azazel1024
Well-Known Member
So I went in to my fermenter build with the cockiness of inexperience, thinking, "HA! My mini-fridge is plenty big enough to be used with nary a thing but a temperature controller for this to work!"
I am converting a Sanyo SR4433s 4.4cu-ft fridge.
Then I started taking shelves out and...nope, 6 gallon carboy with airlock won't fit under the freezer try. DARN! A squat 3 gallon will, and my 5 gallon MIGHT, maybe. So on to a proper build (I promise pictures soon).
Pulled the drip tray, warmed it up (THICK ice, opps, I guess I should have been defrosting every month), bent the freezer pan down and out of the way (hanging at about 10 degrees from vertical), stuck my 6 gallon carboy in to try it out and...fuggle! The door bits hit it. Barely, but still hit it.
So, off the door panel comes for surgery. Because I can, I cut some 3/4" XPS foamboard to sit the carboy on as well as the same to cover the door inside of the gasket. I also filled the area behind the compressor with spray foam to insulate things a bit more too. Sadly the hotside radiates through the walls of the fridge (stupid design), so I can't upgrade that. I was figuring to insulate it with a bit of foamboard between the fridge and it and then install a nice 120mm fan or so blowing across the radiator. No such luck, oh well.
Finally I installed an 80mm fan on the roof of the fridge to get some air circulation around the fridge to reduce icing on the freezer pan as well as cool things down inside a little faster.
Just waiting on my STC1000 and parts so I can build the temperature controller and then the 5 gallons of Dopplebock I've had sitting around the last week can get a proper lagering.
I haven't tested yet, but it almost looks like there might be enough room for a 6 gallon carboy and a 3 gallon carboy in there at once, or if not, possibly a 5 and a 3. Deffinitely enough room for a couple of 3 gallon carboys.
Sadly the whole thing just makes me dream for an "ideal" setup, which since I don't think I am going to go conicals ANY year soon, is probably a couple of 4-5cu-ft mini fridges of the same model, with rear mounted radiators, built in to a side-by-side cabinet arrangement. Then build a shroud across the back with a couple of dual 120/140mm fans to push/pull air across the radiators. Build in a small window on each one so I can see what is going on and extra insulation top/bottom/sides. Seperate temperature controller for each fridge.
That way I can be lagering and fermenting at the same time or else two seperate, different temperature fermentations. Unfortunately due to space issues, I'll probably never have room for more than ~2 mini fridges worth of space. Fortunately my basement is generally cool enough year round that ales really don't need temperature control unless I am trying to do something fiddly (like sour mash or high temp saison).
I also need to expand my build so that I can go hot with my fridge (sour mash/Saison), but that can wait awhile.
I am converting a Sanyo SR4433s 4.4cu-ft fridge.
Then I started taking shelves out and...nope, 6 gallon carboy with airlock won't fit under the freezer try. DARN! A squat 3 gallon will, and my 5 gallon MIGHT, maybe. So on to a proper build (I promise pictures soon).
Pulled the drip tray, warmed it up (THICK ice, opps, I guess I should have been defrosting every month), bent the freezer pan down and out of the way (hanging at about 10 degrees from vertical), stuck my 6 gallon carboy in to try it out and...fuggle! The door bits hit it. Barely, but still hit it.
So, off the door panel comes for surgery. Because I can, I cut some 3/4" XPS foamboard to sit the carboy on as well as the same to cover the door inside of the gasket. I also filled the area behind the compressor with spray foam to insulate things a bit more too. Sadly the hotside radiates through the walls of the fridge (stupid design), so I can't upgrade that. I was figuring to insulate it with a bit of foamboard between the fridge and it and then install a nice 120mm fan or so blowing across the radiator. No such luck, oh well.
Finally I installed an 80mm fan on the roof of the fridge to get some air circulation around the fridge to reduce icing on the freezer pan as well as cool things down inside a little faster.
Just waiting on my STC1000 and parts so I can build the temperature controller and then the 5 gallons of Dopplebock I've had sitting around the last week can get a proper lagering.
I haven't tested yet, but it almost looks like there might be enough room for a 6 gallon carboy and a 3 gallon carboy in there at once, or if not, possibly a 5 and a 3. Deffinitely enough room for a couple of 3 gallon carboys.
Sadly the whole thing just makes me dream for an "ideal" setup, which since I don't think I am going to go conicals ANY year soon, is probably a couple of 4-5cu-ft mini fridges of the same model, with rear mounted radiators, built in to a side-by-side cabinet arrangement. Then build a shroud across the back with a couple of dual 120/140mm fans to push/pull air across the radiators. Build in a small window on each one so I can see what is going on and extra insulation top/bottom/sides. Seperate temperature controller for each fridge.
That way I can be lagering and fermenting at the same time or else two seperate, different temperature fermentations. Unfortunately due to space issues, I'll probably never have room for more than ~2 mini fridges worth of space. Fortunately my basement is generally cool enough year round that ales really don't need temperature control unless I am trying to do something fiddly (like sour mash or high temp saison).
I also need to expand my build so that I can go hot with my fridge (sour mash/Saison), but that can wait awhile.
