Another Mother of Fermentation Build Variation

[Rendomike]

Just wanted to share this variation of the "Wortomatic" Mother of Fermentation chamber I built a couple days ago.

How this differs from the original:

-Bigger, it can accommodate two 7 Imperial gallon buckets along with 2 1-gallon carboys for blow off. It also has the clearance for the large carboys with airlocks. The original design wouldn't allow either.

-Instead of wood, I used the insulation for the ice chambers and shelving.. Main reason for this is black mold is a huge problem anywhere moisture exists here. It wouldn't take long for it to take to "cheap" wood with the condensation and good wood here is ridiculously expensive. Houses are built out of stone here for a reason. Also, I think it's improved the efficiency. It's been active for almost 18 hours and still has plenty of ice left in the 2-liter bottles to last another 18.

-I messed up calculation and ended up having the front upper too short. To fix it, I attached a 4 inch lip and installed the weather stripping on it. This is also why I don't have a opening on top, which I was thinking of not doing anyway. I believe the chamber is sealed better because of both.

Pictures...





Feel free to ask any questions. I'm not here more than a couple times a day, so answers may be slow.

Cheers!
Mike

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Im confused about your airflow.

I see a fan in the back, hopefully thats not in a hole to the outside as you want to keep everything contained inside.

Also dont see an intake hole for air? It would seem reasonable to me to have a top down hole on the right side going into the right most ice chamber as well? So your constantly circulating the air? I could be wrong.

 

[Rendomike]

Here is the original design for a reference: http://www.wortomatic.com/articles/38DD-Mother-of-a-Fermentation-Chiller

The holes almost match the original design. Just to test it, I turned it down all the way and it ran for about 5 hours before hitting 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Maybe its just when you took the pictures, but i dont see any holes drilled on the bottom ice box dividers?

Like this, from the instructions

 

[Rendomike]

Maybe its just when you took the pictures, but i dont see any holes drilled on the bottom ice box dividers?

No worries, they are there. On mine its just one hole per divider in the same locations as the original. Just not as close to the edge since its styrofoam. It's been about 70-75 in the house. Inside the chamber its been 61 with the fermenting wort at 65 for over 60 hours. Temperature of the wort has fluctuated more than I wanted, but he chamber temperature has been rock solid.