Brew Bucket owners - What Mini Fridge are you using ?

[steveoatley]

So I got my Tramontina units set up today, here are a few observations...

1. The door IS actually reversible. When reading reviews on Sams Club website, I had read several people ask about the door and Tramontina customer service repeatedly said the door was NOT reversible. Maybe something changed on newer units, but I could tell right away mine was just by looking at it, and it has the instructions to do so in the manual.

I must have 2 of the "older" older ones
There are no 'holes' pre-drilled to swap the doors around

See pic

too bad, i'd love to swap one

Steve

 

[jmark]

Yeah, mine has those holes too... so they must have changed that at some point. FWIW - I got mine about a month or so ago.

 

[CavernHill]

Thanks for the info!!!View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1490829966.632785.jpg

 

[ensano]

deprecated

I'm not sure how to answer - How Loud they are.....
I have 2 of them in my Brewery.
The pic is the East end of my brewing space - my brewery about 150 sq ft total.
They are "up" on the racks so i can use gravity to keg.....

I also have a 2 x 4 spacer on the back of the rack, so i don't press them
right up against the insulation on the wall ( give them room to breath )

When both of them are running - it sounds like it....like a fridge ( full size )
But considering that i have a Cement floor, and plastic FRP on the walls
My Brewery is a very "loud' place - no soft surfaces to deaden any sound.

That being said, my brewery is only missing a door, that separates it from the rest of the basement, and if i am in the other part of my basement
I only Hear them, when they come on - that compressor "clunk"

The instructions state that they are NOT made to be '"enclosed"
ie. built into a bar - that will shorten their life span

They are in my basement - and that puts them 2 floors away from anyone sleeping - so they are not so loud that my family has noticed the noise... on another floor.

I would agree they are not quite....they are about the the same level as my FAN when i am brewing, and its set to LOW....

Does that help?

my 2 cents.

S

love the setup but how do you lift the filled fermenters up there

 

[steveoatley]

Lift with your back.... not with your knees....!!!!!

HA - Kidding....

Yup, that is a problem... that i am working on

I use gravity to drain from Kettle into my Brew Bucket
AND have to lift the BB into the mini Fridge.

But.... I am working on a Cart to save my back - see pics

It is a Dual purpose cart
Its a Measure & mill cart - for measuring my grain, and milling
And i have a "cover" that goes over the scale & mill

This cart will allow me to pump into the Brew Bucket - and roll over to my Mini fridge.

 

[jmika003]

The only reservation I have is that when the controller cuts the power to the unit, when it comes back on, the unit resets itself to 45° instead of whatever I had it at. It's not a big deal for fermenting, but for cold crashing, I may just have to not use the controller.

Hi guys, I'm seriously considering picking a couple of these up and building a BrewPI setup. I'm wondering, though, if I would be running into the above issue when cold crashing. Is the unit coming back on at the default 45° a concern? How is everyone working around it?

Thanks!

 

[Spartan1979]

Hi guys, I'm seriously considering picking a couple of these up and building a BrewPI setup. I'm wondering, though, if I would be running into the above issue when cold crashing. Is the unit coming back on at the default 45° a concern? How is everyone working around it?

Thanks!

I just unplug it from the external controller and use the internal controller to cold crash. it works fine.

 

[steveoatley]

I just unplug it from the external controller and use the internal controller to cold crash. it works fine.

Yup, once the "controller" hits the correct temp - say 35 F
the mini fridge shuts OFF.....

So, when the controller starts up the Mini Fridge again - to get back down
the default on the Fridge is 45 F - and can't get any lower than the default

So... yupper....I unplug the fridge from the Controller - and just plug it straight into power - and set the fridge to 35 F

2 more cents

S

 

[woo_pig]

I set it as low as possible. And use a ferm wrap pluged into a temp controler to keep it at temp.

 

[jmika003]

Thanks guys! Been looking for a good option for awhile now. Appreciate all the good info!

 

[jwalkermed]

One question I haven't seen answered about those sam's beverage coolers. Even though they aren't rated for this would they cool okay in a hot garage in south texas?

Thanks

 

[czmkid]

Looking to see if anyone is running a 18.5" wide fridge or slightly less that fits our buckets.

Thanks....

 

[Metzen]

Just received my Tramontina this weekend. On some of the questions / concerns raised earlier in the thread, here are my observations...

I was able to set it and bring it down to 32 F empty with no problem - will have to see how it does with liquid in the bucket. The door is reversible, and the set temperature remained after unplugging the unit ( i.e. It did not reset to 40 or some other temp) so it seems plugging it into an external controller to manage temp will work just fine.

The compressor is a bit loud when it's on, but once it stabilizes I found that it was able to maintain temps well and rarely turns back on (at least over the few hours I was next to it today).

Overall, I like what I'm seeing and look forward to putting a batch in her. Appreciate all the prior information shared as part of this thread which led me to make this buy.

M

 

[SilentMercy]

I almost when with that model
It was considerably MORE expensive last spring !!
I went with the Sam's club version, for the glass door, i can see the bubbles !
AND, the Trantomina from Sam's has a Drain at the back, i used a 1/2 inch drill
and opened up that hole - and i can run my heat pad cord & Thermo prob cord threw the hole... no external cords to see

At $118 - i would have gone with the Magic Chef - they were over $200 back in the spring

Must be that Black Friday pricing !!

my 2 cents

Picking one of these up today.. can you explain where is the drain hole you drilled out for the wiring ? Can you post a pic?
Thanks !

 

[steveoatley]

Picking one of these up today.. can you explain where is the drain hole you drilled out for the wiring ? Can you post a pic?
Thanks !

Silent,

I am work right now..... I'll get a pic this weekend for you

On mine ( which is one of the Older models - door swing can not be changed left or right )
The drain hole is straight in the back - right on top of the "hump"

I snaked a piece of wire threw, seems like the hole goes straight back
then turns 90 D down.

So, I drilled it out from inside the fridge first
then turned the fridge around - took off the drip tray that is in the back
And drilled UP from the back....

I am sure its not the best solution, but bigger hole lets my wires get in
the fridge nice and clean looking

Hope that helps

I'll get you a pic this weekend.

Steve

 

[steveoatley]

SilentMercy
Here is the 1/2 inch hole pic
with my Temp probe wire & the wire for my heater

hope this helps

Steve

 

[spethick]

Sams have these on sale, 30$ off Tramontina 126-Can Beverage Center, going in my area for $149.00. Just thought I'd share

https://www.samsclub.com/sams/126-can-dsv-in-club-886159/prod18910248.ip?xid=plp:product:1:1

 

[ryantollefson]

Frigidaire FFBC46L2QS-1... wife thought I was nuts to take it out of the box and start cutting wires before I had even plugged it in.

Old HP Mini running BrewPi.

 

[Spartan1979]

You ferment in a vehicle?

 

[ba-brewer]

Silent,

I am work right now..... I'll get a pic this weekend for you

On mine ( which is one of the Older models - door swing can not be changed left or right )
The drain hole is straight in the back - right on top of the "hump"

I snaked a piece of wire threw, seems like the hole goes straight back
then turns 90 D down.

So, I drilled it out from inside the fridge first
then turned the fridge around - took off the drip tray that is in the back
And drilled UP from the back....

I am sure its not the best solution, but bigger hole lets my wires get in
the fridge nice and clean looking

Hope that helps

I'll get you a pic this weekend.

Steve

I have a new unit which you can reverse the doors but the drain hole sees the same, heads in straight then a sharp turn down.

How did you drill up? I have the compressor in the way.

Also did you put a piece of tubing or something in the hole so the condensation can still drain down to the evaporation tray?

 

[steveoatley]

I drilled "in" from the front - or inside the fridge
Pretty sure it was a 1/2 bit

Just to open up the hole

I did not drill form the bottom - or back side ( compressor )

Once the hole was bigger, i snaked threw some string
and just pulled in the power & probe cords that way.

Like you were snaking a line threw a wall.....

I try NOT to let condensation drain out the hole
I usually put a paper towel under over the hole - to wick up any water

Steve

 

[ba-brewer]

@steveoatley, your previous post I quoted said you drilled up from the bottom, thanks for clarifying.

I was able to squeeze a 2 wire lamp cord and a temp sensor wire through the existing drain without drilling it out.

I may try the paper towel thick to keep water off of the power cord.

 

[makubex]

I apologize if this has already been covered in this thread - I looked through all of the posts and didn't see this information, but perhaps I was not being thorough enough.

I was hoping someone could measure the inside dimensions of the Tramontina unit: width (inside wall to inside wall), depth (rear inner wall of unit to ledge where the door rests), and height (both inside bottom to the bottom of the temperature readout and inside bottom to inside top at the tallest point).

Thanks in advance!

 

[steveoatley]

makubex

Here is what i came up with

The Bottom ( in front of the compressor hump ) is 11.5 inches
The Measure form the Back all the way to the front is 17.25 inches
This is the measure above the "hump"

The Height to the bottom of the little control panel with LED is 26 inches
The total height inside is 27 inches

I have some pics for you, so you can see measures...
( i have the older model - the door is NOT able to be reversed )

That's a 6.5 gallon carboy for reference & a standard Ale Pail

What are you trying to fit inside ?

Steve

 

[makubex]

makubex

Here is what i came up with

The Bottom ( in front of the compressor hump ) is 11.5 inches
The Measure form the Back all the way to the front is 17.25 inches
This is the measure above the "hump"

The Height to the bottom of the little control panel with LED is 26 inches
The total height inside is 27 inches

I have some pics for you, so you can see measures...
( i have the older model - the door is NOT able to be reversed )

That's a 6.5 gallon carboy for reference & a standard Ale Pail

What are you trying to fit inside ?

Steve

Hey Steve,

Thanks for the measurements and pictures - your post is incredibly helpful! I'm eventually looking to purchase a brew bucket, but my immediate need is for a new fermentation fridge since the compressor on my old one just died. I wanted to make sure that, until I pick up my brew bucket, that I'd be able to fit ~corny kegs in the fridge, since that's what I currently ferment in. Seems like this should fit the bill.

Thanks again!
Chuck

 

[steveoatley]

Hey Steve,

Thanks for the measurements and pictures - your post is incredibly helpful! I'm eventually looking to purchase a brew bucket, but my immediate need is for a new fermentation fridge since the compressor on my old one just died. I wanted to make sure that, until I pick up my brew bucket, that I'd be able to fit ~corny kegs in the fridge, since that's what I currently ferment in. Seems like this should fit the bill.

Thanks again!
Chuck

Chuck

I fit my Brew Bucket - and use a Blow off tube
Somewhere i have a pic with the Brew Bucket & a regular Air lock - those fit fine.

I have been able to fit Corny Kegs - but Not reliably
Not all of mine are the same diameter

I was able to get a 5 gal and a 2/1 gall ( that had a rubber handle, on top )

I need to measure all of mine to make sure which ones fit
and which ones dont.

Glad to be of help

Steve

 

[makubex]

Chuck

I fit my Brew Bucket - and use a Blow off tube
Somewhere i have a pic with the Brew Bucket & a regular Air lock - those fit fine.

I have been able to fit Corny Kegs - but Not reliably
Not all of mine are the same diameter

I was able to get a 5 gal and a 2/1 gall ( that had a rubber handle, on top )

I need to measure all of mine to make sure which ones fit
and which ones dont.

Glad to be of help

Steve

Thankfully, I'd usually only be storing one ball lock keg at a time in the unit. That said, there may be times that I would want to fit two, however this fridge has the same width dimension as my kegerator fridge and I know I can reliably fit two in there, so it should work.

Thanks again for your help!

 

[Spartan1979]

I can fit one ball lock keg in mine. Two wouldn't fit.

 

[havox07]

Any Canadians out there that can recommend a fridge for the brewmaster edition? It seems the danby beverage cooler is not deep enough (I tried, only 9.5in from compressor hump to door, and a 4.4cuft Danby mini fridge can just barely fit a bucket with the door material cut off (10.5 from compressor hump to door) and required the bucket to be slightly tilted to fit.

 

[Toadies]

Hello, do you guys think this mini fridge would fit a brew bucket?
https://www.samsclub.com/sams/4-4cf-fridge-dsv-in-club-810980/prod18910242.ip?xid=plp:product:1:2

Internal dimensions from the FAQ

It is hard to say whether or not the containers you mentioned will fit the refrigerator. Keg Containers are manufactured in a variety of shapes and sizes, and the shape of the container, as-well-as the size will determine whether or not it will fit the unit. Since the interior of the refrigerator is not a perfect cube, we can only provide you with approximate information about the unit to help you determine whether or not it will fit. The interior of the unit has removable shelves, a slight "stair-step" along the back and a chiller, so you will need to keep this into consideration when figuring out the space for your kegs. The front (bottom shelf) area of the unit spans approximately 16.5" W x 24” H x 9.75”D (front to back) and only 5.25” W of this space (far left side - where there is no chiller) spans a height of 29.5”. The space above the lower portion of the unit spans approximately 16.5"W x 21.5” H x 15.25” D (front to back). Along the door, there is a beverage holder which encroaches about 2.5" into the space when the door is closed. We hope you find this information helpful.

With the above information, I could build a shelf to set the brew bucket on the hump and keep it to the left side where there is an additional 5" of height clearance.

What am I missing?

 

[makubex]

Hello, do you guys think this mini fridge would fit a brew bucket?
https://www.samsclub.com/sams/4-4cf-fridge-dsv-in-club-810980/prod18910242.ip?xid=plp:product:1:2

Internal dimensions from the FAQ


With the above information, I could build a shelf to set the brew bucket on the hump and keep it to the left side where there is an additional 5" of height clearance.

What am I missing?

I cannot answer your question regarding the dimensions of the unit which you linked, but I will say that I wouldn't recommend it as a fermentation fridge. This fridge has a "freezer compartment" which restricts the height of any vessel that you're going to put inside. It is possible to bend this out of the way to provide more clearance, but you run a very high risk of permanately damaging the fridge, since that compartment also acts as the cooling coil. Reference my attached image.

The beverage cooler model which is recommended in this thread is a much better option as the entire rear inner surface of the fridge is a cooling coil, meaning you have much more surface area cooling the inside and it has the advantage of covering almost the entire inner area as opposed to just being isolated to the top right corner.

But Makubex, how do you happen to know so much about these freezer compartments? I happened to buy a similar model of fridge for use as a fermentation chamber several years ago and I've been kicking myself for it ever since. Cold crashing is near impossible since the cooling coils are so damned small and it barely gets below 40° in the fridge. It looks like garbage with the coils bent and crammed over to one side, and I had to modify it so much to get a standard carboy to fit that there's literally no other use for the fridge now.

My honest advice is to spend the extra $40 and get the model that everyone recommends here, the 126 can beverage cooler or whatever. That extra $40 is well worth all of the benefits, and if you ever decide you're done with brewing, you still have a mini fridge that can be used for other purposes as opposed to a large paperweight.

 

[Toadies]

Thanks for sharing your feedback, the unit is on sale this week I and going to pick up 1 or 2.

Does any of you guys keep it in the garage? Do you guys think it could maintain temp in the southern heat (Texas).

What heating belt do you recommend?

 

[Toadies]

One question I haven't seen answered about those sam's beverage coolers. Even though they aren't rated for this would they cool okay in a hot garage in south texas?

Thanks

Did you get one? How is it working you in in the garage?

 

[toulousc]

Are the beverage coolers still working well? I was looking to get the one from Sam's but just wanted to make sure they lasted...

 

[Spartan1979]

I have two and for well over a year and I have not had any issues.

 

[toulousc]

I have two and for well over a year and I have not had any issues.

Thanks Spartan, I appreciate the feedback. I just ordered one, looking forward to getting it!

 

[properbrew]

Has anyone tried to use the domed lid from the SS Brewtech conical with the tramontina beverage fridge from sams club?

 

[steveoatley]

duplicate -sorry

 

[steveoatley]

properbrew - Here are the Pics
with the Dome in place - you have 1 1/2 inches from 90 degree to top of mini fridge
I used the 90 Degree Blow off hose option

https://www.ssbrewtech.com/collections/accessories/products/blow-off-barb-for-ftss-lids

I have the 3 inch TC with the Blow off - on top of my Domed Lid
https://www.ssbrewtech.com/collecti...17-mm-blow-off-hole-and-pressure-relief-valve

But that comes with a Straight up piece, and that puts the blow off hose right into the ceiling - not working

 

[steveoatley]

Has anyone tried to use the domed lid from the SS Brewtech conical with the tramontina beverage fridge from sams club?

Yes

I have the SS Brewtech Domed lid - in the Sam's Club mini fridge
It will fit if you use the 90 Degree blow off 1/2 hose adapter - from the flat lid

Sorry - no pic on my phone
I can send one tomorrow

See ABOVE post

Steve