Fermistat: Bastard of Fermentation Chamber

I'm sitting here enjoying a 2nd glass of Sierra Nevada's Glissade, and I figured some of you might like to see what I finished working on this evening.

I present to you my own take on the Son of Fermentation Chamber, quietly known to the few people I deliver progress updates to as the "Fermistat".



Rather than having to switch out frozen bottles every few days (or in general, mess with it), I opted to to have a mini fridge attached to act as a freezer. Also, because I had most of the parts lying round, I built my own thermostat based on the Arduino platform.

The main chamber is big enough to house 2 (maybe 3) 6.5 gallon carboys, or 4 corny kegs, and has a removable top and front held in place by rubber bands. It's all held together by spray adhesive, Popsicle sticks, and wood glue.





The fridge is divided into two halves , with 1 gallon of ice on either side .



The thermostat itself makes use of a cloned Arduino (freeduino),an MCP9700A Low Power Linear Active Thermistor IC, and a 12v optoisolated circuit for fan control. The LCD currently displays current temperature, Previous high and low temp values, and Temperature threshold. The threshold may be adjusted via buttons and thermometer may also be calibrated via trimpot.





I'm currently testing the whole setup with 5 gallons of water in a corny, and I'm honestly surprised at how well the whole thing seems to be working, and I can't wait to get some beer into it.



I still have a few more things I want to add to the setup. A few more ties as to better secure the top and front panels, and because I'm that type of lamer (read: Masturbatory) I may also install a IR video camera so as not to have to unhook everything to view progress ((and again, because I have the parts lying around).

This is not my cleanest build, but it seems to be everything I was hoping for functionally..

Thank you to everyone who contributes to this sub board, as it has provided endless hours of enjoyment, distraction, and ideas

Keep tweaking.

-Sean

 

First of all, great build. The idea of putting in a camera is over the top and completely awesome

I'm curious why you didn't simply keep the fridge as it is (no divider or ice bottles) and why the dividing wall between the fermentation chamber and the fridge. I realize the design you have is the son of a fermentation chamber design, but with the use of a fridge, I'm not sure why it's needed.

I have a similar idea to yours, however I was going to just attach the fridge to the chamber, put a small desk fan in the fridge, and hook up both to my temp control. No extra walls or chambers. What's the benefit of the buffer?

 

MikeRLynch: Thank you

Mainly, I didn't care the idea of my small fridge being responsible for cooling a now much larger space. I figured it might have some trouble, though admittedly I have no experience with that type of setup (or any of this, for that matter). With the separation, ducting, and frozen water, I am guaranteed 32*F on one side, and reasonably what ever temp above that I want on the other... in as short of a time as possible without having to wait for the compressor to kick in.

 

(a) As a fellow DIY electronics enthusiast and a victim of OCD, your living space both frightens and makes me jealous.

(b) Why isn't your infrared camera remote-controlled? You shouldn't have to position it by hand once your baby is chilling in there!

(c) Awesome job, overall; makes my fermentation process look rather infantile. ;D

 

Thank you for the kind words. My place tends to get a bit thrashed during projects.

Updates:





and some eye candy for you

 

Sick... and I like it!

 

nice work! but i laughed when i saw "beef" on the thermometer