upright freezer mod.

[RobP]

Has anyone tried putting a collar on an upright freezer to give you more depth for a conical?

 

[ehall]

I don't think so. the coils are in the sides and tops of upright, too high a risk for popping them when drilling. just need to get a bigger freezer.

 

[Bobby_M]

I think it would work fine. Just attach it to the body of the freezer with adhesive rather than screws.

 

[ITV]

The coils on my upright freezer are on the lower back side. I have shaved the door instead of a collar which works out well.

 

[eric19312]

May as well build an insulated box and chil it with an AC unit and a DIY coolbot. Make it as big as you like. I've got a 21CF freezer and still wish it was taller inside.

 

[RobP]

Well if I take the leg extensions off and leg extension shelf the 14 gal spike fermenter just fits in my 15 cu. ft. kenmore upright freezer with enough room for the accessories on the lid. And I removed the cross pieces on the door shelves for an extra 1/2" of depth

 

[ITV]

My photo above is a 12.1 cu. ft kenmore upright freezer with a Spike CF10 without leg extensions (I do closed pressure transfers).

 

[ITV]

See post #2 Here for photos of my shaved door.

 

[RobP]

That's a good idea remove the door liner and replace it with a flat panel. With the the 15.3 cu ft kenmore you can get away with not having to do that for the cf10. You probably gained an extra 3" doing that

 

[RobP]

This is the kenmore 15.3 cu ft with the 9" extension legs I only had 3 inches of clearance to the top. so I stopped assembly and removed the leg extensions.

 

[ITV]

Looks good.

I feel the leg extensions are for those who gravity feed into their kegs.

I drilled a hole in the side of my freezer to bring in the inkbird wire to the CF10 thermowell and use the same hole for my blow-off tube. I prefer to keep the blow-off container of starsan on the outside since I cold crash it keeps the starsan from freezing.

Another tip is to keep the freezer door propped open when not in use to help prevent mold build-up.

 

[day_trippr]

I've seen more than a few mini-fridges with collars, don't see any reason it wouldn't scale to some degree...

Cheers!

 

[RobP]

Looks good.

I feel the leg extensions are for those who gravity feed into their kegs.

I drilled a hole in the side of my freezer to bring in the inkbird wire to the CF10 thermowell and use the same hole for my blow-off tube. I prefer to keep the blow-off container of starsan on the outside since I cold crash it keeps the starsan from freezing.

Another tip is to keep the freezer door propped open when not in use to help prevent mold build-up.

 

[RobP]

I like the idea of running the temp controller through the side. I would be worried I'd drill through a coolant line or electrical. So there is no lines running through the side? I also have a new door gasket on order.

 

[ITV]

I like the idea of running the temp controller through the side. I would be worried I'd drill through a coolant line or electrical. So there is no lines running through the side?

Correct, all the lines are in the unit in the lower rear of the freezer.

 

[ITV]

Photo for reference.

 

[ITV]

I also pump my wort directly into the CF10 since I got tired of hoisting buckets of wort to fill the fermentor.

 

[RobP]

That's exactly why I've went to a whole new brew system a Blichmann top tier and a riptide pump. Gives me both gravity and a pump. I'm getting to old to be lifting 10 gal batches. The ability to pressure ferment and a closed transfer. My wife loves Pilsners so I can cold crash and lager in place.

 

[ITV]

You and me both!

I brew in my basement to avoid hauling my equipment from the basement to the garage and back to the basement.

My old boss had a saying: "work smarter not harder".

 

[Cameronl]

I've seen more than a few mini-fridges with collars, don't see any reason it wouldn't scale to some degree...

Cheers!

My collared mini-fridge gets down to near freezing for cold crashing, so I don't think a freezer would have much trouble. I didn't add any insulation, just 2/4s. Maybe a little extra for a freezer would help.

 

[eric19312]

21cf freezer with CF15 inside with room for accessories on the lid...
but I have to chose between leg extension and sight glass or dry hopper, don't have room for both.

 

[RobP]

View attachment 754310
21cf freezer with CF15 inside with room for accessories on the lid...
but I have to chose between leg extension and sight glass or dry hopper, don't have room for both.

Tell me about your dry hopper. I have the 3 port lid. using the large center port may be a better option

 

[eric19312]

Tell me about your dry hopper. I have the 3 port lid. using the large center port may be a better option

I had a 3" sight glass that came with my Norcal yeast brink. Never got the yeast brink to work with the quantity of dry hops I was trying to add so I repurposed the sight glass for this. I got a 4" to 3" TC adapter, a 3" butterfly valve, and the 3" top has a PRV and 2 ball lock posts (one liquid one gas). I think it is designed for Fermentasaurus I got it from Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089XY5SK7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1I added a length of EVA barrier to the gas post to purge the hops bottom up with CO2. I purge the hops once while they are in the dry hopper with gas hooked up to the dry hopper and then again before I drop by switching gas from the dry hopper to the tank manifold and just cracking the butterfly.

It holds a full pound of pellet hops and I've not had any issue getting all the hops to drop in one go.