Fermentation Chamber from Scratch - not using an old fridge or freezer.

[Partridge9]

Fermentation Chamber

Anyone tried making one without using a fridge or freezer ?

My problem is that smaller fridges dont fit my fermentation vessel and dont really have space for another freezer (I have 3 fridges and 1 freezer already for brewing)

For cooling was hoping to use something like this ..  and this for heating ..

I have seen Brens  and I am very jealous.

I am afraid that the cooling isnt powerful enough but I would not be confident enough to strip a fridge apart to pull out the cooling components.

For the walls and Door I was going to use that 4 inch insulation hard foamy stuff (you know the stiff .. right?)

James

[Garry]

I was donated an old beer fridge like this one.

Inspired by Bren's photos I made my fermentation coffin. It works ok. I'm disappointed to be honest. The fridge is not up to the job at all. It's fine for fermenting ales and conditioning bottles but it won't do a lager in the summer. You are tied to the ambient temperature, I'd say it would go 15°C below ambient. That's not much good when the garage is 30°C and you want to lager @ 4°C.

I doubt the fridge you linked to would be much better? I'll be following with interest.

[Partridge9]

Your quite right - Im not sure its up to the job either.

In an odd coincidence - I have one of those silly fridges - TBH - that fridge is pretty crap at the best of times.

Were you confident enough to rip it apart ?

I have some powerful fans which might help things.

[Garry]

I didn't rip the fridge apart. I just took off the door and built the insulation around it. You can see the back of the fridge sticking out the gable end of the coffin.

I drilled some holes in the fridge next to the compressor to give it an extra bit of air flow. I know, it's tasty, isn't it 

[Oh Crap]

If it's any help, it is definitely worth it to gut the fridge unit (try to get the small one with the freezer drawer in the fridge)

A friend of mine "Helped" me make this. Each side can hold 3 fermenters (not that there is that many in there)
2 sheets of ply, 2 sheets of insulation 2". a couple of handles and some 2x2. He cut it to size at home then we measured and screwed it together. It is insulated on every surface including underneath the base.
I used a black ceramic heat lamp for the ale side and gutted a small fridge to use for the lager side.

Taking apart the fridge was my biggest worry BUT I took my time and got help to remove the unit without bending it.  Putting it in was a lot easier then it looked.  Both side are controlled by STC 1000 units. 
In all it took about 2 weeks of doing it bit by bit.  If you can get a fridge for next to nothing try it, you'll find you will be able to remove the unit.

[Partridge9]

Looks amazing - lovely wood work ! Always goes down better with HQ if it looks nice !!

Any chance of a pic of your fridges pulled apart ?

I suppose I could sacrifice one of my fridges for the project.

Would be handy if it held two fermentation vessels alright !

[Oh Crap]

The woodwork is a mate of mine....I'm sure you'll be able to persuade someone to do it (if you promise some beer).  I'll try to find pics of the fridge.  You know the type I'm talking about? The under counter type with freezer compartment inside.  It literally unscrews and comes out the back. Just have someone help so you don't bend the pipes and let the gas escape. Puttin it in just needs a bit of thought in order to keep it tidy.  I left the back on that side loose until I mounted the unit and pipes,  If I ca help in any way just shout.  Remember bribing friends with lovely beer is internationally accepted

[Partridge9]

You mean a small fridge freezer like this

Mine doesnt have a freezer on top

[Partridge9]

Id actually be more comfortable doing the wood work than attempting to strip the fridge down without causing a leak.

[Oh Crap]

Not that type fridge, this type but old and on adverts or done deal. Stripping it down isn't too bad, just take your time sliding it out as the condenser is unexpectedly heavy, once you have it loose it will slide right out...

[Dr Horrible]

I've actually just got a brew going using one of those 24L coolboxes and it's working out ok - doing a Baltic Porter at 12deg and it's holding steady.  However, you have to use it differently to a fridge because those units are worth about 50Watts of cooling whereas a fridge has about 500 or 600W, so about ten times more power. They're good at cooling small well insulated spaces but struggle when the volume gets larger.  But you can use this in your favour as well.
I'm a bit of an anti-fridge person personally  - mostly becuase I don't have the space at home and now I'm moving to a shed I won't  have the power - but also because trying to control the internal temperature of a fermenter by cooling the air around it is an incredibly inefficient way of doing it.  I use a cooling  coil (http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,5811.msg74012.html#msg74012) and pump setup which I estimate at being about ten times more efficient than a fridge, which as you can see pretty much equals out the power requirements.  I've put about 10L of water into the coolbox with the pump and pump from the box through the cooling coil whenever the STC calls for cooling (the water temp varies from 7-10deg).  I think a fermentation gives out on average about 30W duriing active fermentation so your issue then is dealing with ambient heating - so as Garry said, lagering a beer during the summer isn't  an option.  I'm happy enough to brew by season though and lager in my attic when the temperature drops enough (first batch just moved up there this weekend).