blackheart
Well-Known Member
Hello all. I have been hanging out here for awhile reading the forums and have alot of good ideas from many of the projects I have seen on these forums. I am ready to get serious about my brewing and move to a 10 gal all grain setup. Before I can do that I want to have somewhere to store my 10gal batches in a temp controlled environment. And before I can do that I need to be able to store and serve at least 20gal of beer.
I picked up a whirlpool 8.9cu/ft chest freezer from lowes, who apparently is the only person who sells this model. It holds 5 kegs perfectly. I have sense painted it black and I am ready to add the taps and all the fun parts to make it a kegerator. But first I need to regulate the temp so that the beer does not freeze.
I could buy a temp controller from Ronco or Love. But where is the fun in that? Plus they are 50-100$. Also they are a bit redundant because they simply cut the power to the whole freezer (ie pulling the plug)
I came up with a super simple design using analog circuits. This means that there is no programing (to fail) and it can be built with a trip to radio shack. Currently it is in a prototype stage but it is working great.
In its current configuration you adjust two variable resistors to set the high and low temp values. The circuit triggers a relay which turns on the compressor when the temp is too high and turns it off when it is too low. In the mean time the compressor is off until it warms up to the hight point again.
I am looking for your input on this as I would like to make a printed circuit board. again this isnt trying to be a Love or ronco digital controller, at its current design it would cost less than $20 to build. Also it plugs into where the existing thermostat is and requires no real modification to your chest freezer (at least my model).
Some ideas I had for the circuit....
- Integrate an ac/dc converter so that a separate converter is not necessary.
- Replace the variable resistors with permanent ones and a switch to switch between "serving temp" and "fermenting temp"
- Put the LED's on extended wires so that you can mount them in the side of the kegerator to indicate the circuit is on and its current state (blue-cold, red-warm, green-just right)
What other features do you think people might like in a basic temp controller? The focus here would be on working well for the cost, not advanced features and it may require some adjusting or tweeking to get the best results.
Here is a picture of the current circuit, the final design will be much smaller when printed. Currently it still fits in the existing plastic housing where the stock thermostat was. (blurry from my camera phone)
I picked up a whirlpool 8.9cu/ft chest freezer from lowes, who apparently is the only person who sells this model. It holds 5 kegs perfectly. I have sense painted it black and I am ready to add the taps and all the fun parts to make it a kegerator. But first I need to regulate the temp so that the beer does not freeze.
I could buy a temp controller from Ronco or Love. But where is the fun in that? Plus they are 50-100$. Also they are a bit redundant because they simply cut the power to the whole freezer (ie pulling the plug)
I came up with a super simple design using analog circuits. This means that there is no programing (to fail) and it can be built with a trip to radio shack. Currently it is in a prototype stage but it is working great.
In its current configuration you adjust two variable resistors to set the high and low temp values. The circuit triggers a relay which turns on the compressor when the temp is too high and turns it off when it is too low. In the mean time the compressor is off until it warms up to the hight point again.
I am looking for your input on this as I would like to make a printed circuit board. again this isnt trying to be a Love or ronco digital controller, at its current design it would cost less than $20 to build. Also it plugs into where the existing thermostat is and requires no real modification to your chest freezer (at least my model).
Some ideas I had for the circuit....
- Integrate an ac/dc converter so that a separate converter is not necessary.
- Replace the variable resistors with permanent ones and a switch to switch between "serving temp" and "fermenting temp"
- Put the LED's on extended wires so that you can mount them in the side of the kegerator to indicate the circuit is on and its current state (blue-cold, red-warm, green-just right)
What other features do you think people might like in a basic temp controller? The focus here would be on working well for the cost, not advanced features and it may require some adjusting or tweeking to get the best results.
Here is a picture of the current circuit, the final design will be much smaller when printed. Currently it still fits in the existing plastic housing where the stock thermostat was. (blurry from my camera phone)