could not even fit one carboy or bucket in it because of the shape of the interior bottom combined with the protrusions on the inside of the door. So, after being inspired by some of the creations I found on this website, I decided to create something of my own.

I wanted to build it to fit under this workbench…


I made the walls out of 2-ply 3/4" foam insulation. Also, I relocated the top and bottom brackets of the fridge door so that the door could still be used. Here’s a picture of the glued-up panels and fridge temporarily in place…


In order for the magnetic seals of the door to work properly, I used some scrap metal I had at work and painted them and glued them around the face of the opening as shown here…


Then I stuck on some magnetic strips with adhesive backing. This is what holds the new chamber to the fridge. Also I put a piece of clear Plexiglas (another scrap piece from work) cut to fit on the floor of the chamber.


continued...

To control temps I bought a Love controller and installed that in the door. I also added a muffin fan to move air around. Here’s the finished product:






Now I can fit my three fermenters in it!

Well Done!! Never seen one like that before.

You would be hating life without that Plexiglas floor, good call.

Very Nice!

Question: How low can you get the temperature? Would this be usable as a kegerator?

Cpt_Kirks said:

Very Nice!

Question: How low can you get the temperature? Would this be usable as a kegerator?

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Thanks.

I will be using this for fermenting ales for quite a while so I probably won't even try for now. I've seen others with similar setups go plenty low (upper 30's I think?).

Very nice job there...

Very nicely done.

Looks good!

very nice, how often does it cycle on and off?

mnadamn said:

very nice, how often does it cycle on and off?

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I don't know yet I haven't been able to watch it for very long. I'll let you know when I do.

You had me at "muffin fan"...good work! And great idea with using the door as, well, the door! :rockin:

Excellent.
I have to do something similar. Well almost the exact same thing.

My korny's wont fit in my mini-fridge side by side or with the interior door panel. I like your plan and will be imitating it. I have most of the materials in the garage, left overs from my basement rec room remodel job.

Watch for a thread on the whole project later this winter.

Hanr3 said:

Excellent.
I have to do something similar. Well almost the exact same thing.

My korny's wont fit in my mini-fridge side by side or with the interior door panel. I like your plan and will be imitating it. I have most of the materials in the garage, left overs from my basement rec room remodel job.

Watch for a thread on the whole project later this winter.

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Great! I'll look forward to seeing it!

wow. this is the best i have seen so far. i like that you left it open still to allow cooling of the fridge. i can also say you shouldnt worry too much about the cycle times as mine isnt much smaller then that and it doesnt cycle much more then what it did before the extension.

Any update ? is the Compressor able to keep up or does it run hot all the time ? interesting DIY.

Anderz said:

Any update ? is the Compressor able to keep up or does it run hot all the time ? interesting DIY.

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It works great - I love it! The compressor hardly runs at all but thats because I'm fermenting ales at 63° and the room temp is around 68-70 (during the winter).

Two questions:
1) is that the fridge only 4.6 Haier, or the fridge/freezer?
2) what are the internal dimensions of the extension? Or better yet, what is the length and width of the floor (extension+fridge)? I have 3 10-gallon cornys that I ferment in, and that looks like it could handle all 3.

Awesome idea, and thank you for sharing!

Very nice. Now I think i need one of those.

keithd said:

Two questions:
1) is that the fridge only 4.6 Haier, or the fridge/freezer?
2) what are the internal dimensions of the extension? Or better yet, what is the length and width of the floor (extension+fridge)? I have 3 10-gallon cornys that I ferment in, and that looks like it could handle all 3.

Awesome idea, and thank you for sharing!

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Anyone? I'd hate to go out and buy one to find out it doesn't fit.
Thanks!

keithd said:

Two questions:
1) is that the fridge only 4.6 Haier, or the fridge/freezer?
2) what are the internal dimensions of the extension? Or better yet, what is the length and width of the floor (extension+fridge)? I have 3 10-gallon cornys that I ferment in, and that looks like it could handle all 3.

Awesome idea, and thank you for sharing!

Click to expand...

Yes I'm here!

1) fridge only, although there's a very small compartment inside the fridge where the evap coils are that can be used to freeze stuff.

2) overall floor dimensions (orig fridge + extension) is 29" x 16". The inside height at it's lowest point (under the coils/compartment) is 23-3/4".

I have no idea how big cornys are but I hope that helps!

TH-

Did you replace the fridge's internal thermostat or did you do the normal wiring where the Love controller is basically wired inline with the fridge's normal plug? Also how did you wire the muffin fan with the controller? Could you draw up a diagram of how you wired it in?

Excellent project. I will seriously consider one of these when summer rolls around.

mattchu09 said:

TH-

Did you replace the fridge's internal thermostat or did you do the normal wiring where the Love controller is basically wired inline with the fridge's normal plug? Also how did you wire the muffin fan with the controller? Could you draw up a diagram of how you wired it in?

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Here's my thread on how I wired my Love controller:https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/love-temp-controller-series-ts-wiring-diagram-2008-a-88369/

I wired the fan by tapping into the "switched hot" and neutral lines. That way the fan only runs when the compressor does.

-TH- said:

Yes I'm here!

1) fridge only, although there's a very small compartment inside the fridge where the evap coils are that can be used to freeze stuff.

2) overall floor dimensions (orig fridge + extension) is 29" x 16". The inside height at it's lowest point (under the coils/compartment) is 23-3/4".

I have no idea how big cornys are but I hope that helps!

Click to expand...

Thank you, thank you, and thank you!
The base here (stationed in Japan) just got in about 12 of those fridge-only 4.6cf models, and I'm giving my 5cf chest freezer to my mom-in-law.

Awesome! Now I won't have to get a hernia every time I brew ten gallon batches lifting the 10 gallon corny kegs over the wall of the chest freezer (I used it for a fermentation chamber).

Would this project work the same with a fridge w/freezer box?

And, by "I relocated the top and bottom brackets of the fridge door so that the door could still be used"....do you mean that you took the brackets off the fridge, measured/drilled new holes, and remounted them in a location suitable for the door to be flush with the new 'front'? (as opposed to just switching it to the other side, so the door opens on left instead of right side of the fridge).

Thanks,

mthompson said:

Would this project work the same with a fridge w/freezer box?

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Not sure what you mean exactly but mine has a freezer compartment INSIDE the fridge, which really is just the coils that do the cooling for the whole fridge so yes it should work.

mthompson said:

And, by "I relocated the top and bottom brackets of the fridge door so that the door could still be used"....do you mean that you took the brackets off the fridge, measured/drilled new holes, and remounted them in a location suitable for the door to be flush with the new 'front'? (as opposed to just switching it to the other side, so the door opens on left instead of right side of the fridge).

Thanks,

Click to expand...

Your first assumption is correct. I was able to reuse one hole for each bracket (top and bottom) but for the other holes I had to drill a couple pilot holes and thread the screws into the sheet metal.

This is amazing.... I am looking at this wondering how I didn't think of this! I have a smaller fridge just sitting in my basement and I have been wondering how to fight the heat this summer. I don't think I can get any buckets in there but I will try. But if not I will just use that space for other things and make a larger insulated addition.

Awesome idea!!! I am so freakin excited right now!!! I hope I can make this work with what I already have!!!!!

Ha, I'm glad someone else resurrected this thread. I've had it saved forever because I intend to do the same sometime soon.

Yeah I checked out where I wanted to do it and the table is a few inches too low. So I am not sure how I will do it. I'm still gona try to figure it out though. My only guidelines from SWMBO is that"it needs to look nice" haha.

Alright so I gave it a try this past weekend. I don't have pics right now but it was a PITA because the table was not square at all and since it's all old it's sagging in the middle so there was a lot of just shaving down edges so the pieces of foam board would fit.

Now my issue is that it looks like the warmest my fridge goes is something like 59 or 60 degrees. Do you guys think thats too warm? I was hoping I wouldn't have to buy another a temp controler but I am think I might have to in order to keep it around 65.

What do you guys think?

well I'm knew to home brewing, my first ale I did the bath tub ice bath.. but man lots of work switching out gallon jugs twice a day, plus all the room they take up in the freezer..

This looks like a life saver. And ever so conveniently, I am redoing my kitchen right now, so I have an assortment of kitchen cabinets at my disposal that I was already planning on putting up in the garage..
I'm thinking of using my old sink base, plopping a mini fridge in there and sealing it all up. Basically would look just like you have it there, but all enclosed in the sink base, and using the cabinet door for access. A little concerned whether or not a mini fridge could cool a 10sq ft. volume like that (I'm in houston, about 105 degrees out today.)
And this would be in my oven, I mean my garage.

Lots of different configurations come to mind, I'll have to think about it for a while.

But anyway, this looks great..

I have been loving the set up. I did mine under a table in my kitchen and not having to change out frozen bottles is awesome.



I insulated mine with foam board on the top and all the sides. Then took the door completely off and pushed it up against the left end of the table.



SWMOB is painting the outside so it looks nice. She is trying to make some hop trellises.

The only issues I have had is condensation. I put a towel in under the freezer section. That was ok but it would still start running across the floor after a while. So I put some damp rid in there and that has been keeping it under control so far.

Does anyone have any idea for keeping the condensation down on the coils of the freezer?

you need to seal it better.

pen25 said:

you need to seal it better.

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Would just sealing all of the corners and seems with some tape would be good enough? I am thinking painters tape because that easly comes off.

I have been thinking about this kind of idea for a solution to my fermentation. I was wondering if this type of chamber would be able to keep up in 120+ weather in an Arizona garage to ferment ales or is there a better solution any help would be greatly appreciated.

bertman said:

I have been thinking about this kind of idea for a solution to my fermentation. I was wondering if this type of chamber would be able to keep up in 120+ weather in an Arizona garage to ferment ales or is there a better solution any help would be greatly appreciated.

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I can't say. It works great for me, but ambient temps don't even get much above 70. I know there are quite a few others here who have built similar chambers driven by small fridges so maybe some of those folks could help?

thanks for the reply i am just getting into this as a new hobby and I am trying to learn as much as i can to bve successful

Hey TH, How'd you mount the fan? Have any better pics?

I'm in the process of building one almost like yours and just want some more ideas.

Thanks!
paul

Bjornbrewer said:

Hey TH, How'd you mount the fan? Have any better pics?

I'm in the process of building one almost like yours and just want some more ideas.

Thanks!
paul

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I don't have any pics but I mounted the fan on a couple of rubber isolators that are attached to an aluminum bar and then used this double stick tape: http://www.mcmaster.com/#76675a21/=5nm493 to attach it to a ledge in the back of the fridge. The tape holds extremely well but it is also very expensive. I use it for lots of projects. The other parts I got from the scrap cabinet at work.

thanks. I think I may mount it right to the cooling coil tray thingy (great description, eh?)