Haier 7.1 Chest Ferm Chamber

[Brewntang]

Hey all! Finally snagged a decent craigslist Haier 7.1cuft chest freezer for use as a ferm. chamber.

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My main goals were: to fit (2) 7 gallon SS brew buckets without having to build a collar around the lid and a platform even height with the compressor hump. That way I could ferment 2 different beers or split a 10 gallon batch if I ever decide to upgrade my kettle size.

I got a freezer for cold crashing and the potential of me ever wanting to lager. I am going to control temperature using an Inkbird dual controller. For heating (even though probably unnecessary in South Louisiana I have ordered a heating cable for a reptile cage as others have done on this site. I have also added a 110 pre wired fan from Amazon. I will have blow off tubes running from the lid elbows to a star san filled mason jar on the compressor hump.

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First snag I ran into was that the bottom would not fit 2 brew buckets without them touching. I mean it was maybe an inch off. Dangit, Haier! I was completely prepared to construct a collar and platform at that point but decided to brainstorm for a while. Here's where the conical-esque bottom of the brew buckets came in handy. I maneuvered the bucket so that it overlapped the hump, took a measurement, and made about a 5" step for the brew bucket closest to the hump to stand on. Although maybe unnecessary as well given that the brew buckets have legs, I drilled some holes in it for extra air movement. Here are some pics:



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I did a dry run on a cold crash without fermenting beer in the buckets and was able to drop the temp from 65F to 38F in about 20 minutes with the fan running on the bottom. I'm anxious to see how long it takes with liquid in them.

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My question to y'all is where do you think is the best spot for the fan? If I attach it to the lid it will be offset to the left because of clearance issues. It seems to work fine on the bottom back wall facing forward but I can also face it upward on the bottom or set it on the compressor hump. Here are some photos for reference:

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Any input is appreciated and I will try to update once I have everything installed and the freezer in its place. Cheers!

 

[Nodak_Brewer]

I really don't think fan placement matters much in such a small container. As long as the air is moving and eliminating temperature striations, you're golden. That being said, if it's stuffed in a corner behind stuff it won't be great, but will still work. I just wired an old PC fan to a phone charger, and plan on using it if I decide to implement the heating portion of my Inkbird controller. I'll probably just stick it on the hump somewhere, but I'm not sure how to fasten it without modifying the cooler (until my warranty is up, no hacking it up!)