Walk-In Chiller Idea

[Williac]

Hey all,

I'm working on putting in a walk-in cold room in our new nano brewery build in south east Asia and have run into some local labour hitches. We have a coolbot unit ready but have been getting some stupidly high quotes to build the unit (almost 3x the cost of the materials). I can source the panels at an affordable rate but would then be faced with building the frame which is a bit outside my DIY comfort zone (plus, it's very difficult to get decent wood here).

I had an alternative idea I want to get some opinions on as I'm sure there are downsides I'm not thinking of. Would it be possible to build a simple frame out of PVC piping? I've seen bunk beds made out of the stuff online so surely a frame with plenty of cross supports would be strong enough? It would also negate any mold concerns with the wood. Liquid nails could potentially be used to hold the panels in place on the outside then caulk up any gaps. This would mean a really cheap build that I could easily put together myself.

I need a free standing unit which can be easily removed from the room down the line. Any reason this wouldn't work?

 

[AkTom]

See if you can find schedule 80 pipe. It's more expensive, but stronger. It should work....

 

[Williac]

Cheers for the advice, I'll see what they have at the plumbing shop here.

Just trying to figure out if there's a reason this hasn't been done. Would seem to be a cheap simple way to put together a small fermentation chamber too.

 

[madscientist451]

Can you get bamboo cheaper than plastic pipe? I've seen pictures where they used bamboo to build scaffolding for large construction projects.

http://imgur.com/gallery/GTDJoA6

Here's how its done, the bamboo tubes are lashed together with plastic:

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqUS4JGbb3I[/ame]

There are other videos of how to make the lashing, good luck!

 

[Williac]

Love your thinking! I don't know why this didn't cross my mind

That kind of thing's pretty wide spread here, the lack of health and safety is mind boggling. Only thing I would be concerned about for this application is having more difficulty getting the insulation panels to line up properly.

 

[MaryB]

Can you source steel studs? They just screw together... can cut them with a standard wood chopsaw or skilsaw with the right blade.