4.6 cu ft Fridge to 10.1 cu ft Fermentation Chamber Conversion

[metaltim]

well I'm knew to home brewing, my first ale I did the bath tub ice bath.. but man lots of work switching out gallon jugs twice a day, plus all the room they take up in the freezer..

This looks like a life saver. And ever so conveniently, I am redoing my kitchen right now, so I have an assortment of kitchen cabinets at my disposal that I was already planning on putting up in the garage..
I'm thinking of using my old sink base, plopping a mini fridge in there and sealing it all up. Basically would look just like you have it there, but all enclosed in the sink base, and using the cabinet door for access. A little concerned whether or not a mini fridge could cool a 10sq ft. volume like that (I'm in houston, about 105 degrees out today.)
And this would be in my oven, I mean my garage.

Lots of different configurations come to mind, I'll have to think about it for a while.

But anyway, this looks great..

 

[MgMt_Home_Brew]

I have been loving the set up. I did mine under a table in my kitchen and not having to change out frozen bottles is awesome.



I insulated mine with foam board on the top and all the sides. Then took the door completely off and pushed it up against the left end of the table.



SWMOB is painting the outside so it looks nice. She is trying to make some hop trellises.

The only issues I have had is condensation. I put a towel in under the freezer section. That was ok but it would still start running across the floor after a while. So I put some damp rid in there and that has been keeping it under control so far.

Does anyone have any idea for keeping the condensation down on the coils of the freezer?

 

[pen25]

you need to seal it better.

 

[MgMt_Home_Brew]

you need to seal it better.

Would just sealing all of the corners and seems with some tape would be good enough? I am thinking painters tape because that easly comes off.

 

[bertman]

I have been thinking about this kind of idea for a solution to my fermentation. I was wondering if this type of chamber would be able to keep up in 120+ weather in an Arizona garage to ferment ales or is there a better solution any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[-TH-]

I have been thinking about this kind of idea for a solution to my fermentation. I was wondering if this type of chamber would be able to keep up in 120+ weather in an Arizona garage to ferment ales or is there a better solution any help would be greatly appreciated.

I can't say. It works great for me, but ambient temps don't even get much above 70. I know there are quite a few others here who have built similar chambers driven by small fridges so maybe some of those folks could help?

 

[bertman]

thanks for the reply i am just getting into this as a new hobby and I am trying to learn as much as i can to bve successful

 

[Bjornbrewer]

Hey TH, How'd you mount the fan? Have any better pics?

I'm in the process of building one almost like yours and just want some more ideas.

Thanks!
paul

 

[-TH-]

Hey TH, How'd you mount the fan? Have any better pics?

I'm in the process of building one almost like yours and just want some more ideas.

Thanks!
paul

I don't have any pics but I mounted the fan on a couple of rubber isolators that are attached to an aluminum bar and then used this double stick tape: http://www.mcmaster.com/#76675a21/=5nm493 to attach it to a ledge in the back of the fridge. The tape holds extremely well but it is also very expensive. I use it for lots of projects. The other parts I got from the scrap cabinet at work.

 

[Bjornbrewer]

thanks. I think I may mount it right to the cooling coil tray thingy (great description, eh?)

 

[Azharen]

To control temps I bought a Love controller and installed that in the door. I also added a muffin fan to move air around. Here’s the finished product:

Now I can fit my three fermenters in it!

Is it possible to get a pic on where you're connecting the wires? I think this the fermentation chamber build I want to go with.

 

[-TH-]

Is it possible to get a pic on where you're connecting the wires? I think this the fermentation chamber build I want to go with.

This should help you...
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/love-temp-controller-series-ts-wiring-diagram-2008-a-88369/

 

[jedIPA]

I like your concept. I will build. Thanks for sharing.

 

[PlayMizuno]

I finally got mine complete. 3 months only getting to work on it maybe 3 hours a week. This is actually a freezer only that is why I used two fans. Sorry for the cell phone pics but that is all I had available.

 

[-TH-]

Nice Work!

 

[mcamarra]

This looks awesome! How cold does this get? I'm thinking of building something similar but I'd also like to use it as a kegerator too, but I'm concerned about a little 4.6 cu. ft. fridge getting cold enough?

 

[Redbeard5289]

I'm loving it. Totally inspiring!

Thanks for the posts.
Redbeard5289

 

[Redbeard5289]

I'm loving it. Totally inspiring!

Thanks for the posts.
Redbeard5289

 

[PlayMizuno]

I have not tested to see how cold it gets. As stated, this is not a fridge, it is all freezer. I have never seen one before, but they closed my wifes clinic and they just wanted to get rid of it. They used it to store ice packs. Since it is a freezer, I think it should have no problem getting low enough to use as a kegarator.

 

[Flomaster]

I now know what I'll be doing with my mini fridge.

-=Jason=-

 

[metaltim]

i had a similar deal for about a year. problem was, the little part in the top of the fridge that was supposed to form ice, obviously never did, so it was dripping wet all the time. I constantly (well, when i was fermenting) had to wipe it dry. well after a year of use, i was going to move it, and discovered i hadn't dried all the water that formed, and it had leaked to the bottom back of the cabinet and was covered in mold. the back panel had warped and came off (i made my extra space using an old kitchen cabinet)

Here is the thread w/ pics of my old ferm. chamber
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-ferm-chamber-129720/

that first pic, you see where the fridge butted up against cab, that is where water at some point leaked out.

anyway, note to anyone doing this.. watch for water. am I the only one with that problem?

this is what I have now: a 5cuft. chest freezer w/johnson controller

 

[lewybrewing]

Thanks for showing me this build. Looking for a new way to place the kegs in the garage for primary fermenting.

 

[Sanderoll]

looking at this... it makes me think do you guys think it would be possible to undo the whole freezer/fridge and put them apart in the box so i takes less space ?

 

[Penguinetti]

I was just told to check out this thread for ideas. This is awesome. Subscribing so I can get back to it!

 

[-TH-]

I was just told to check out this thread for ideas. This is awesome. Subscribing so I can get back to it!

Hey thanks - it is still in use today!

I did add a small heater to it as well to play around with raising the temp near the end of fermentation (when the basement is too cold).

 

[mmccurdy]

Good to see that this thread was bumped today so I don't have to resurrect it myself

Here are a few pics from my copycat build I did a couple weeks ago. I put it on a platform with casters, went for a dual stage controller, and added a small 200W space heater I picked up on Amazon for around $20. Other than that, same basic design. Thanks!

 

[aubiecat]

I like what you did there with the cabinet and casters. The small space heater is a good idea too.

 

[OwlHD]

Looks great! I'm adding this to my to-do list.

 

[Alstein]

I realize this build was a few years ago, but can you tell me if the magnetic strips used to attach the foam box to the fridge worked out? My garage will get pretty hot in the summer, so I am concerned about air leakage, but I want to salvage the fridge for potential kegerator at some point in the future. I'd rather a temp box such as this, rather than the typical screw-collar-to-fridge type of modifications.

Also, I was thinking of leaving the door attached to the fridge, just fitting a piece of foam board (with magnetic strips) to fill the gap between the fridge and the 90 degree open door. That gap on my fridge stays at about 1" throughout the swing of the door, so I think this would work.

Thoughts? Any guidance is appreciated, your setup is great.

 

[EZCyclone]

SUBBED! Gotta keep this for reference!