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Ah yes, here we go: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=438548 I have since added the heat trace to both, and copper cooling coils around one of the fermenters. Still need to work on the chiller, too.

Hahahaha...well....the sad truth is that this beast has been gathering dust! I tested all the functions using a light plugged into the sockets, but havent hooked up a chiller unit yet. Life got super busy, and I haven't had a chance to finish up my semi conical SS fermenters; I think I have...

It's definitely not brittle, but the 1.5" stuff I have is NOT a fan of bending! Triangles is an interesting concept! :)

I'm at the point of insulating my fermenters.....but when I look at my rather stiff, rectangular sheets of insulation, I'm having a hard time envisioning them wrapped around my fermenters. Is there any advice you can offer to an insulating newbie?

As request from another forum goer, here is the circuit schematic diagram. Dots mean the wires are connected. The glycol cooler (an air conditioner) is controlled by the left STC, the fermenter temp by the right STC. Only one fermenter controller circuit is shown; the other is identical.

I wouldn't use a submerged aquarium heater...it will raise the humidity, which will then all gather on the sides of the freezer, causing lots of condensation to mop up. I would use either a small electric space heater or a heat pad/fermwrap/heat tape.

Tipped by some enigmatic force, here are the build pics: Panel cover cut out and painted: Control panel body, primed: First power up! (sans thermosensor wired):

Derp. Foiled again! The correct photo has been inserted. I don't envision that I'll be using heat and cool all that often together, but I am concerned about the winter months; fermentation will be able to crank out considerably more watts than the heat tape, and the heat tape was sized to the...

Modeled loosely on the control panel from theelectricbrewery.com, but simplified for heat/cool using STC-1000's. Here's the bling: Cover closed, powered up, ready to go! Cover open: Edited for having the wrong dang pic! The top controller controls a (to-be-built) chiller unit...

I found this absolutely wonderful little document that does a good job walking you through the process of sizing your heat tape: http://www.proheatinc.com/support/Technical/DesignGuide.pdf I doubled what they said, for conservative margin :p.

Update time! I finally have all the parts on hand and have some progress to share. So without further ado: The steel hoops have been removed, sanded (with a grinder flap disc :rockin:) and painted with enamel paint, and finally re-attached. The casters were also attached: And a...

Why not use the flexwatt heat tape? Lots of positive feedback on it from folks. I have a roll sitting on my kitchen table to install too :p.

While a immersion coil would certainly be more efficient, it also has the rather unfortunate disadvantage of but considerably more difficult to clean :/ Heat in the winter will be provided by electric heat tape. Running some very basic heat loss calcs, it seems like the heat loss will be about...

Would it help if I said pretty please? :)

I'm trying to determine how much copper coil--and what size--my fermenters need. They are tanks roughly 29" tall and 21" in diameter. They will be insulated, but will be situated in the garage year round (ambient ~32ºF through 90ºF). One thing I can't seem to find any info on is sizing the...

I'm working with a local company on heat tape :).

Thanks Mark! I got it from a club member; he had it taking up space in his basement. He was planning on converting it, but never had the time. I still need to get valves; The bottom valve is 3/4". Any recommendations?

As promised, here's a log on my progress on converting these monster dairy collectors into usable fermenters :). These things are big. No, not big, BIG. They are 29" from the start of the welded fitting at the base to the lip on top, and 21" in diameter. A pure cylinder would be ~43...

*Zoidberg voice* Answers, maybe? *AKA shameless bump*

Color me interested....I have yet to design my new fermenters' control system OR my brewery's control system :p