108 replies to this topic

[brewman]

My brew buddy and I have been doing allot of talk about building a fermentation chamber and its now going to really happen. I already have the guts from an old mini fridge and they work great. I just ordered my temp controller from ebay and should have it in 2 weeks. We just got a huge box here at work full of Radar parts, the box is made of finished 2x4's and 5/8" plywood. I have called dibs on the box and it should cover all my wood needs. The only thing I'll need to pay for is the insulation, PC fan, hinges, door seals and other minor hardware. I'm thinking of putting a light in it that comes on when I open the chamber. Now this wont be a fast build, the box is still full of stuff but Ill be updating this thread with pics and news of the build. Any words of wisdom from people who have build one and can show me some tricks or whatever they learned in building there's would be most helpful. The basic shape will be like the one below in the pic but the back center will come in some to accommodate the compressor in the back. Sample pic This outstandingly done MS paint drawing will show the basic design  FC.JPG   17.58KB   18 downloads It will be big enough for two carboys/buckets on the sides and two corny kegs in the middle. The small circle in the back is the compressor. Dan

[SchwanzBrewer]

Looks cool! Cheers,Rich

[Mynameisluka]

Looks cool! Cheers,Rich

i betcha it will be even cooler when it's done.

[brewman]

Ordered my temp controller and fan for the build. Coming from China so it may take 2 weeks for delivery.

[brewman]

Here is a pic of the guts I got out of my mini fridge. Still works great.

[Stout_fan]

Many problems removing the guts of the mini-fridge?I'm thinking on doing something similar.

[Genesee Ted]

Many problems removing the guts of the mini-fridge?I'm thinking on doing something similar.

I have never taken one apart, but my friend built his with the fridge intact sans door. He put that on the back. It actually makes for a great place for extra storage or a small heater if you want to do a warmer ferment.

[ChefLamont]

Lookin good. One thing I would think about and make sure you are addressing is condensation. IIRC you are in S. Florida, so that will be a non-negligible issue.

[Dale Hair]

If that controller loses power the set point resets to 10dC 50dF. I think mine took 3 weeks to arrive.

[BlKtRe]

Brewman,you could win the ugliest homebrew equipment award!

[brewman]

Got my temp controller and fan yesterday. Only took a week to get here from China. I have my kegerator set to 38 so I wired up a power cord to the controller, a small light to the cooling output and put the sensor into the kegerator. 3 days ago the main light in my man cave blew out and apparently it popped the breaker when it went turning off the power to my kegerator. Good thing it was empty. Found it today when I put the sensor into it. Now the kegerator is back on, cooling with the sensor in it and right now its down to 8.2c, should settle down around 3c. The lite I wired in is on and all seems to be working fine.

If that controller loses power the set point resets to 10dC 50dF.

I plan on working up some type of power warning light to let me know when power has been lost. Some type of latching relay wired to a light that will turn on and stay on when power is lost to let me know so I can reset the controller. Right now I'm looking around the house for a 12v power supply to run the fan. I'm debating on having the fan run only when the compresses is on or all the time. What do you guys thing? Dan

[brewman]

Stupid fan only worked for 5 minutes. Emailed the people I got it from and they replayed already saying they sent a new one out in the mail already. We will see when it gets here. Dan

[brewman]

My kegerator has stabled down and the new controller is reading between 2.4 and 4.5 so its working great. Did some design work on the box today but nothing really to show. Just hammering out wiring routs, fan location and mounting, power grid and plug design. If this thing turns out half as good as I think its going to be, ITS GOING TO ROCK. Dan

[MolBasser]

Ordered my temp controller and fan for the build. Coming from China so it may take 2 weeks for delivery.

Groovy, man. MolBasser

[SchwanzBrewer]

How about some pics of the functional assembly?

[brewman]

Sorry this is going so slow but I'm building this on a budget. I'm getting most of the wood free, just have to wait for it. Just wanting the design done. Hate doing changes half way into a build Here is a small list of a few of the things I still need to work out. Drip pan now along with drainage and catch pan.LightingConduit / wire runs. Want everything to be easily replaceable. Dan

[brewman]

Lost power this weekend and the controller didn't reset. Now I don't have to worry about back up power.

[brewman]

Ok the box at work is finally empty. The final design and build are now only days/weeks away.

[brewman]

My free wood.Dan

[gnef]

Nice! Free is always good. Definitely keep this thread updated with progress and pictures!