New fermentation chambers to show off brew buckets

Had my old fermentation chamber die, so I decided to go a new route and built something a little different.
Bought a cheap mini fridge from Amazon. Along with the parts for another brewpi.
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Did what any normal person would do and strip it down and cut a giant rectangle out of the door.
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Smoothed out the cuts and off to Home Depot I went. Picked up some of the FRP edging and some plexi. Came home and trimmed the door out with the FRP trim.
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Then I put a low wattage mini hair dryer in the chamber and mounted probes. I also added some LED lighting, and a fan in the freezer door to help with circulation.
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Put the plexi into the door, caulked all the seems, and put some braid around the temp probes.
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Then I did a test fit.
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Then I built its twin.
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Have one more to build but I love how it turned out. Cheers!

Neat as it looks isn't the plexi going to really cut down on the insulation of the unit vs. the stock door?

That is pretty awesome!

Well it will be less, I won't fight you there. But will it actually matter, we shall see. I mean they make glass door wine fridges so....

vincentAlpha said:

Neat as it looks isn't the plexi going to really cut down on the insulation of the unit vs. the stock door?

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I thought that too, but for general fermentation it may not be that big of deal. Doing some extended lager schedules might be different though.

Oh I don't question that it will get it and keep it at ferm temps. The little compressor in those things ought to do the trick for that. Just wondering how much less efficient it will be, course if you aren't worried about the extra electricity or (possibly) slightly less lifespan on the unit then it is a moot point. Either way neat build for sure! If you find the plexi is an issue you could probably mod it and improvise some double pained plexi to help with the insulation.

Yea these will only be used for ferment and crash cool. Then it goes to keg and conditioning/serving chamber. They were cheap enough to where it doesn't really matter. My fermentation room stays roughly 60f all year round so it shouldn't be a problem.

Nice build! You will probably offset the lose of efficiency by not having to open the door to check & or admire your fermenter.

Love this!

What's the over all available height? My original ferm chamber turned into a 4 keg fridge so I need to look for another option with summer approaching. Would a 6.5 gallon carboy fit with 3 piece airlock? At least until I can upgrade to these fermenters..

Very nice. I might just have to pick one of those mini fridges up from Amazon and do something similar. It fits the Ss Brew Bucket nicely.

That fan you mounted on the freezer; I assume it's one of those cheapie fans from a hard drive or laptop? Did you wire it to run when both heating and cooling? Or just one or the other? Not sure I'd know how to do that.

Bill

Very, very cool. Stunning even. Do you pump up to the top one or heft it up there?

Looks very cool very clean. For a future build, if you are worried about losing temperature, do it how house windows are made. Double up the plexiglass while leaving a slight gap in the middle. You'd be shocked how much more insulation you get out of it by doing that

WrkdbfGuy said:

Very nice. I might just have to pick one of those mini fridges up from Amazon and do something similar. It fits the Ss Brew Bucket nicely.

That fan you mounted on the freezer; I assume it's one of those cheapie fans from a hard drive or laptop? Did you wire it to run when both heating and cooling? Or just one or the other? Not sure I'd know how to do that.

Bill

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Yes its just a pc fan. It runs constantly @5volts

Theheadsn said:

Looks very cool very clean. For a future build, if you are worried about losing temperature, do it how house windows are made. Double up the plexiglass while leaving a slight gap in the middle. You'd be shocked how much more insulation you get out of it by doing that

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For sure, I bought extra plexi, just incase it was needed.

wow.. those look really sharp!

If ya' should need to double pane the Plexi, you'll have to figure a way to evacuate between them, then seal them, so there will be no air leaks.

Otherwise, you'll have a "waterfall" in your view, from the condensation betwixt them.

I was thinking about that. There's got to be a way to do it though.

I was curious though.. with that chamber.. can you put a regular like 6.5 gallon carboy on the floor in there as well? I'm not sure how big the legs of the brew bucket are in comparison.

watermelon83 said:

Very, very cool. Stunning even. Do you pump up to the top one or heft it up there?

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I don't think you answered this one. I'm curious how you fill the top fermenter. I am considering the same setup.

Since you've got your holes already cut, you can see what sizes of pre assembled dbl. pane glass are available, and hope that you're not too big already...........

Stealthcruiser said:

Since you've got your holes already cut, you can see what sizes of pre assembled dbl. pane glass are available, and hope that you're not too big already...........

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Not that he should do this, but would filling between the two panes with water behave similarly? Theres no way hes creating a vacuum between two panes of plexi unless he has some specialized equipment.

edit:nvm.. answered my own dumb question.

Nice build! Looks like that puppy comes in at 150 shipped from Amazon prime? Wonder if it would hold 2 cornys? That is just about the slickest fermentation chamber I've ever seen........no I take that back, it is!

watermelon83 said:

Very, very cool. Stunning even. Do you pump up to the top one or heft it up there?

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Lift it up, if you look to the left I have to lift my cornies up higher anyways.

estricklin said:

Nice build! Looks like that puppy comes in at 150 shipped from Amazon prime? Wonder if it would hold 2 cornys? That is just about the slickest fermentation chamber I've ever seen........no I take that back, it is!

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Thanks!

FWIW, I ended up doing the double pane with the polycarb glass. I got some 1/4" putty like weather stripping, and used that for the spacing. Then I went back and siliconed both sides of the glass to make the seal. Compressor has ran noticeably less and am able to cool lower as well.

Sweet!

I wish I had your DIY skills! I'd love to show off my Brew Buckets like that in my new Ferm. Chamber. But there's no way I'd know how to create that pane frame and install that glass.

Bill

Any chance I could get you to come organize my brew stuff?

Any word if this holds the 6.5 gallon glass carboys? Kegs overtook my ferm chamber and now I'm in need of a new one.

Yes, it fits a 6.5 carboy. I've done it. Works fine.

Do you have a source for the low voltage hair dryer? That seems like a good option for heating, more so than the lightbulb in a paint can.

Sweet, thanks! Do you keep it set on the low or high speed setting?

yukonhijack said:

Sweet, thanks! Do you keep it set on the low or high speed setting?

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Low for sure.

hey Rabeb25

What are the inside dimensions of those Keystones ?

They are no longer available - anywhere i can find....
And i was hoping to find something close - close enough

Thx

Steve

I found this one - looks a lot like your Keystone.

Midea WHS-160RW1 Compact Single Reversible Door Refrigerator

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MVVIETA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


The interior looks very similar to yours - could it be ?

Since i have to buy it "on line" - i can't measure the interior to make sure it would fit - before purchasing it....

Thanks
S

this is awesome! i just ordered one on amazon.

any way to hook this thing up so i can heat and cool without brewpi?

Just buy an Inkbird 308

steveoatley said:

hey Rabeb25

What are the inside dimensions of those Keystones ?

They are no longer available - anywhere i can find....
And i was hoping to find something close - close enough

Thx

Steve

Click to expand...

The keystones look to be available now:

http://www.amazon.com/Keystone-KSTRC44CW-Compact-Single-Door-Refrigerator/dp/B00MPZS3UC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1460391365&sr=8-3&keywords=Keystone+fridge

I'd also like to know the interior dimensions to see if my Speidel would fit

Testudoed said:

The keystones look to be available now:

http://www.amazon.com/Keystone-KSTRC44CW-Compact-Single-Door-Refrigerator/dp/B00MPZS3UC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1460391365&sr=8-3&keywords=Keystone+fridge

I'd also like to know the interior dimensions to see if my Speidel would fit

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I just got mine delivered today and the speidel "might" fit, regardless though, the interior of the door has to be taken out. Only thing I've been able to fit it without removing more than racks is a big mouth bubbler but I don't think an airlock with fit on it however.

grassfeeder said:

I just got mine delivered today and the speidel "might" fit, regardless though, the interior of the door has to be taken out. Only thing I've been able to fit it without removing more than racks is a big mouth bubbler but I don't think an airlock with fit on it however.

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What the internal measurements of this? Think a ale pale would fit in there without messing with the freezer or door?