My Fermentation Chamber Build

CornyKegs 728
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This is a cool idea! You have me thinking about building one. A question - what type of controller are you using, and does it control both heat and cooling?

Thanks!
 
scottsr123 said:
This is a cool idea! You have me thinking about building one. A question - what type of controller are you using, and does it control both heat and cooling?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Go up to post #12 to see the controller I am using for this. It's from ebay, it does control heating and cooling, but it only displays in Celsius and you have to do the internal wiring and housing yourself. All that's not too bad for the price, though. I used the build information from this thread to make it.
 
Would something like this work well in the winter? Could I hook up a 100w incandescent light bulb to the 'heat' side of the temp controller for use in the winter? I'm thinking of making one of these in my non-insulated garage. It gets mighty cold up here (Ontario, Canada), but I figure a well insulated box with a light bulb might be able to keep it slightly warm.

ok, maybe not ale temp warm, huh? :)

-runstop
 
runstop said:
Would something like this work well in the winter? Could I hook up a 100w incandescent light bulb to the 'heat' side of the temp controller for use in the winter? I'm thinking of making one of these in my non-insulated garage. It gets mighty cold up here (Ontario, Canada), but I figure a well insulated box with a light bulb might be able to keep it slightly warm.

ok, maybe not ale temp warm, huh? :)

-runstop
Click to expand...

Something like this would easily work for keeping the fermenters warm in colder temps. Again, your best bet would be to calculate the required BTUs/hr needed to maintain your desired temp inside the box and use that to size the insulation and heat source. I plan on eventually installing a reptile heat cable in mine to provide heating if necessary.
 
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/_jfiegl_/5105222121/" title="Homebrew by BYOBKC, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1099/5105222121_839476ffdd.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Homebrew"></a>

I was restricted on space and built mine just big enough to fit two car boys. I use a digital johnson controller A490? to controll the cooling element in the summer and throw a small space heater in there in the winter. Works great for me. Sensor is place in a thermowell through the carboy bung.
 
Ace_Club said:
Something like this would easily work for keeping the fermenters warm in colder temps. Again, your best bet would be to calculate the required BTUs/hr needed to maintain your desired temp inside the box and use that to size the insulation and heat source. I plan on eventually installing a reptile heat cable in mine to provide heating if necessary.
Click to expand...

Interesting idea with the reptile heat cable. Any idea how many BTUs/hr that will put out?
 
runstop said:
Interesting idea with the reptile heat cable. Any idea how many BTUs/hr that will put out?
Click to expand...

Depends on the wattage rating of the cable (they come in different sizes). For example, a 15W cable would produce about 51 BTU/hr, IIRC.
 
KCHops said:
I was restricted on space and built mine just big enough to fit two car boys. I use a digital johnson controller A490? to controll the cooling element in the summer and throw a small space heater in there in the winter. Works great for me. Sensor is place in a thermowell through the carboy bung.
Click to expand...

How big is the space heater that you use? Any worry about scorching the insulation?
 
I use a reptile heat cable in my chamber under the shelf for the fermenter. It works good it heats the chamber up just fast enough so it will not over shoot the temp setting.
 
I'm in Ontario as well and right now I use 10W brewbelts I already had. But it's a chest freezer with much less heat loss.

On this particular design with these dimensions, 50W of heat would only really achieve a temperature delta of 10° Fahrenheit. That's still far less than you'd need even to just br able to keep it from freezing!

You'd need to get some serious wattage for it to ferment even a lager when winter is at its coldest... to the point that I'd be concerned with it being a potential fire hazard.

Where in Ontario are you from anyways?
 
emjay said:
I'm in Ontario as well and right now I use 10W brewbelts I already had. But it's a chest freezer with much less heat loss.

On this particular design with these dimensions, 50W of heat would only really achieve a temperature delta of 10° Fahrenheit. That's still far less than you'd need even to just br able to keep it from freezing!

You'd need to get some serious wattage for it to ferment even a lager when winter is at its coldest... to the point that I'd be concerned with it being a potential fire hazard.

Where in Ontario are you from anyways?
Click to expand...

If the ferm chamber were to be kept outdoors (or in an uninsulated garage), then you could make it smaller and/or add more insulation to reduce the amount of heat capacity required to keep it warm.
 
Hey Ace_Club,
I looked around for the controller you used in your build, and it is listed as using a 220V power supply. So, are you using 220v power, or is there a 110v model out there that I've been unable to locate?

Thanks!
 
Hey Scottsr123,

If you buy one of these on ebay, the hong kong supplier will have both a 110 and a 220. They wil send you the right one based on where they're shipping.

runstop
 
runstop said:
Hey Scottsr123,

If you buy one of these on ebay, the hong kong supplier will have both a 110 and a 220. They wil send you the right one based on where they're shipping.

runstop
Click to expand...

Thanks, Runstop!
 
I made some more progress tonight on the build. I finished insulating the wall with the mini fridge and was able to get the fourth wall/door installed. All that is left to do is the following:

1) Install remaining insulation on the fourth wall/door.
2) Install weather stripping around door seal.
3) Install locking/holding mechanism for the door.
4) Install FRP flooring.
5) Caulk/aluminum tape all the final joints.

The end is in sight. I can't wait to have this project finished.

(Unfortunately my wife is out of town and took the camera with her. I will post pictures of the current progress tomorrow night)
 
Here are the pics of the fermentation chamber build.

A shot of the final insulation on the fridge wall:

IMG_2795.JPG


The final fourth wall, with door shut:

IMG_27961.JPG


With the door open:

IMG_2797.JPG
 
nice work! so what is ambient temp and what is the lowest temp that the fermentation unit can reach?
 
KCHops said:
nice work! so what is ambient temp and what is the lowest temp that the fermentation unit can reach?
Click to expand...

I will see soon enough. The max ambient temp in the basement is ~78F during the summer months. I plan to keep the chamber at ale temps so a max low of 60F.

I still need to insulate the door and install the weather stripping. Then I can turn it on and take it for a test run.
 
Subscribed. This is exactly what I was thinking of doing. I may have to brush up on some electrical technique for the controller build though.
 
Tinga said:
Subscribed. This is exactly what I was thinking of doing. I may have to brush up on some electrical technique for the controller build though.
Click to expand...

Really, as long as you can cut wire and strip the ends, that's as difficult as this controller build got.

geoffabrown said:
Bring out the GIMP! Good work my man. You are a true inspiration to the garage brewers of the world.
Click to expand...

Basement. ;)
 
IrregularPulse said:
He'll likely do what several people around here do and butt the opening of the fridge (door removed) up to an opening of the chamber and seal the edges. Essentially expanding the interior of the mini fridge.
Click to expand...

wow.

How have I not thought of that before? That's a good idea!
 
It's done.

Here are the final pics of it with the floor and all seams taped. It gets a test run tonight and then gets put into use with my brew session on Monday. :ban:

IMG_28452.JPG


IMG_28441.JPG


IMG_28421.JPG


IMG_28431.JPG


I'll post some in-use pics on Monday.

Also, one last bit of advice. When working inside the chamber (taping seams, caulking, etc.) never, ever fart. It's horrible, and it lingers. :drunk:
 
Looks great! Let us know how it performs. I have 2.8 cu ft fridge I'm thinking about building one around.
 
Here it is in action (though not really much more to see).

A shot of the fridge plugged into the controller and the controller plugged into the ceiling outlet.

IMG_2849.JPG


Here's the temperature controller display. Cooling down towards 16.0 C.

IMG_2848.JPG


Here's a shot of the locking mechanism. There's a similar one on the bottom of the door.

IMG_2847.JPG


I tested it out with a 2 liter of ice prior to turning on the fridge. The 2 liter was able to cool the chamber from 22.3 C to 18.4 C and it was only half melted when I opened the door to turn on the fridge.
 
In the near future, I hope to get more accurate readings of when it cycles. For now, I've been noting the temps and status every 15 minutes or so. It seems that the chamber loses ~1 C/hr and that the fridge kicks on for 5-10 minutes to cool it 1 C. When I get the time, I'll post some better numbers.

There are no noticeable air leaks at any seams. I'm guessing this is a pretty good to standard cycle time for something like this, and would like to hear from any others with ferm chamber experience.
 
Yo Ace... I f a guy wanted to take your basic idea of using a mini fridge but to make a keezer rather than a fermentation chamber I wouldn't need the temp control box would I? I'm thinking of using kitchen cabinets with the pink foam and a mini fridge to build a keezer with a beer faucet on the counter. Thanks
 

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