Fermentation Temp Control Cooler style

Here is the proposed design:

Get a 10 gallon Rubber-made cooler. Replace the spigot with a standard Igloo Cooler drain (the threaded style are 3/4" garden hose fittings). Cut a hole in the lid for the neck of the carboy to stick up through. Since it is going to be cut anyway, fill the lid with great stuff foam insulation. Near the top of the cooler, cut a hole through the wall and install a 3/4" plastic through hull fitting for a boat (got several hanging around), and seal it up with 3M 5200.

For the cooling side, I am going to use a 50Qt Icey Tek that I already have. It already has 2 drains, which are 3/4 pipe thread. Off one side, a short length of hose will come off the cooler and into a bait tank pump. From the pump it will go to the fitting at the bottom of the Rubber-made. The through hull near the top will be the overflow, and connected to the drain on the other side of the cooler.

For heating, an inexpensive aquarium heater will be put into the Rubber-Made Cooler.

All of this will be controlled by a Ebay aquarium controller......which should arrive any day.

So you want to circulate ice water from one cooler into another?

yep, with as much insulation is going to be involved, cycle times should be very minimal. I have a feeling I can get away with a 2 degree swing.

Probably not a bad idea. A small pump (I have found $20 pumps which are food grade) that doesn't have to circulate much volume to be effective in this case. A large BLOCK of ice would last a long time. Probably several days.

Homercidal said:

Probably not a bad idea. A small pump (I have found $20 pumps which are food grade) that doesn't have to circulate much volume to be effective in this case. A large BLOCK of ice would last a long time. Probably several days.

Click to expand...

that is my thought. The pump doesn't even have to be food grade, because the water won't come in contact with anything other than the outside of the carboy. I am using a 12V bait tank pump just because I have it laying around, and because they last basically forever. You can cycle them on and off all you want or let them run as long as you want and the tend to hold up as long as the voltage isn't too low. With a regulated power supply, that shouldn't be an issue. For the ice, I am thinking just throw in several frozen milk jugs or water balloons, and swap them out for fresh every few days.