Fermentation Chamber from Beverage Fridge

[jackyl]

20 minutes is probably fine, remember I didn't insulate my fermenter probe so it was at least half exposed to fridge air. I'm doing another one in the next week or so and will actually insulate that probe so I bet it runs a lot less.

 

[djonesax]

This part has a 6 week lead time... I have looked everywhere and this is the only thing I have found for under $100. I found the Airtronics timer but I cant buy just one.

At this point I am thinking maybe I'll just wire in a second thermostat to kick the fan on when the temps get below 45-50 degrees. That way I will only have to listen to the fan contantly while cold crashing. Just waiting to hear back from a couple people that know electrical better than me to confirm that this will work and be safe.

David

 

[actech]

I haven't been able to find one of these relays at local wholesale house. So I just took the old fridge I had and wired it with evap fan on constant and rest running with stc1000. Removed the separation between fridge and freezer,eliminated all excess wiring.IE stat,timer,light,ice maker wiring, mullion heater. (Mullion heater) I need to see if it will work as a heater if needed

 

[djonesax]

I haven't done a real test on mine yet, so I think I will cold crash 10 gallons of water and see what happens. If the coils don't freeze over I'll leave it as is. If they do freeze I'll supply the fan with power from an addition hidden stc-1000 so that fan runs constantly when below say 45 degrees. I have put off brewing until I have better temp control since I had inconsistent results. I think I'm making a bigger deal out of this than I should at this point and just need to get it done and get back to brewing.

David

 

[djonesax]

So last night I did my first test and cooled 10 gallons from 87 degrees to 65 degrees in a few hours. The compressor ran non-stop and evaporator fins did get a little ice/frost on them, since the temp in the chamber got into the 20's before the fermenter eventually reached 65 degrees. The fins defrosted fine after the fermenter temp was reached and the ambient temps balanced out. This isn't really typical for fermentation since it would go into the chamber at close to 65'ish anyway. I'm not worried about this at all.

During the cold crash, when the ambient temp gets into the 20's and the final fermenter temp is just above freezing, it might take much longer for the coil to defrost. I'm thinking maybe it would be better to put the probe in a bowl of water during the cold crash so that the ambient temps wont have to get so low since the water will cool faster than the 10 gallons of beer. The water temperature would rise and fall until an equilibrium was reached between it and the fermenter but it would hopefuly keep the fins from icing over.

I got the thinking this is similar to the way it worked when I cold crashed in my keezer. The Johnson Control kept the ambient temp at 32 degrees and eventually the beer reached that temp too. I wouldn't want to go by just ambient temp in the fridge though, because it would kick the compressor on and off too much I think, sine there is much less space and no other cold masses in the fridge.

I'm going to test a cold crash tonight and see how it goes.

David

 

[actech]

Cold crashing will definitely make it work hard enough to start making ice but I doubt it would stay too long. Been watching mine at a 64 ferment temp and have only caught the compressor running a couple times in days. So that will be great on electric bill. Got the probe taped to the carboy with sticky insulation tape over it. Now to get ingredients to do a brew tomorrow, so I can really check it out.

 

[djonesax]

I'm testing a cold crash now and it seems to be doing alright but the ambient temp is under 20 degrees. I am dropping is 10 degrees at a time and I'm at 47 degrees in the fermenter right now. Also, the only time I haven even heard the fridge running was when I was adjusting the temperature. Other than that it runs so little that I have not been in the room at anytime it kicked on.

This is how I insulated it!

 

[djonesax]

The cold crash test went good. It kicks on more often but I suppose that makes sense being a much larger temperature difference between inside and outside. Overall I'm pleased and not worried about the compressor but when I cold crash with actual beer, I will put the probe in water versus taping to the fermenter, so the ambient temps dont get into the teens for extended periods of time.

David