small freezer for ferm chamber build

I found a very small - 1.3 cu ft - freezer on CL for next to nothing. I am wondering if I could use this as the temp control source ( with a ranco) for a ferm chamber build. Anyone see an issue with this?

What some people have done is built a larger chamber, put the freezer on top and cut holes for air circulation.

david_42 said:

What some people have done is built a larger chamber, put the freezer on top and cut holes for air circulation.

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thats a good idea if you don't want to go to the trouble of completely gutting the fridge/freezer to steal the cooling unit, and then transfer it into your own chamber.

since it is so small, perhaps I'll remove the door and simply build a chamber around the whole thing, install a small fan and done. It is still available for about 20$ or so. I think it is worth the investment.

Any news on how this is coming along? Maybe some pictures?

unfortunately the woman totally flaked out - I went over there with cash in hand. She did not have change for $50 (I had a 50 and a 20, the price was 25). I asked if she would take 20, she said no. I went back to my car, got the checkbook and said I'd give her 20 in cash, $5 with a check, she said no - I could get change down the street or give her 50. I walked - no loger worth my time at that point. So, I am on the lookout for another mini-freezer with the original plan of simply remoning the door and building a chamber around the entrire thing. I'll post when I get it done.

kcinpdx said:

unfortunately the woman totally flaked out - I went over there with cash in hand. She did not have change for $50 (I had a 50 and a 20, the price was 25). I asked if she would take 20, she said no. I went back to my car, got the checkbook and said I'd give her 20 in cash, $5 with a check, she said no - I could get change down the street or give her 50. I walked - no loger worth my time at that point. So, I am on the lookout for another mini-freezer with the original plan of simply remoning the door and building a chamber around the entrire thing. I'll post when I get it done.

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What a biotch!

kcinpdx said:

So, I am on the lookout for another mini-freezer with the original plan of simply remoning the door and building a chamber around the entrire thing. I'll post when I get it done.

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This is in my future as well, I'm just going to make a box out of insulation board, cut a hole in the side and seal the minifridge (door removed) up to the hole. I'm also going to put a small fan in the fridge and have that run when the fridge gets turned on by the temp sensor.

Sorry to hear she flaked- some people!

I hear flaked is better, no need to cereal mash her

One thing I ran into when I was trying to make a chest freezer into a fermentation chamber is that the condenser coils are in the outer walls of the freezer. This means that the sides get hot. I insulated about 1/8 of the surface area to mate up with my cabinet. This caused the remaining sides to get even hotter to make up for the lost surface area. It caused the freezer to be much less efficient. Having said that, If you set the freezer on top and cut holes in the bottom, it should work. I just don't know how big of a chamber you can cool. If you're interested in what I did, here are the links:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/holiday-lch0701pw-freezer-122466/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/i-give-up-124057/
I hope this helps you decide. Luck - Dwain

kcinpdx said:

unfortunately the woman totally flaked out - I went over there with cash in hand. She did not have change for $50 (I had a 50 and a 20, the price was 25). I asked if she would take 20, she said no. I went back to my car, got the checkbook and said I'd give her 20 in cash, $5 with a check, she said no - I could get change down the street or give her 50. I walked - no loger worth my time at that point. So, I am on the lookout for another mini-freezer with the original plan of simply remoning the door and building a chamber around the entrire thing. I'll post when I get it done.

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I would have said, "Sure... I'll do that!!! C U Next Tuesday!!!"

I almost don't want to wake up a sleeping thread but anyone want to tell me if this will work ? getting a Johnson digital tomorrow to make it work to temp.

Looks like it will work to me. Using a thermowell or taping to probe to the side of your fermentor is probably your best bet.

Yep, I'll be taping it to the side of the fermenter, I'm moving into a new place this weekend and then hopefully Sunday I'll be brewing my First Lager an Oktoberfest from AHS I set up the temp control on it to see how it worked, I think it'll do just fine.