Son of Fermentation chiller question(s)

[knappster]

I found the plans online on the son of fermentation chiller and it seems like a good fit for me since I would like to be able to stick my fermenter in the garage, but I don't have enough room for a fridge, it's cheap, and I can move it around easily, store it, etc.

My biggest logistical issue is the foam insulation. There is a Home Depot a mile or 2 from my house that carries the 8'x4'x2" pieces, but I am not going to be able to transport that in one sheet. Does anyone have experience on whether Home Depot will cut this down on a wood saw? If I can have them make 3 measured cuts I could have it in 4 pieces to take home and do the rest.

The other question is cutting the foam at home. What tools have people used? Some thoughts I have had are scoring it with a utility knife and trying to snap it, trying to cut all the way through with a utility knife, using a circular saw, or using a hack saw.

Those of you who have built the SOFC, when brewing ales do you typically change the ice for as long as you are fermenting (2-4 weeks) or do you keep it at a set temperature for the first few days of fermenting then shove it in a closet?

Thanks for any input!

 

[jpc]

I found the plans online on the son of fermentation chiller and it seems like a good fit for me since I would like to be able to stick my fermenter in the garage, but I don't have enough room for a fridge, it's cheap, and I can move it around easily, store it, etc.

My biggest logistical issue is the foam insulation. There is a Home Depot a mile or 2 from my house that carries the 8'x4'x2" pieces, but I am not going to be able to transport that in one sheet. Does anyone have experience on whether Home Depot will cut this down on a wood saw? If I can have them make 3 measured cuts I could have it in 4 pieces to take home and do the rest.

The other question is cutting the foam at home. What tools have people used? Some thoughts I have had are scoring it with a utility knife and trying to snap it, trying to cut all the way through with a utility knife, using a circular saw, or using a hack saw.

I use a utility knife with a straight-edge or a demolition saw blade in a handle. I took the stuff with me to Home Dump so I could cut it myself and place it in my car.

 

[Rubberband]

I spoke with the guy at HD and he gave me a straight edge, tape measure, a really sharp utility knife and helped me by holding the straight edge. We made all the cuts needed even though I could have made three and made the rest at home. It was nice to have the help though, my wife isn't as enthusiastic about my hobby as the gentlemen I met at HD.

Make sure you take your measuerements though, you can't just cut the thing in half.

 

[hlumbard]

Excellent, I was planning on picking up my foam today too and was trying to figure this same problem out! Thanks everyone.

 

[mariojr]

I cut my sheet with a table saw and had nice clean cuts. So I don't see any reason why they couldn't cut it on their panel saw and get the same results.

 

[HomebrewJeff]

I've hauled more stuff home in my little Saturn SL2 from HomeDepot / Lowes than I care to mention. Get one of the flat carts, and lay out your marks using a straightedge, a drywall t-square works really well.

As far a cutting the foam, and really fine haxsaw blade works well, or turn the blade around so you are cutting with the back of the blade. I've also used a piece of sheet metal, maybe 3"x10" and sharpened the edge with a file. Then took a block of wood and made a slit in it, and screwed the sheet metal into the slot. Kinda like something like this: OXO  - Stainless Steel Multi-Purpose Scraper & Chopper

It's kind of slow, but makes nice clean cuts without shredding the foam too much.

 

[knappster]

I spoke with the guy at HD and he gave me a straight edge, tape measure, a really sharp utility knife and helped me by holding the straight edge. We made all the cuts needed even though I could have made three and made the rest at home. It was nice to have the help though, my wife isn't as enthusiastic about my hobby as the gentlemen I met at HD.

Make sure you take your measuerements though, you can't just cut the thing in half.

Must have been a slow day at the depot. I think I'll probably try to bring a friend with me. The hard part is going to be finding an 8' straight edge, lol.

 

[knappster]

I got the parts for this yesterday and did most of the construction. Pictures will be forthcoming. FYI, the 4x8 foam I got from Home depot is scored longways every 16", which was convenient for the first cut.

All I have left to do is cut the dowel rod, add the grommets, mount the thermostat and wire it. Should be able to finish it tonight! I might not be able to use it for several weeks though

 

[hlumbard]

Knappster,

We're in a race! I built most of it this weekend and now all I have to do it wire it. I couldn't find the Foamular though so I had to get Styrofoam, almost the same R value but talk about a PAIN to cut and glue.

 

[knappster]

Well, I finished mine up last night. The only issue I need to work on is the dowel rods. The brass grommets are a good idea, but my holes are crooked and whatnot and one of them does not line up very well. It still seemed to seal pretty well, despite that. I've got a little under a half gallon of ice in there now with nothing else doing a trial run. I have the thermostat at about 65. The garage has been getting to about 80 lately.

Pictures below:

 

[Phillycyberjoe]

I had the guy at Home Depot cut the 4X8 sheet on the panel saw. I just had him do one cut at 19" in order to build the 38DD WortOMatic cooler. I cut the rest of the pieces with a sabre saw. Worked great. I am using it for the first time right now and its been in there for 7 days. Working great!!!

Joe

 

[knappster]

I brewed my Weizenbier yesterday afternoon, put it in the SOFC last night with 2 gallons of ice. The wort was at 75 degrees when I put it in there, and the thermostat is at 65. I got a nifty indoor/outdoor thermometer at Lowe's that keeps a minimum and maximum temperature for both indoor and outdoor. I replaced the ice this morning just to be sure since the wort had to cool down some yet, and being in my garage, the ambient temperature was 84 degrees. Today was a little bit more mild.

I reset the min/max shortly after replacing the ice this morning, and here is what I read about 12 hours later.

Garage temp:
Min - 71.1 degrees
Max - 81.0 degrees

SOFC temp:
Min - 62.1 degrees
Max - 65.7 degrees

I'm going to see how the ice is doing and check the temperature of the wort before bed tonight, but I am impressed at how well the temperature is staying tight. I'm sure I will have to replace the ice daily if not more frequently. I have seen the garage temps in the mid-90s already this year and technically it's not even summer I'm not sure if 4 gallons of ice is feasible since it would take up a lot of freezer space, needing 4 in the chiller and 4 in the freezer at all times.

Anyway, I thought this information would be useful for people considering building this chiller. By the way, my garage is not insulated, so I am sure you could get better ice performance in an insulated garage or inside the house if you can convince SWMBO to allow it, lol.

edit: temperature of the LCD thermometer on the fermenter was 67 degrees and there was enough ice to get through the night with still some floating in the jug this morning. I replaced them before work, but sometime when I can keep a closer eye on it, I may see how far long I can push it.

 

[knappster]

It looks like I underestimated the cooler and overestimated my ability to determine how much ice is left in a milk jug. I had the same 2 gallons in the chiller for almost 60 hours and when I replaced them there was still some ice in them. The SOFC is the real deal for bargain temp control for ales. I believe the garage temp ranged from 69-88 in that time span and the thermostat was set for 67 and stayed within 4ish degrees of that.

Hopefully somebody out there finds this information useful.

 

[mikeysab]

I find it useful. I'm thinking of building one of these. I had access to free boards at work, and blew it. Now I'm on furlough and it's too late. I'm going to check construction sites and talk to some workers and see if I can secure some for free. If not, I"ll buy them. This thing sounds like such an awesome idea. I don't have room for a fermentation fridge, so this thing would be perfect for my little corner of the closet I like to call my "brew closet". If I can get enough materials for nothing, I'd like to build two of them. Are you guys really happy with this thing?

 

[knappster]

I still use mine. One consideration if you're going to have it in a closet is condensation. I put weep holes in the styrofoam to allow it to drain out on my garage floor. You're probably not going to want a puddle in your closet. That is probably the main factor as to why it is in my garage instead of my house. But yeah, I like it a lot.

In the winter the house is usually cool enough to just set the bucket indoors, so I can set this on top of a refrigerator in my garage to keep it out of the way, then get it back down in the summer. Go for it!

 

[bartyen82]

I love my SoF chiller! It took a while to find the 2" thick extruded polystyrene in Florida, and I ended up buying the foam on a trip home to Tennessee. I usually just end up putting down old kitchen rags underneath my ice jugs to soak up the condensation. The only addition I'd recommend to the excellent instructions is putting a thin piece of plywood or even poster board down in the main chamber underneath my fermenting bucket so the bucket edges don't gouge the foam.