OP
OP
Poor insulation and poor coil/keg contact made it ineffective. More to come for sure!
DIY Chilled Conical/Keg Fermenter
- Thread starter Yuri_Rage
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SubmergedBrewing
Active Member
ive gotta ask, how much did this cost you make without the refrigeration and all that? just curious
Djlunchbox
Well-Known Member
subscribed! really nice job man
OP
OP
I'm not really sure how to quantify the cost. The kegerator cost me $100 a few years ago (but it was worth $500 - I got a deal on a floor model, and I had a gift card). The conical hopper was about $150. The copper was about $30. I traded for the keg. I had the ball lock fittings, ball valve, and square tube on hand, leftover from other projects. So, the project was fairly cheap for me. However, it has the potential to be rather expensive.
Islandboy85
Well-Known Member
A cheap alternative to a keggerator would be to use a window ac unit. They're not very expensive.
SAMPLER
Well-Known Member
Could you post a few close ups of the dump valve and connection?
By the way that is the most coolest DIY I have seen a long time
By the way that is the most coolest DIY I have seen a long time
OP
OP
It's simply a three piece valve that I disassembled and welded onto the bottom of the cone. I machined the pipe threads out of the welded side.
OP
OP
Update!
I brazed the refrigerant tubing to the side of the fermenter - 2-3" brazed areas in roughly 12" intervals. I hammered the tubing slightly flat and tight to the exterior as I went.
The results:
I have 8 gallons of water 7° colder than ambient after a few hours of runtime...with NO insulation! The coolant lines are no longer frosting up, which tells me that I'm getting much more efficient heat transfer.
I brazed the refrigerant tubing to the side of the fermenter - 2-3" brazed areas in roughly 12" intervals. I hammered the tubing slightly flat and tight to the exterior as I went.
The results:
I have 8 gallons of water 7° colder than ambient after a few hours of runtime...with NO insulation! The coolant lines are no longer frosting up, which tells me that I'm getting much more efficient heat transfer.
CodeRage
Death by Magumba!
Sweet! but it didn't happen until we see proof....
wyzazz
Well-Known Member
And you broke your camera in the process? ;0)
OP
OP
It really doesn't look much different. There's a wide band of aluminum HVAC tape over the copper lines. If you really want a pic...
wyzazz
Well-Known Member
Humor me/us. I like pickters.
OP
OP
Ok. Fine. 
Ambient temp in the garage is 58-60° at the moment. I'm starting to see a bit of condensation on the fermenter's cone. It's working!!!
Ambient temp in the garage is 58-60° at the moment. I'm starting to see a bit of condensation on the fermenter's cone. It's working!!!
CodeRage
Death by Magumba!
Looks good Yuri!
Yuri comment on the lower portion of the conical has me wondering. Do you think the coil would be better mounted higher on the unit?
Yuri comment on the lower portion of the conical has me wondering. Do you think the coil would be better mounted higher on the unit?
OP
OP
It would...if I always planned on filling it to max capacity (18 gallons). With the coil mounted low, it'll be effective for a 10 gallon batch.
...and the temp is down another two degrees to 48!
...and the temp is down another two degrees to 48!
wyzazz
Well-Known Member
Nice, very clean looking. The aluminum tape adds to the BLING factor!
CodeRage
Death by Magumba!
Hah, I forgot about how much volume that really is with the BMF conical on the bottom. Very nice indeed. Prost!
OP
OP
Another short update:
I made a set of brackets for the compressor and condenser out of some sheet metal and angle iron. Then I encased the entire fermenter in some cheap styrofoam insulation. I was going to wrap it in a cylinder of flexible closed cell foam, but I couldn't find an inexpensive source for the stuff. Since I didn't want to spend much time or money on proving this concept, the foam is just duct taped together. I may go completely redneck and throw a sleeping bag over the foam. The Ranco probe is inside a thermowell that I made out of a Cornelius keg dip tube (by simply welding the end closed).
I thought I had the system charged properly, but that continues to be an uphill battle. With yet another slight pressure adjustment, it seems to be working better now.
Nevermind the mess on the floor. I haven't swept the styrofoam bits and pieces yet.
I made a set of brackets for the compressor and condenser out of some sheet metal and angle iron. Then I encased the entire fermenter in some cheap styrofoam insulation. I was going to wrap it in a cylinder of flexible closed cell foam, but I couldn't find an inexpensive source for the stuff. Since I didn't want to spend much time or money on proving this concept, the foam is just duct taped together. I may go completely redneck and throw a sleeping bag over the foam. The Ranco probe is inside a thermowell that I made out of a Cornelius keg dip tube (by simply welding the end closed).
I thought I had the system charged properly, but that continues to be an uphill battle. With yet another slight pressure adjustment, it seems to be working better now.
Nevermind the mess on the floor. I haven't swept the styrofoam bits and pieces yet.
bendavanza
Well-Known Member
DId you have to modify the ranco probe to fit in the dip tube?
OP
OP
Nope. The fit is just loose enough to slide the Ranco probe to the bottom of the tube.
EDIT: Lagering is probably in my future! It started out with an 18° F differential (57° F liquid, 75° F ambient). After 45 minutes, it's up to a 21° F differential (54° F liquid, no change in ambient) and appears to be cooling further.
EDIT: Lagering is probably in my future! It started out with an 18° F differential (57° F liquid, 75° F ambient). After 45 minutes, it's up to a 21° F differential (54° F liquid, no change in ambient) and appears to be cooling further.
OP
OP
Down to 48° F liquid temp!
That's a 24° F differential...whoopeee!!!
I have a feeling that it'd be even colder at the moment, but it hit my initial set point of 50° F a while ago. I reset it to 42° F just for grins.
That's a 24° F differential...whoopeee!!!
I have a feeling that it'd be even colder at the moment, but it hit my initial set point of 50° F a while ago. I reset it to 42° F just for grins.
OP
OP
I'm about to go to bed, so I'm going to turn the chiller off for now. After about 5 hours, it managed 46° F, which is 26° F below ambient.
CodeRage
Death by Magumba!
Nice Yuri!
I swear the expanded polystyrene crumbles reproduce like rabbits. You'll be finding that stuff for weeks.
WRB
New Member
Yuri,
Did you make the conical portion or order it? If you ordered it where from and if you made it can you share how you bent the metal? Also, is that stainless or aluminum? I'm trying to find out if it's possible to weld stainless to aluminum.
Thanks,
Jaemie
Did you make the conical portion or order it? If you ordered it where from and if you made it can you share how you bent the metal? Also, is that stainless or aluminum? I'm trying to find out if it's possible to weld stainless to aluminum.
Thanks,
Jaemie
WRB
New Member
Thanks Chris! This will help big. I've been looking for a supplier off and on for a while.
OP
OP
camiller has it. Sorry I missed the question earlier this week.
Sprocket27
New Member
I saw the chiller in BYO and thought that was a really expensive Sabco fermenter. I wonder how the Plastic Mini Brew conical fermenter would work (since I have one of those). I also had an old air conditioner and an old Coleman ice chest so all I had to do was put it all together.
add two temperature controllers and some antisweat insulation and I am up and running. The controller on the left is in centigrade ( 1 degree for lagering ) and the one on the left is in ferinheight (11 degrees seems to work well)
add two temperature controllers and some antisweat insulation and I am up and running. The controller on the left is in centigrade ( 1 degree for lagering ) and the one on the left is in ferinheight (11 degrees seems to work well)
Yuri, your craftsmanship on this is amazing. Would you be willing to describe your process for cutting and shaping the hole for the corny lid? Is the hole shaped so that the edges turn up slightly or is that an illusion from the polishing? I'd like to copy this aspect of your build for a sanke fermenter. I won't be doing any welding or adding conical awesomeness, but I do have access to a machine shop so I think I can handle the lid hole. I'm a novice though, so please describe, if you would, the different tools I'd use to accomplish this.
Again, just amazing. Thanks for sharing!
OP
OP
The edges turn up solely because there was a formed "bump" in that area. I simply traced the top of a Corny lid with a Sharpie and carefully cut the hole with an angle grinder and cutoff wheel. I cleaned the edges up with a file and some wet/dry sandpaper.
Haven't brewed a drop since I made it, so I haven't even tried it out yet. NEED to brew soon!
Haven't brewed a drop since I made it, so I haven't even tried it out yet. NEED to brew soon!
mikelikesit2000
Well-Known Member
Have you tried it yet? I am planning to build a similar fermenter soon. I plan on cutting three 15 gallon kegs and welding them together. I will also be fabbing up a 60 degree cone for the bottom. My goal is to have a 1 barrel fermenter. So, I would like to know if yours works , or what you would change.
Skrimpy
Well-Known Member
This is so awesome. Wish I wasn't such a DIY schlub.
benthe8track
Member
Sorry if I missed it but where did you get the conical end/flange from? I had a customer who I've welded bungs into kegs for ask for this. I was just going to laser cut the flange and sheetmetal but if there is something existing that would be a lot easier.
Looks great!
Ben
Looks great!
Ben
OP
OP
Toledo Metal Spinning
Skrimpy
Well-Known Member
BTW. This has to be one of the coolest projects on this site.
RustyMusket
Well-Known Member
Hey Yuri great project i am working on dong my own kegamentor. just wondering if you but welded or lapped the conical to the keg?
dragonlor20
Well-Known Member
...and did you ever do an active fermentation in it?
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