Son of Fermentation Modification for Conical

[NewDecadeBrewery]

Was able to modify my Son Of Fermentation chamber by adding 8" of foam to the top so that I could fit and now use my eBay SS conical and have temp control. For probably well over a year I have had this conical and never use it. Now I will.

Only issue is I have a half sheet of foam left. If anyone lives close and needs it to do this or other stuff let me know.

 

[hopsalot]

how much does the foam board go for?

 

[NewDecadeBrewery]

Its $28 for the 4x8 sheet. They don't sell half sheets of this at HD and they don't sell it at Lowes at all, at least at the stores near where I am at.

 

[bdjohns1]

That's a ripoff. I'm pretty sure I paid less than 20 bucks for a 2" thick 4x8 pink foam board.

 

[NewDecadeBrewery]

That's a ripoff. I'm pretty sure I paid less than 20 bucks for a 2" thick 4x8 pink foam board.

I think I probably live in one of the most expensive areas of the country. Everything costs a lot here. That might explain it. Maybe there's a discount if you are a contractor or something. Where did you get yours and how long ago? Anyway I thought it worth it to bring the conical into service. My buckets are getting old.

 

[llama_boy]

Can you share some details on the temp controller?

 

[NewDecadeBrewery]

Can you share some details on the temp controller?

Yes it's an inexpensive home heat/cool digital Hunter thermostat bought from Wal-Mart. The thermistor is cut out and soldered to a longer wire so I can lead it into the chamber. I dipped the tip in resin to protect it and I tape it to the fermenter so it reads the surface temp of the fermenter so I set the t-stat a few degrees colder usually.

For power to the computer fan bought from Radio Shack I found an old ac to dc converter from some product that I no longer have/use, probably a cell phone charger and its 12 volts. You splice into the "out" side of the converter and connect one power wire to one of the fan wires and the other power wire into the t-stat. Depending on the thermostat you get there will be different places to attach the power wire coming from the converter - they are usually connections indicated by a letter and the instructions that came with the t-stat will indicate which lettered connection to attach the power wire to. From that initial power connection you can run a jumper wire to other connections in the thermostat, for example mine has cooling and heating capabilities from running an extra jumper between two of the connections.

There are videos on YouTube. That's how I learned. I think the most useful one came from someone named Jan but hers still lacked in a few areas like its hard to get good video of real small parts and I couldn't always see exactly what she was doing. Good luck - it's not really that difficult.