Exhaust fan install

I put in an exhaust fan for my eherms rig this weekend after dealing with the steam from by first brew using a bunch of window fans. Its an inline fan from Vortex purchased on Ebay. Its a six inch model rated for 449 CFM. For the ductwork I used 6" PVC drainage pipe. It works well becaust all the fittings are gasketed so you just slap it together and hang it. I do need to find something better for the hood, I just grabbed a square to round adapter at HD for now. Im also going to get a cap for the end that I can just take on and off as needed.
Mike

I hope you have a good way to get fresh air in there!!!!!!!!

And maybe a screen or some type of cover for the exhaust outside. I wouldn't want anything crawling in there and making a home.

how do you plan on adding fresh air? I'm working on mine and only have 3x50 cfm exhause don't know if ireally need to add are but at 450 wow

I just open a window for fresh air, usually upstairs, keeps the air flowing through the house, the smell down, and the wife happy. 450 CFM is really not much anyway.

Just received my VTX600 Vortex fan (449CFM) as well an hour ago. I was surprised however to read the following right on the fan:

"Suitable for dry locations only. Not for use in kitchens."

Now the no kitchens comment I understand since it's not for grease, but dry locations only? That means you can't use it as a bathroom ceiling fan either I would imagine which is pretty much exactly as we want to do here no?

Kal

You might want to add a drain for the condensation somewhere like the lowest point before the fan, it looks like a pretty long run and may cool enough to condense before it goes out? Unless it is sloping down toward the kettle and you want it to just drip back in.

Kal I'm sure its labeled that way because the fan housing is two piece and not waterproof. I havent had any dripping yet. Plus yours over a sink

airbalancer said:

Kal I'm sure its labeled that way because the fan housing is two piece and not waterproof. I havent had any dripping yet. Plus yours over a sink

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Used to be over the sink... The Vortex fan is bigger than I thought so there's really no way to use my rinse arm with the fan there, so I'm going to exhause out my second hole to give me more room.

I posted this in a different thread but may as well post here too:

The Vortex VTX600 in-line 6" duct fan comes with a regular power cord so I build my own speed control for it using a regular 600W wall light dimmer and other spare parts that I had. Looks like this:



The slide control sets the speed, the switch underneath turns it on/off, and the fan plugs into either outlet on the right. Simple.

It works, but it causes the fan motor to emit a low buzz any time the speed's not at 100%. When I measure the output of the dimmer with a voltmeter it's always putting out 115VAC so I take it it's simply chopping off part of the AC sine wave like explained here: HowStuffWorks "How Dimmer Switches Work"

It's not actually changing the output voltage which makes sense as that's more $$$.

So the question is are fan speed controls the same as light dimmers like this? Is the slight buzzing ok for the motor?

Kal

Have you determined that you actually need to slow the fan down. I see you reducing to 4" after the fan, that should slow it down a bit.

How much was the total install?

The fan was 175 on ebay and the 6" pvc drain pipe and fittings were just over 100 I think.

But does it suck good?

airbalancer said:

Have you determined that you actually need to slow the fan down. I see you reducing to 4" after the fan, that should slow it down a bit.

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Yes, the short run of 4 inch duct does slow it down but not too much since it's so short and this fan has fantastic static pressure.

Running full tilt there is considerable airflow to the outside from my tiny brewing room so I want to be able to run it at slow speed when I'm heating the strike water & mashing just to exhaust some of the heat from the room. A very low speed should be fine for that. Running it full tilt would be overkill and empty the house of air (thinking of the winter) in no time. Once boiling I'll probably run it close to full tilt (don't know yet).

I've done some more research into light dimmers vs fan controls and they're not the same thing so I'll be picking up a ceiling fan control from Home Depot to try instead.

Kal

moreheadbrewingco said:

How much was the total install?

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They come up cheaper on ebay sometimes too. Mine's was only $20 (used) but it's in great shape.

Kal

An update:

I've finally gotten around to documenting the ventilation system used in my brewery.
Take a look here: http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/ventilation

Some pictures:

Testing with a prototype hood:



The final hood installed:





Kal

Looks good. You can usually find a cheap condensate hood at a used restaurant equipment dealer. Never pay what they're asking. Galvanized would also be a cheaper option, but does not look as nice.

If anyone has any questions about hoods, I may be able to answer them. I sold commercial exhaust hoods for 15 years.