RyanDe680
Well-Known Member
Curious as to what other electric brewers have for ventilation on their setup? :rockin:
This is my 50 quart inverted salad bowl with 6" insulated duct connected to a 6" in-line fan. This is modified from an idea I found on this great site.
View attachment 292258
View attachment 292257
View attachment 292259
I scored my hood on craigslist and use a 6" vortex fan. Had to make some modifications, but it's worked out pretty well. You can see more of it in my HERMS build thread in my signature if you like
Things I have learned since building are....
1) size matters! while a 6" fan works pretty well, an 8" fan can move more air at a slower speed and therefor more quietly.
2) While a nice big stainless hood looks nice, you don't have to have one that covers the entire brewery. As long as your HLT and MLT stay covered most of the time, they don't put out a ton of moisture. schematix's hood above should work fine even with a 3 vessel system.
3) While many use it, I would recommend not using flexible duct. These move a lot of moisture, much of which collects on the walls of the ducting and will end up in the folds where it may be hard to dry out.
4) Condensation can build up on the outside of the duct. Some duct insulation will stop that from happening.
Curious what the reason for all this (badass) work you went through was for when you can just crack the garage door and turning on a box fan?
I bought this on Ebay but couldn't find one there now (NewEgg price is about the same as what I paid on Ebay):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA5KV1V02280
I then purchased this duct collar from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058IUUDG/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Using the duct collar as a template, I drew a circle on the bottom of the salad bowl with a sharpie. Then drilled a "starter hole" that would accept a jig saw blade. Using a metal cutting jig saw blade in a variable speed jig saw, I cut the 6" hole and affixed the duct collar to the salad bowl with self-tapping sheet metal screws.
All the literature I've read suggests it is better pull the air rather than pushing it hence the decision to mount the fan as near to the outside as possible. I purchased this fan (Specifications: 452 CFM - 2800 RPM - 1.2 Amps - 140 watts - dBa: 49):
https://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/vortex-vtx-series-inline-blowers.html
I also purchased a speed controller from them that only produced a hum from the fan when connected. I would suggest forgetting about speed control as the fan with insulated duct is not very noisy and the CFM is about what is needed to efficiently exhaust steam. The insulated duct is from the same web site:
https://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/thermoflo-sr-insulated-duct.html
The literature suggests that hard metal transitions are necessary when changing angles with insulated duct so I used a 6" 90 degree elbow from Ace Hardware to connect the vertical and horizontal runs of duct. You can push the outside layer of insulation back enough to cut the inner duct a little short so the insulation can then be pulled back over the 90 degree elbow. All the duct work was attached to the fan, metal elbow, duct collar, and exhaust vent with professional sealing duct tape. There is a specific type of tape for this yet often others will recommend a mastic tape or zip ties. I felt confident with the duct tape I used (IPG AC698 UL 181 B-FX) which is intended for attaching insulated duct:
http://www.itape.com/en/Products/DUCT-TAPE
The exhaust vent had to go through a 2x6 wall with drywall on the interior and OSB under cedar siding on the exterior. This is the unit I used:
https://www.famcomfg.com/featured-p...-loaded-damper-gasket-and-screen-painted.html
I do get some dripping from the fan housing that creates about a six inch diameter wet spot on the floor. The dripping starts at about 60 minutes after the boiling begins. My goal is to drill a small hole in the housing and attach a small drain tube that empties into the sink.
Hope this helps and I'd be happy to help further if need be.
I've used the same hood/fan idea on both my breweries.
The current Electric Brewery circa 2013+:
The original Electric Brewery, circa 2008-2011:
More pics and details on the ventilation setup here: http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/ventilation
Kal
Enter your email address to join: