Ferminator Chamber

[MarkyP]

Just spotted this on my usual home brew store. Never seen anything like this on the market, looks like a professionally built son of fermentation chamber, with no ice etc....

Iv been looking for a ferm chamber for a while now. I’m not into the whole changing frozen bottles of ice and I Don’t want a converted fridge in my spare bedroom. Only thing putting me off is the price. About 200 euros. But it does look pretty slick.

You can purchase additional extenders to increase the height of the chamber also, kind of like Lego.

Temps can be cooled to 0C at 20C and can heat to 50. Perfect for doing lagers and ales. Can you think of any immediate pros/cons you can think off.

 

[rsquared]

Looks like a peltier cooler, which work but are not the most powerful thing. It shouldn't be too bad at holding fermentation temps (e.g. around 5C below ambient), but I think that cold crashing to near 0 is ambitious and only going to potentially work on the smallest size (the bucket pic, not the fermzilla or keg ones with the extenders).

 

[MarkyP]

They do mention when using expansion modules, an additional Cooling/Heating Unit may be required. Im hoping I can get some sort of a cold crash with basic version.

Do Peltier coolers have a bad rep?

Cooling/Heating Unit

At room temperature (20°C) the Ferminator can lower the temperature to 0C and raise the temperature to 50°C*.
The range for temperature regulation is +-0.5°C, meaning that the temperature must be +-0.5°C beyond the set temperature before the Ferminator will start the regulation.

• Lowers temperature down to 20°C relative to ambient temp*.
• Raises the temperature up to 30°C relative to ambient temp*.
• The built-in fan ensures evenly temperature throughout the Ferminator.
• The control unit is easily programmed and displays the actual temperature and set temperature.
• The temperature sensor can be mounted either on or inside the fermentation unit with a thermowell thereby measuring the precise temperature of the liquid.
• Maximum power consumption: 75 Watts, standby: 1 Watt.

 

[rsquared]

Peltier devices are only about 1/4 as efficient as a compression based cooler (i.e. what your refrigerator or air conditioner uses). Their advantage is they are cheaper, less complex, and much more compact.

Because of that inefficiency though, in order to hold fermentation temperatures it will need to be powered on at least 4x as often/long. I've never tracked exactly how long my mini-fridge is on, but I'd guess it's much less than 15 minutes per hour, so we should be good there, but there's a lot less room to work with. For cold crashing purposes, that 1/4 efficiency means it's going to take about 4x as long to chill as a mini-fridge, except due to other inefficiencies it's probably a whole lot longer than that in reality.

There's a whole lot more to it, but the simple answer is they're not very good at achieving a high temperature differentials. Don't get me wrong, it's a very nice looking chamber (certainly way better than the Son of a Fermentation Chamber I built a decade ago), and I wouldn't even mind having one myself... But it's only going to be good as a fermentation chamber, not for cold crashing, and for that price I'd rather just get a mini-fridge.

 

[MarkyP]

Finally got around to buying this and eventually fermenting with it too.

Pros and Cons Below. I think this is a great piece of kit, especially anyone who doesn’t have room for a temp controlled fridge or Freezer.

Pros.

1. It works really well at controlling the temp, even for cold crashing, I dropped it from 19c to 2c In about 6 hours and it stayed between 2 and 2.5 for 5 days before I packaged. Gives you the ability to lager also.
2. Easy to use, set ur temp and click start. You can set the fan speed to low medium or high. Heats and cools depending on what you need
3. Doesn’t take up too much room, I have it in a spare Closet, it’s really lightweight So can be stored away when not in use.

Cons.

1. The plug that fits into the adaptor isn’t a great fit, it’s a bit loose and moves around easily which can knock off the power. If you move the adaptor even slightly it can knock the power off.
2. The unit still makes noise when you reach your desired temperature. I thought once it reaches the set temp it would go silent and power back up once the temp gets .5C above the set temp. It doesn’t sound like the fan is spinning when the temp is reached but it’s definitely making some sort of noise.
3. This would be really easy to damage as the material is quite light, It’s not flimsy but it wudnt take a lot break. Replacement Foam parts are available and are not expensive.
   
   
   
   

 

[Noobbrwr]

I know this is old thread, But i just ran across video of this online.
Is this made of Styrofoam?

 

[neion]

I know this is old thread, But i just ran across video of this online.
Is this made of Styrofoam?

yes its made of stryofoam, however its well compacted styrofoam but it will scratch if you knock something into it. i have one about 6 months now and its working a treat for me, cold crashes overnight etc. one tip i would give is if you are looking at getting one, get the stainless steel base for it. it will stop fermenters marking the base of it it and if you stick the temp probe to the metal base plate it gives a good solid temp reading also.