38dd Mother of Fermentation Chiller

[DirtyJersey]

Okay, so I'm trying to tackle the 38dd Mother of a Fermentation Chiller, in light of the summer heat that is quickly approaching. I used the following directions; http://www.wortomatic.com/articles/38DD-Mother-of-a-Fermentation-Chiller

I cut the foam board exactly as described. For the life of me, I can't figure out how to put together the pieces??? It's like some jigsaw puzzle that I can't figure out.

I have no idea what the smaller "base" piece is for or where it even goes. I'm completely lost on this one. Has anyone else built one of these? Is there a better set of directions somewhere?

Maybe I'm just an idiot....

 

[DirtyJersey]

Really? Nobody can help with this one?????

 

[rwiseman63]

It's hard to tell, but I think the smaller base piece is used to create the piece where the PC fan is mounted.

I built something similar but not using these plans. I took a bathroom base cabinet (34 3/4 In. high x 24 In. wide x 15 1/4 In. deep) and lined the inside of it with insulation. One problem with this approach is that there is only enough room for one bucket/carboy, but it works very well.

 

[DirtyJersey]

That's a great idea. The plans I used just don't seem to fit together, but it's more likely that I'm doing something wrong. I went back and triple checked every measurement and cut, and they are dead on. I don't know what's wrong?

 

[rwiseman63]

How thick is your foam? If I am understanding it right, it looks like the dimensions will only work if your foam is 2 inches thick. The base is 24 inches wide and the rear, front, and top are all 28 inches wide, so I think this means the sides are supposed to add 2 inches to either side.

 

[Erythro73]

I did this project with a friend, but we adapted it to my needs. So I really can't help you as I did a different thing based on this. Smaller to fit in my closet. This thing work well, BTW, and I'm very glad with it.

If I were you, I would start over with a plan. What size do you want your thing to be? What design? Then, this site you posted have enough information to help you with the fan and thermostat part.

 

[DirtyJersey]

My foam is 2 inches thick. I don't know, I may just trim the foam a bit more and just jam it together. Of course, cutting foam board is messy and it's difficult to get it exactly square.

 

[cyclonetx]

Here is the link for the chiller that I made. Just finished fermenting an amber ale at 63 degrees for two weeks with one ice change per day. Pretty easy to put together. I couldn't find 2 inch foamboard so I bought 1 inch and glued it together.
http://knoxhomebrewer.com/images/stories/chiller plans.pdf

 

[weirdboy]

I haven't built it, but looking at the dimensions, here's what I think:

First, it looks to me like you need to glue the two base pieces together. That should give you a base that is about 32 x 19.5.

Then, I think the front and rear pieces sit on top of the base, but the pieces labeled "side" do not sit on the base, but next to it. That would give you internal dimensions of 28" wide by 19.5" deep, by 33.5" tall.

 

[Want2Brew]

I think weirdboy has hit the nail on the head here. Take a look at the base of the chiller in this pic and you should be able to see what he is talking about quite clearly.

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f163/johnplctech/Fermentation Chiller/IMG_0278.jpg

 

[DirtyJersey]

Thank you Weirdboy and Want2brew. It's people like you that make me love this site! You nailed it! The two base pieces are glued together and then everything fits like a charm. Something so simple and obvious had me cursing and completely frustrated! I don't know why I couldn't figure this out....haha. You guys saved me $30 and another trip to Home Depot! Thanks again!!!

 

[brewcephus]

sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I have been banging my head over how to get this together. Fortunately for me I haven't actually bought the materials yet. Built a model of this in google sketchup and had everything drawn to scale, but couldn't figure out for the life of me why the pieces wouldn't fit together.

Big thank you weirdboy!

 

[brewinginnc]

I built the son of ferm and it was pretty easy