Temp controlled fridges

[Nick Good]

Can anyone give me some advice on fridge sizes for temp controlling. I have been cruising around on Trademe to see what is around. For 2 fermenters do you have to have a full size fridge or can you get away with a medium and what size would be the minimum. Also do you have to disconnect the thermostat and if so, how do you do it.

[Smiffy]

You will need a full size (1.6m) fridge (no freezer section) to get two fermenters in.

Don't forget that the compressor normally lives behind the "salad drawer" so the useful internal height is between the shelf above that and the top.

You can just leave the thermostat on a cold setting and control the power to the whole fridge.

You will need an electronic temperature controller. I got ones from Hong Kong off ebay, but these then need wiring up to a plug and a socket, or you can buy ones already in a box with mains plug and sockets already wired up but I can't remember who sells them.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_nkw=digital+temperatur...

And here's some info on wiring them up:

http://www.forum.realbeer.co.nz/forum/topics/the-start-of-my-brewing

If you want to brew ales in the winter, you will also need a "heater", I just use a 60watt light bulb in a normal ceiling rose mounted at the top back of the side of the fridge. The temperature controllers also have a heating outlet/socket for this.

[Peter Smith]

I can get 2 carboys in both my prescold and F&P units, these have lower freezer fridge upper , no compressor shelf.   One warning tho is that you must put the temp sensor on the most active ferment and there will be an impact on the 2nd carboy temp.   I put my hot carboy at back of fridge.   neither fridges really fit 2 fermenters only 2 carboys, def only one pail.  That said most of my fermenters are not the tall thin 30L jobs.

The frdiges go pretty cheap on trademe, only $20-30 if you are patient and choose a rough one,  the stc-1000 only run $20 imported from ebay

if you have the room go for more fridges

[Nick Good]

But my barrels are only 380mm across the top and 430mm high sure there is the tap and the handles but you must be able to tuck the tap into a corner. One barrel at the bottom and one at the top. Maybe use plastic tube into a jar of water instead of air locks???????????????

[Richard Jack]

My 1.6m fridges fit two pails with no probs, two carboys are a real stretch, have to use blow off tubes and jars of starsan. Best option is to ask on the fridge auction for internal dimensions and measure your fermenters carefully.

Also, be prepared for some fridge shelf reinforcement. 

[Nick Good]

Thanks, do you know the model name/number? Some of the doors have moulded bits on them that will get in the way for sure without some surgery. I dont really have a stack of room to put these things in and they can be a pain in the neck to move around. I was just trying to come up with an easier way.

Thanks for the links Smiffy. I have never bought on ebay is it easy and how do you do it ( pay pal  ect ).

 

[Peter Smith]

i will post photos either tomorrow or thurs as out tonight and models of fridges etc the f&p is common as so is the prescold,  I also have a 1950/60 kelvinator original, looks retro  and will soon sport 2 taps...

[Smiffy]

You can usually pay by paypal or credit card. make sure you check the feedback on the seller, and what the shipping charge will be. Make sure you get one that includes the sensor, is meant for 220 V, and can control heating and cooling.

[Peter Smith]

my f anf p looks like this...

http://www.trademe.co.nz/home-living/kitchen/fridge-freezer/fridgef...

you offset the carboys diagonally they wont fit any other way...

[Nick Good]

You guys really are a blast.

I never thought there were people in this world who were so into beer. My kind of people!!!!!!!!

But seriously I have discovered hops and the flovour/smell and it just opens up a completely new world.

Thanks for your input.

[Doug Phillips]

I agree with Smiffy - a bigger frig gives you more volume and flexibility and no freezer is important.  My rig has a battery driven thermostat from Jaycar - about $55 with digital display that checks good against a thermometer but I think the best is an external controller that simply turns the whole frig off when temperature gets low, and on when it gets too high (you need about a 2 deg C difference to avoid cycling the frig too much).  The sensor for the controller must of course be inside the frig.  I also have a pair of lights in series as a heater for during winter especially - so they last forever (must be incandescent type) and a fan to avoid hot/cold spots.  The beauty of using an external controller is that your frig becomes good for standard operation by removing the controller and using the original thermostat simply by plugging it back into the mains.  With the heater and controller working you should get a 7-10minute cycle time on the frig, too short and you will cook the motor - to long and you will get too much temperature variation.  Make sure you adjust the difference temperature on the controller until you get this kind of cycle time.

Good luck - as a sparky I have to say - be careful with the wiring - 230v can seriously affect your drinking.

Doug

[Smiffy]

With mine, I have the temperature difference set to the minimum which I think is 0.3 C, but I tape the sensor to the (stainless steel) fermenter, so that the temperature change is slow, and the fridge never cycles on and off quickly. Also the controller has a compressor protection timer, and I think the default on that is 10 minutes, so it will never restart the cooling within 10 minutes of the compressor last running. (I suspect that this is because the start-up load is much higher than the running load, and that extra load would be likely to damage a hot compressor.)