"Son of a Fermentation Chiller" almost complete!

[sfrice80]

I posted earlier asking about details pertaining to a Son of a Fermentation Chiller and I went and got all the materials last night.

Parts: I got all electrical parts from Radioshack and I got all other mechanical parts from Home Depot. I would highly recommend getting your stuff from Home Depot, especially the foam board. I bought a big sheet of it and they were able to cut all my sheets with nice clean edges and perfect size.

Construction: From there, it was a piece of cake putting it together when I got home. I would say the longest part after that was the electrical. I was nervous I would somehow screw it up, considering I'm no electrical genius but it worked out great.

Price: All in all, it cost me just over $100. I probably could have shaved off a few bucks here and there by shopping around but I didn't feel like putting in the extra effort for a few bucks. I also bought just about everything I needed with the exception of tools.

Results: I think it turned out awesome! I say I think because I just put some ice jugs in this morning to test the temp control. I'll try to post pics at the end of the weekend. I would highly encourage anyone to undertake this project, it really isn't hard at all and it's worth it in the summer months.

 

[SoonerDoc]

I'll try to post pics at the end of the weekend.

Please do. I keep thinking about doing this project.

 

[sfrice80]

If you have the money, Just do it! Like I said, you will cut out over half your time by buying your foam board from Home Depot and having them cut all of your pieces out perfectly.

 

[nate4g63]

I'm considering this as well... I didnt even think about the Depot workers cutting the foam board...

 

[BmillaTheBrewzilla]

This is awesome! Thanks for posting this information. I've been wanting to build a fermentation chamber... and I looked up the plans for the son of fermentation chamber. The only thing holding me back was that I live in an apartment and have a complete lack of tools. Having the foam board already cut in the right sizes would make this very doable. :rockin:

 

[Bassman]

Having them cut the board would make sense for me because I live in an apartment. I don't need the shavings all over my kitchen and probably my living room!

I am trying to decide between SOFC and the low tech lagering. SOFC seems to be more space efficient, which is a plus!

I'm looking forward to seeing how it turned out.

 

[sfrice80]

I live in an apartment as well and only have very basic tools. If they cut it, the only real tool you may need is a box cutter, which I had and a caulk gun, which runs about a $1.50. I will post pictures as soon as I can.

I am also really hoping to do some lagering in mine. I guess I'll find out this afternoon how low it can maintain.

 

[frayedknot]

Does home depot have the 2" thick stuff?

 

[Bassman]

Does home depot have the 2" thick stuff?

I checked 2 home depots and they had the 3/4" pink stuff. They did have 1" white styrofoam, but I believe that the pink foam board is a better insulator.

 

[frayedknot]

I wonder if the Home Depots/Lowes in the Upper Midwest have the 2" foam since the the temps get pretty low and can swing.

I'm going to build this thing, I'll let you guys know what I find, and maybe do some step by steps....depends on how ambitious I am at the time

 

[Erythro73]

I did a small Mother of a Fermentation Chiller back then (well... about one year ago).

This thing is awesome, and hold temp very well, even if my insulating foam is only 1" thick. I only switch ice (4 liters of ice) every 48 hours approximately. Which is very good.


At first, I had a design flaw, as mentionned in the following thread, but I corrected it (as shown in the last message of the following thread):
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-mother-fermentation-chiller-142442/

I really don't regret building this!

 

[frayedknot]

Nice! That looks great.

Since I'm in an apartment with minimal access to tools, I'm going with the son (unless someone can convince me otherwise).

Eventually, I'd like to just get a fridge or chest freezer with a controller. I have the space for it now, but I'm just thinking for the future if/when I move, because that will suck.

 

[Erythro73]

Nice! That looks great.

Since I'm in an apartment with minimal access to tools, I'm going with the son (unless someone can convince me otherwise).

Eventually, I'd like to just get a fridge or chest freezer with a controller. I have the space for it now, but I'm just thinking for the future if/when I move, because that will suck.

I'm also in an apartment with minimal access to tools . My friend brought his drill ( I have mine, since then...) , and that's all we needed (with the caulking gun). All the wood cutting part was done at a local hardware store. The worst part was varnishing the plywood, because... well... I used oil-based varnish, and it didn't smell any good, and it occupied a room for two full day.

This thing looks good (well, better than a couple of pink foam glued together), it's movable around the apartment, and, finally... well, I can put things on it to help with the limited space I have in my apartment. My gf allowed this to exist only in a small closet as our space is very limited, and well... the fact that I can put thing on it really help keeping it clean in the closet.

I wouldn't change it. When I'll change, I hope it would be to switch the refrigeration technique (ice for something else, something more... automatized). Or to use a fridge with a temp controller. That would be perfect!