Brewing Fridge Upgrade ?

[DC]

Hi all, I am about to upgrade my current brewing fridge to a tall larder fridge so I can fit two FV’s in and brew up to 10 gallons at a time as opposed to the current one 5 gallon FV I am limited to at the minute.

This is the current brewing fridge setup

Tube heater housed in the bottom



Covered by strong steel mesh support by wooden blocks


With only enough room for one 5 gallon FV


So with my new taller larder fridge and the added space for a 2nd FV I am wondering do I do the same again and house the tube heater at the bottom of the fridge. Or would it pay to move it to say the side of the fridge and about half way up?

As for the temperature probe my current probe runs through the drain hole at the bottom of the small fridge and out to my TC10 controller. I am not sure if the probe cable will be long enough if run through the drain hole in the new taller fridge and up to the TC10? Not sure if I could extend the probe cable? Or I had toyed with the idea of cutting a hole in the front of the fridge and fitting the TC10 into the fridge door instead of it sitting in a plastic box on top of the fridge as it is currently being used.

New Fridge stripped & cleaned




Measuring up for FV’s (loads of room)


Just need to cut some new wire mesh and build some sort of stand to hold the 2 FV’s and of course move the tube heater to the new fridge.

Cheers DC

[far9410]

Hi, that will make a great fermenting fridge, you may want a small fan to circulate/ balance the temp throughout.

[orlando]

On my current set up, similar to yours, I run the cables to 3 items through the door seal with no problem whatsoever (tube heater, STC 1000 probe and stir plate cable). You can get a 3m probe from Cedaronics if you require something longer but as far as getting even temperatures are concerned I would advise you make sure that you either, isolate the temp probe from the "air" by using bubble wrap and strapping to the side of one of the FV's or, probably better, use a small computer fan to make sure the temp is as even as possible. You may get people saying put the probe in the FV or a separate bottle of fluid. I'm not a fan of either of these methods as the less that goes in fermenting beer the better and the separate bottle is not going to react to temp change like 5 gallons of beer. I find that insulating the temp probe to the side of the FV is about 1/2 a degree out from actual temp which you can compensate for by adjusting the STC accordingly.

[grmski]

"you may want a small fan to circulate/ balance the temp throughout."

A small cheap hairdryer works perfectly for this. It heats and circulates the warm air.

[DC]

Hi all, Thanks for the replies I just happen to have a PC fan from another project so I can use that as for the temp probe I normally just stick it to the side of the FV or leave it on the top of the FV and everything seems to have worked ok in the past. Might try and wrap it in something or fashion something out of foam etc to cover the probe when stuck to the side of the FV. When using a PC fan in conjunction with a tube heater to circulate the warm air around the fridge does the PC fan remain on constantly or would I be able to control it via my TC10 to turn the fan on and off at the same time as the tube heater turns on and off

So that would be 3 things being controlled by the TC10 the Frdige (Cooling), Tube Heater (Heating), PC Fan circulating air in conjunction with tube heater

Cheers DC

[Belter]

Looking good!

I imagine that PC fan is 12v? You will need a 12v power supply/transformer if supplying off mains/fridge.

[AnthonyUK]

I have a 240v fan connected to the tube heater so it comes on with the heater.



I have thought about fitting another to the fridge side powered from the internal light socket.

[JonoT]

I did a similar sized fridge conversion I kept my heater at the bottom and fitted a fan at the bottom. I get 2 x 30l fv's in it works a dream.

This is my conversion...

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=50854

[Fil]

keep the pc fan running all the time its moving the air which is the medium of heat and cold transfer.

and +1 for sealing the tronics up against condensation too..

[DC]

Hi all, Well I decided there is no time like the present so I started on the fridge upgrade yesterday afternoon started but cutting the wire mesh to size for the bottom shelf, then building the frame and measuring up for the 2 FV's. Ive still got to fabricate a 2nd wire mesh shelf for FV No 2 but its coming along nicely.

The Big Boys Toys are out


Lower shelf completed and in place


Frame is coming along


Cross beams need to to make it stronger


Measuring up for the 2 FV's looks like plenty of room




Cheers DC

[orlando]

Looking good Mick.

[DC]

Hi all, Just a further update on the fridge upgrade, spent another couple of hours on it yesterday to get the stand completed. All that remains is to order a new tube heater and install it and the electrics.

Load testing the bottom shelf with an FV full of water



Load testing the top shelf with an FV full of water



Both shelves complete with wire mesh



Stand completed with an extra piece of wire mesh for a 3rd shelf for storage space when not using 2 FV’s



Cheers DC

[darkonnis]

Very nice indeed, I used to use a panel heater and a brew belt for my 2 FV's and that worked just fine. Good bit of work there though mate looking very nice indeed

[DC]

Hi all, a further quick update.

New tube heater from Tool Station



Tube heater installed




Frame in and just need to order a new controller and it should be up and running



All finished and in place



Cheers DC

[orlando]

Nice shiny pot next to it too.