Fermentation Fridge Project

[orlando]

The biggest problem is the humidity and eventually it will get hold of the wood. I'm planning to move away from fermenting in a fridge. The condensation, humidity and warmth create a perfect environment for mildew and mould.

The interior of your fridge looks fairly unfussy but mine has a thousand and one places that are difficult to keep clean. Twice I've found grey furry mould growing on the fridge interior during a ferment. The beer has been fine but I'm currently working on adding an external cooling coil to a stainless pot so I can dump the fridge and use an adapted flash chiller to maintain the temperature. I'll maybe post details if my plan works!

Sounds interesting. I'm intending to use polyurethane varnish on the wood in an attempt to reduce moisture absorption, but you're right - I get some mould in my big cool box.

Nevertheless, I press on!

The stand is finished....


...and using a handy full barrel of beer.....


...shows no significant deflection - so no need for a middle leg. I was a bit unhappy with the terminology anyway.


I've ordered the heater, so just have to: -

-Varnish the wood
-Fit the heater
-Drill the side of the fridge for the cables
-Wire up the ATC800
-Stand back and admire my handywork

Jim if you are really worried about drilling the fridge then don't. I have my temp probe cable and tube heater cable pushed through the hinge side door seal. It is possible on my door to get them through without any significant break in the seal. It certainly has had no effect on the heat/cool cycling of the fridge and means it can always go back to being a standard fridge in the future.

[Pinto]

I drilled the holes in my Bosch frooker with impunity

If you keep the hole small, and near the hinge plates on the door you should be ok, just look carefully before drilling. I then added cable grommets where I went through the walls to prevent chaffing, then sealed them with a small blob of sanitary silicone.

As to the shelf, I sealed mine with two coats of a white vinyl silk anti-fungal paint I use at work and then sealed all the shelf to fridge gaps with sanitary silicone - all working fine so far.

[Jim]

A few more pics (well why not?).

I decided to use my ATC800 for the large cool box, as that will almost always be left at serving temperate, and my TC10 on the new fridge, to give it a bit more versatility (as the ATC800 only goes down to 5C).

I have to confess the wiring to the TC10 for the large cool box left a lot to be desired from the point of view of tidyness and safety. So I decided to box it up properly this time: -

The bits:


Cables were fitted via grommets:


I improvised cable clamps using cable ties:


All finished:


And working (albeit with no heater yet):

[Andy]

Nice work Jim.

[Jim]

Look what the postman just brought!



The instructions say it has to have 300mm clearance above it, so a bit of head scratching is called for as my original plan to fasten it to the underside of the wooden stand appears to be no good. Though I might still give it a go and see just how hot it gets - possibly just needs a heat shield of some kind to stop the wood getting too hot....

EDIT: well, despite the fact that a diagram in the instructions shows 300mm min clearance above the heater, the text below says 200mm minimum. And although the surface of the heater gets quite hot, you can still put your hand on it for a few seconds - it's not really any hotter than a central heating radiator. I have a plan, anyway.

[Fil]

I think you will be fine ive had no probs, just mount a fan to blow over it.

i think my plastic FV is within 30mm of the heater.. and there is no way i have 300 headroom above it, and ive had no probs at all..

[Jim]

I think you will be fine ive had no probs, just mount a fan to blow over it.

i think my plastic FV is within 30mm of the heater.. and there is no way i have 300 headroom above it, and ive had no probs at all..

Yeah, I'm sure the warnings are way over the top considering it's just 45 watts! That's less than a normal light bulb!

I'm trying to avoid having to fit a fan though - I'm fitting the heater under the shelf that the fermenter will stand on.

[Jim]

........Jim if you are really worried about drilling the fridge then don't. I have my temp probe cable and tube heater cable pushed through the hinge side door seal. It is possible on my door to get them through without any significant break in the seal. It certainly has had no effect on the heat/cool cycling of the fridge and means it can always go back to being a standard fridge in the future.

I was hoping I could do that, but now the heater's here I reckon the cable is too thick to have a realistic prospect of just going in the door jam.

[calumrobertson]

Looks good! Im planning on doing something similar but have just upgraded my equipment so will be brewing more so hoping to ferment ~60l at a time....does anyone know whether this http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/aca ... H63yKAefTo
will fit in a standard larger fridge?! Fin looks like you have a decent sized fermentor...

[Jim]

So, it seemed the simplest solution was just to place the heater (on its mounting brackets) on the floor of the fridge under the shelf. Clearance to the shelf is about 5 inches.

This arrangement is currently on test (with an additional max/min temp probe fitted into one of the vent holes in the shelf to see how hot it gets) and I will report back.

If satisfactory, I'll just fix the heater to the bottom somehow. And the heater cable WILL fit under the door seal, so I may just leave it like that - we'll see.

[orlando]

So, it seemed the simplest solution was just to place the heater (on its mounting brackets) on the floor of the fridge under the shelf. Clearance to the shelf is about 5 inches.

This arrangement is currently on test (with an additional max/min temp probe fitted into one of the vent holes in the shelf to see how hot it gets) and I will report back.

If satisfactory, I'll just fix the heater to the bottom somehow. And the heater cable WILL fit under the door seal, so I may just leave it like that - we'll see.

You've just described exactly how I have my arrangement, glad the cable goes through the seal, makes life very simple.

You can just about see it in this picture. I haven't even bothered to fix it so I can clean it easier.

[Jim]

Careful reading of the instructions that came with the heater explain all - the same min clearances are specified for a range of heaters from 45W (i.e. mine) up to 240W.

Unbelievable, and no wonder my shelf isn't even warm to the touch after an hour!

[Jim]

That's some fermentation you've got there, Orlando!

[Jim]

So, another update on tests.

First pic shows the heater in place - you can just see the black thermometer probe sticking down through the shelf on the left.


And this one shows the position of the TC10 probe - way up near the top of the fridge.


And finally, these were the readings after about 2 hours (heater hasn't cut out yet - I have the TC10 set to 22C)


Dial on the left is ambient (about 11C), thermometer top, TC10 bottom.

I'm quite happy with that differential between top and bottom, particularly as that's the most it'll ever be, straight after a cold start from about 8C.

Result - PASS

[boingy]

Jim, I'd suggest not fixing anything permanently in the fridge. Just leave everything free-standing so you can easily move them to clean after a brew. Even if your yeast stays in the bucket you'll still have drips, spills and/or condensation to mop up.