Fermentation chamber cooling idea - Old pop machine?

[SweetSounds]

I have been planning a fermentation chamber for a little while now, and I was going to use a spare 7cf Holiday freezer. I was at my other place this weekend, and realized I have an old Pepsi bottle machine in the basement that I haven't used in years! I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner, it would be a lot easier than any fridge, freezer, or air conditioner mod I think...
The evaporator sits in the cold side, and has a fan for circulating the cold air around the bottles. The lines from the condenser to the evaporator pass under a strap between the cold side and the hot side. All you have to do is remove that strap, peal some gooey crap away, and the whole thing comes out as one unit!

So the idea is to make a dual chamber like I was thinking before, but without the Holiday freezer. Just my own version of a "compressor hump", with the condenser in the outside world, and the evaporator on the inside!

Thoughts?

(Photo is of an identical unit - Mine is Pepsi, not Coke FWIW)

The original fermetation chamber drawing for reference...

I see these pop machines go for anywhere from $100 to $600 too, though. Wonder if I should just sell it...

 

[oceanselv]

I knew as soon as I read the title you were from the Midwest. Eastern North Carolina and the Midwest are the only places I've ever heard them called pop machines. I originally hail from the Chicago suburbs. Getting back to your post it looks as though your fermentation space will be limited. I believe the machines operate the same as a fridge and you have to keep those machines upright for the compressors to work properly. That would mean building shelves or stacking kegs on top of each other. In my opinion, I would sell the pop machine and buy a large chest freezer. I think you will have more fermentation space in a chest freezer.

 

[Homercidal]

I'd suggest seeing what you could get for it. A freezer would be a better layout for fermentation chamber.

Or, if you were handy, you could "rig it" to lay flat, but there is the risk of ruining it completely. I have a '65 Coke machine in the garage. Very similar in design. It's a Cavalier model with 7 slots I think. Traded my '68 Fender Deluxe Reverb to a friend for it. At the time it seemed like a good trade, but now that they Fender is nearly completely repaired, I kinda wish I had it back!

 

[SweetSounds]

I knew as soon as I read the title you were from the Midwest. Eastern North Carolina and the Midwest are the only places I've ever heard them called pop machines. I originally hail from the Chicago suburbs. Getting back to your post it looks as though your fermentation space will be limited. I believe the machines operate the same as a fridge and you have to keep those machines upright for the compressors to work properly. That would mean building shelves or stacking kegs on top of each other. In my opinion, I would sell the pop machine and buy a large chest freezer. I think you will have more fermentation space in a chest freezer.

Not exactly - The drawings of the original idea don't do the size justice - It's 5' wide, 3' deep, and 7' tall. It'll be 2 chambers - The bottom one was going to just be the 7' freezer I already have, with a top chamber attached to it.
If I just change the design to mirror the top chamber to the bottom, it would be almost 60 cubic feet of space in (2) chambers 50" wide x 27" deep, by 36" high. It's some serious storage space, with provision for fermenting, lagering, and storage...

And I'm not talking about putting it on it's side. I'm thinking I could build it like a normal freezer. Make a hump in the bottom chamber with the compressor (upright) below and outside of the chamber, and the evaporator inside the chamber above the hump. IOW it would be arranged exactly like it is in the above pics...

I think I'll have to put an ammeter on the pop machine this weekend - Efficiency of a 1965 condenser is a concern.

 

[brewmonk]

you need to immediately trade it in for an old BOTTLE vending machine (hint).

 

[SweetSounds]

you need to immediately trade it in for an old BOTTLE vending machine (hint).

It is an old BOTTLE vending machine
It's a Vendo 56 - 56 bottles in 7 rows :rockin:

But, like I said - It's been sitting for years in the basement. I never use it

 

[brewmonk]

oops, i done readed it real goodly.

hey that's cool. i remember those returnable bottles.
why not fill it up with some homebrew bottles?
if a friend makes a batch, you can lend him an honorary 'slot' to show some off.

and....

... wait for it...

you can charge a dime! (heh)

= = =
if you don't want to go that route, it may be worth more to someone else, even in whatever its present state of (dis?)repair is.

can youfind a refurbisher and sell it to him - take a few bucks off of the price and take home an old shell that he may have lying around, you both win.

 

[dewai]

I knew as soon as I read the title you were from the Midwest. Eastern North Carolina and the Midwest are the only places I've ever heard them called pop machines.

Pac NW Seattle area says pop for the most part as well.

 

[SweetSounds]

oops, i done readed it real goodly.

hey that's cool. i remember those returnable bottles.
why not fill it up with some homebrew bottles?
if a friend makes a batch, you can lend him an honorary 'slot' to show some off.

and....

... wait for it...

you can charge a dime! (heh)

= = =
if you don't want to go that route, it may be worth more to someone else, even in whatever its present state of (dis?)repair is.

can youfind a refurbisher and sell it to him - take a few bucks off of the price and take home an old shell that he may have lying around, you both win.

That's the funny part. I used it for beer for quite a while. It works great and is in great condition. There's not a thing wrong with it. I just don't use it, and the compressor layout is ideal I think for a ferm chamber.

I went down to the house tonight and made up my mind (I think)
I put an ammeter on each one. The 7cf Holiday draws 1.2 amps or 144 watts while running. The Pepsi machine draws 3.7 amps or 444 watts.

(We're in serious need of a way to make tables in the forums...)
________Amps__Watts__$/Hr____$/Day@10%____$/Yr@10%____$/Yr@25%
Holiday__1.2____144____$0.01___$0.03_________$10.30_______$30.91
Pepsi____3.7____444____$0.04___$0.09_________$31.76_______$95.29

The freezer is a lot more efficient. (Duh, it wasn't made in 1965 )

The real question is, how long will the freezer have to run to cool 37+ cubes to 65's (Twice its normal operating temperature, over 5x the normal volume) Of course that's with 4" of foam insulation too...

OTOH, the freezer is supposed to be in your house when it freezes stuff. The Pepsi machine is designed to sit in the sun, in Arizona, in the summer, on the asphalt, and still keep your (barley) pop cold.

I don't f***'n know what to do. But in 2 weeks I'll have the 50 amp panel done in the garage, 10 gallons of beer, and nothing to let it finish in!

 

[brewmonk]

if those angled supply trays can be removed easily, can you build a little wooden shelf over the coil, and let two full cornies sit there without making any irreversible changes?