Vissani Fermentation Chamber

[Daver77]

I built mine but my heat source seems weak. Cant get it to stay at Ale temps.

 

[Thunder1]

What are you using for your heat source? I need to figure out the best/easiest thing to use.

 

[BobTheFourth]

It looks like he's using a reptile heat pad, stuck on the door. I'm not sure what the wattage is, but I'd think that might work better if it were attached to one of the inside walls instead - they are probably better insulated. Even the floor would probably be better, as you'd have direct contact with the carboy then.

I'm pretty happy with my 150W heat cable (also intended for reptile cage use). Its ugly, but its had no trouble maintaining a 30-degree differential (55-85F, who says you can't make a saison in the winter?). I attached it with gorilla tape, which mostly is holding up against the heat, but some sections loosen up periodically and need to be re-taped.

 

[rekoob]

very nice. I built one of these into some cabinets when I remodeled my kithen/dinning room, it isn't the wine cooler but the beverage cooler with shelves in it. I only use it for cans and bottles of beer but it works great. was planning on installing my keezer next to it but it's a little taller than my countertop so looks like I will just be putting it in the three season room when finished.
Great build.

 

[Daver77]

yeah it's only 25 watts. It's only supposed to attach to glass. Don't know what to do

 

[Lumpyyyyy]

yeah it's only 25 watts. It's only supposed to attach to glass. Don't know what to do

Buy a more powerful one would be my advice.

 

[Carlscan26]

yeah it's only 25 watts. It's only supposed to attach to glass. Don't know what to do

At 25 watts on a plastic fermenter full of liquid it should be fine. I have a 45 watt warmer and have had no problems. It wraps around 80% of the carboy and is about 10 or 12" wide so it's also very low heat per sq inch.

 

[Lumpyyyyy]

At 25 watts on a plastic fermenter full of liquid it should be fine. I have a 45 watt warmer and have had no problems. It wraps around 80% of the carboy and is about 10 or 12" wide so it's also very low heat per sq inch.

He doesn't have it attached to the carboy, it's on the door of the refrigerator.

 

[Carlscan26]

He doesn't have it attached to the carboy, it's on the door of the refrigerator.

Right. I was trying to reference his comment that it says to mount on glass and I was trying to say that it could be put on the carboy directly. Sorry that wasn't clear.

I also agree with you that he should get a bigger warmer too.

 

[ingchr1]

yeah it's only 25 watts. It's only supposed to attach to glass. Don't know what to do

The one I'm using is about double that wattage. It's attached to the wall of the fridge and I have not had problems maintaining temps.

 

[divrguy]

The one I'm using is about double that wattage. It's attached to the wall of the fridge and I have not had problems maintaining temps.

You should wrap it around the Carboy with electrical tape. I have flexwatt heat tape and that's the best bang for your buck

 

[ingchr1]

You should wrap it around the Carboy with electrical tape. I have flexwatt heat tape and that's the best bang for your buck

That's what I have, the flexwatt, and with it being on the wall I never have to move it from fermenter to fermenter. Never had a problem maintaining temps in my 45F garage.

 

[Smiling-Poodle-Brewery]

For a heat source I have used wet/dry heating pads wrapped around the carboy and held in place with elastic bands for years. Like this. My shop gets below freezing in winter and I find that set on low, the heating pads have no trouble keeping wort at ale temps in the cooler.

Also one thing it took me a while to figure out is that when you direct wire the compressor to be controlled by an external controller, you are disableing the internal thermostat. So there is no need to put it on any setting because it doesn't work anymore.

If you want the light to be functional, you can splice the power wire into the compressor power wire and the light circuit. Just be sure to cap the wire that is left that you cut to the compressor to make the splice because it will be hot when the internal thermostat calls for cooling. Of course the light will work only when the compressor is on. I have three different wine coolers and the wiring colors are different for all three, so you will have to look at the wiring diagram on the back of the cooler to decide where your wires need to be cut/spliced.

 

[Loodachris]

So this fridge will hold a 6.5 gallon glass carboy with a 3 piece air lock on it? Looking into either this or a 4.3cf mini fridge for a build real soon

 

[ingchr1]

So this fridge will hold a 6.5 gallon glass carboy with a 3 piece air lock on it? Looking into either this or a 4.3cf mini fridge for a build real soon

It should, here is a 6 gallon carboy:

and bucket:

 

[Loodachris]

I'll keep looking for a used one on craigslist. Has anyone looked at the Danby cooler like this one here to see if it would work?

http://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/app/3559720539.html

It's the only thing I could find used that comes close.

 

[kluge9]

Just picked one of these up today. Still at $118 like everyone recently has posted (and like others, said sold out online and not sold in my store but stopped in anyway). Got another 10% off for military. $112 out the door

 

[BobTheFourth]

$118? Can you link that on Home Depot's site? I'm still seeing $199, which is the typical price. I'd pick up a second one for $118, no question.

 

[kluge9]

Neg. The sticker on mine says they reduced to $147 back in October and its now 20% off clearance appliances. HD's website says they're not sold near me but just stop in at your local store and check clearance area

 

[Loodachris]

Stopped by my Home Depot a little bit ago and it's still at $199.99 Figured I would get lucky but guess not.

 

[kifkroker]

Saw this thread and checked my HD while I was there buying some blow off tubing, they had one left for $118. Never been so excited to purchase an appliance before... Thanks for posting!!!

FYI---no plans to mod since I'm in FL and don't need to heat, just gonna test what temps each setting the thermostat will cool it to. If anybody has this info already, could you please post? Thanks!

 

[dcbw]

Picked one up today for 149 in St Louis Park MN. They have 2 left.

 

[jborgy]

I just successfully adjusted the thermostat on this fridge. I didnt really want to cut any wires to bypass the thermostat so I went this route. Now I can lager and crash cool with no problem. Please note that I'm also using an external temp controller to achieve exact temps. I only did this so I could get the fridge to lower temps. I've never tried to attach pics so I apologize if this doenst come out.

The first pic shows a small hole that contains the only screw you need to remove to open the thermostat.

once the screw is removed, carefully swing the front of the unit down and it will open up.

once you have the thermostat open you can get to the temp adjustment screw (4th pic) on the left side you can see the head of the screw and in the little window you can see the tension spring. This part took a little trial and error but I found that the more you compress the spring the colder your fridge will get. I just used a small needle nose pliers to adjust the screw.

In the last pic (which isnt very clear) you can see my thermometer. Its sitting in a glass of water and it read 36F. at this point the fridges manual temp control dial was set at "6". I realize this is colder than I will need to go but with my dual stage temp control this should work out just fine.

 

[jborgy]

One thing I forgot to mention. When you are ready to reattach the thermostat unit make sure you dont pinch any of the wires between the top of the fridge and the thermostat.

 

[kluge9]

Finally got around to plugging mine in (still waiting on STC-1000 and figuring out what I'm going to be doing for heat) but I did the temperature screw adjustment laid out above. You need to twist the screw counter-clockwise to tighten the spring and just sticking in both a dial and mercury thermometer (no water bottle) they read 18*. And that was only after being turned on for about 45 minutes at level 7. Good tip jborgy!!

 

[whrswoldo]

My local store in Houston had 4 new ones for $147, I snagged a floor model for $85 it's missing the front feet but otherwise in good condition.

 

[jborgy]

Finally got around to plugging mine in (still waiting on STC-1000 and figuring out what I'm going to be doing for heat) but I did the temperature screw adjustment laid out above. You need to twist the screw counter-clockwise to tighten the spring and just sticking in both a dial and mercury thermometer (no water bottle) they read 18*. And that was only after being turned on for about 45 minutes at level 7. Good tip jborgy!!

Thanks but I cant take all the credit. I "borrowed" the idea from another thread about chest freezers.

 

[barrbiz]

Is anyone using a 10amp inline fuse on their main power coming into the box? When the Vissani kicks on it blows the 10amp fuse every time. I used this wiring diagram,http://www.bootknockerbrewing.com/, putting the fuse exactly where it is in the diagram even though the site says he ended up putting it somewhere else.

I have read that the stc-1000 can take up to 15amps but before I go up to a 15amp inline fuse I thought i would check what others are doing.

Any ideas?

 

[ingchr1]

I am not using any additional circuit protection in my setup.

The startup current of the compressor is causing your fuse to blow. I doubt the running current of the fridge is anywhere near 10A, it's probably only a couple of amps and should be indicated on the lable on the back of the unit. You just need to find a 10A fuse that is coordinated with the startup current of the compressor. Fuses are designed with different characteristics depending upon the application you want to us it in. Some will open right away and some will open after a delay.

 

[barrbiz]

Thank you for the quick response and I will check out the fuses that I am using.