Need Help w/ Ferment Chamber

[bondra76]

Hey DIY'ers

I have a question on my fermentation chamber - I am hoping to get my chamber finally up and running this weekend and would like some input.

What I'd like to do -
I want a water bath + aquarium heater inside the freezer. I've already ponied up for a nice high wattage submersible heater. I have the STC-1000 in a project box and I have a thermowell (and obviously I've got a freezer). My chamber will run outside in an unheated/unattached garage. I just feel safer with the aquarium water bath approach vs. the paint lamp/ceramic heater.

My Issue -
I don't have much room to put the water bath in.....When I place the carboy inside the fermenter there are mere inches around it because of the compressor hump. I've considered putting something on the freezer floor to raise the grade up to the compressor hump, but my carboys would then be too tall for the freezer to shut.

Anyone have any ideas on how I could put a bath inside of it? I was starting to think of just making my own little customized wood container and then throwing waterproof tarp in there and creating my own little pond, per say. Also considered putting a collar on the freezer so I could raise the grade on the floor to meet the compressor hump (allowing me then to set a big rubbermaid container in there).

I guess my concern with the mere inches around the carboy is evaporation and the general lack of water/room there would be around the carboy.

I'll throw some photos in here. Let me know if you guys have any thoughts? Hope I explained this even somewhat well.

 

[HumulusHead]

I've never dealt with something like this, but couldn't you just fill the freezer up with water?


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[Jim_Holmes]

i agree with above if your going to build a box and put a liner in it why not just glue a liner to the freezer sides and add water. an old pool liner or even a roll of plastic placed inside and formed to the sides should work

 

[bondra76]

i agree with above if your going to build a box and put a liner in it why not just glue a liner to the freezer sides and add water. an old pool liner or even a roll of plastic placed inside and formed to the sides should work

I wasn't going to pour water straight into it but gluing a liner to it is a great idea and probably super cheap.

 

[k1ngl1ves]

If you glue a liner in it, you'll leave some nice little nooks and crannies for mold to develop.

Id just lay a liner/bag in there, and put your water and carboy in it. Then it's easily removable/cleanable.

 

[Setesh]

If you glue a liner in it, you'll leave some nice little nooks and crannies for mold to develop.

Id just lay a liner/bag in there, and put your water and carboy in it. Then it's easily removable/cleanable.

+1 to this. Get 55g bin liners and when it gets nasty just siphon the water out and swap the bags.

 

[plusultra]

Home Depot sells pond liner rubber that you could glue to the inside and you could take the top off the chest freezer/ add some wood so you can raise the top and hinges. This would give you room for the carboys. I would not want that kind of set-up though(mold potential). I have a chest freezer in my house that I use with the external thermostat. I do live in south florida though.

 

[bondra76]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I actually just found this product at Lowes that I am going to go snag:

http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay...elshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1#BVRRWidgetID

For $39 bucks, I think it's a good long term solution.

All together, I think my fermentation chamber is going to end up being under $150.

I am going to put a few drops of bleach or even star san in the water to prevent any mold. And I can always wash off the PVC liner I'm thinking. This is going to be just big enough (7 foot by 10 foot) that I can close the lid on the liner and basically seal it in.

Appreciate the help

 

[bondra76]

Just a quick update from this AM.

Was able to get a Epoxy PVC tap that's roughly 18 mils from the local Lowes store. It's a pond liner. I stuck it in there with some water and a carboy filled up with water. Started out with water under 50 degrees, both in the carboy and the freezer. After 2 hours with the aquarium heater in there (Eheim 300W, which had a ton of excellent reviews on Amazon) I am near 70 degrees.

Observations:
- Definitely need a water pump, as there is a warm spot and cold spot in there. When I splash the water around, it kicks up the thermometer a few degrees (I am taking temps from the opposite corner of the aquarium heater and inside the carboy). I just bought a Eheim water pump for $20.

- The carboy (which had 50 degree water in there) is like an ice cube in my initial tests. The water surrounding is 70 degrees and the heater is kicking butt but the carboy water is still around 55. Not much of a problem just a note. I guess it takes a while for the carboy to assume the temp around it. If I had something to move the water in the carboy it'd be quicker to warm up.

- I need to weigh down the submersible Eheim 300W heater somehow (maybe with 1-2 beer nuts around the top or something). It's got a trigger to turn off the top comes out of the water.

- Will definitely have to trim down the tarp. It hangs outside of the freezer but I can duct tape it there.

 

[Matthias]

Water movement is going to be a huge help for this I think. Get a couple aquarium "power heads" and you should be good to go on that.

Keep in mind that with a water bath, you are going to have massive amounts of humidity in this thing, watch closely for mold.

 

[bondra76]

Will the mold collect over a 2 week period? I am going to wash off the tarp every time after a fermentation. Just siphoned out the water and dumped everything today and it was fairly uncomplicated at all.


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[Matthias]

Of you clean it out every two weeks, I kinda doubt you will have issues.

 

[samuryan]

might consider a frame brace outside the freezer. How much weight will a freezer wall stand up to?

 

[bondra76]

might consider a frame brace outside the freezer. How much weight will a freezer wall stand up to?

I actually drained the freezer and I think I had less water in the freezer than what was in the carboy (5 gallons of water or so in a 6.5 carboy). That's how tight fitting this thing seems to be. I only have a inch of space between the carboy and the freezer wall (15 x 15 inches square basically).

I am actually re-thinking how much water I put in there and might go up to the neck of the carboy instead of just above the wort waterline. I'm most likely going to lose some water to evap anyways no matter how much I weigh down the lid.

From a temp control standpoint though, this thing rocks. And the Eheim 300W aquarium heater raised my water from 50 to 70 degrees in just about 2 and a half hours. It's rated for something like 250 gallons. For $30 I just couldn't pass it up to try this out.

 

[k1ngl1ves]

Why not just buy a heating wrap from your local brew store? They're about $25.

Then you can forget about this whole water craziness...

 

[bondra76]

Why not just buy a heating wrap from your local brew store? They're about $25.

Then you can forget about this whole water craziness...

Because the ferm wrap is limited in the # of degrees that you can boost your carboy temp in the winter. (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/ferm-wrap-out-door-fermenting-220207/)

Might have to put two aquarium heaters in there, but I think this will work.

 

[k1ngl1ves]

Because the ferm wrap is limited in the # of degrees that you can boost your carboy temp in the winter. (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/ferm-wrap-out-door-fermenting-220207/)

Might have to put two aquarium heaters in there, but I think this will work.

Ahh. I see. I didn't know you were fermenting outdoors. My garage only gets to about 25°F in the winter. I use a wrap with no problem. I could see it not working when it's colder.

I hope the aquarium heater works for you.

 

[bondra76]

Observations and update:

1 - Temperature control has been dead on solid. I'm using a Eheim 300W aquarium heater. The aquarium guys rave about Eheim's quality, and I am thoroughly impressed. Has kept temps within range with no problem. Currently there's a rainstorm in Denver and our outside temperature tonight is 49 degrees but my fermentation chamber is sitting pretty at 64 with Notty working away.

2 - Back to the Eheim 300W heater, there was one night where temps dipped to about 35 degrees. I came out to my garage in the AM to go to work at 6:30AM and the freezer was on. Again, promising. The Eheim heater is great.

3 - I'm using approx 20-30 mil EPDM 7 foot x 10 foot ponder liner I bought from Lowes for $39 (link). It's done a great job and even though the 300W heater may be touching the liner at times, the stuff is so thick and made out of such great material that it doesn't melt etc.. EPDM is industrial sturdy and the best quality you can get in pond liner.

4 - I have a Eheim 80 gallon per hour pump in there that I bought for $14 bucks online. Drinking the Eheim Kool-aid again, but temps remain awesomely steady so I assume water is circulating well.

5 - I have a probe in the bath water and a thermowell in the carboy. Both are within .5 degrees Fahrenheit of each other. My STC-100 is maintaining well.

6 - I have had little to zero evaporation in the water bath inside the freezer. I bought some polypropylene balls design for water baths to hold thermal heat and reduce evaporation (they float on top of the water bath), but I am considering returning them.

7 - Zero sign of mold. Considered mixing small parts of vinegar to the water bath but no foul stenches as of yet, no signs of mold whatsoever.

Pretty ecstatic overall with my fermenter with dead on temp control in the unheated garage and feel like I've done this on a good budget.

Total Bill:
$50 Craigslist Freezer
$20 STC-100
$14 Aquarium Pump from Eheim
$32 Eheim 300W Aquarium Heater (Overkill on the Wattage - it's only a 2-3 gallon bath but I want heat fast)
$15 Thermowell from Stainless Steel Brewing
$39 EPDM Pond Liner from Lowes
$0 A bunch of water out of your garden hose

$170 - Total

 

[ericbw]

How is the brew belt less effective? Because it is less powerful? What about reptile heat wrap? You can buy it by the foot online and wrap the carboy, put it under the carboy, etc.

This winter, I used a plant heating mat under the carboy. In the basement, the carboy would probably settle to about 55 or less on its own. I set the mat to cycle on and off every half hour, and put the carboy half on/half off the mat. Kept it right about 64-66 that way. As it warms up, I will need to cycle it on less.

I have a chamber halfway built so that I can keep the temp down in the summer. But I expect the heating mat to work even better in the chamber.