Beer Coolers & Fermenting Cupboards

[Vossy1]

Cheers Phil
It's going to be interesting fitting the product coil to the plastic fv lid
It'll have to be off set for a start, due to ridges in the moulding, and I may have to extend one of the feeds to the coil as it's shorter than the other.
I really like the idea of the bungs throught the lid making for easy dismantling...so this will be my priority...

 

[J_P]

Bloody hell Vossy that's a bit swish isn't it?

My fermenting cupboard looks a lot more "fridgy" than yours :lol:

 

[Vossy1]

My fermenting cupboard looks a lot more "fridgy" than yours

I wish mine did too...it was a RPITA making it :x

 

[Vossy1]

Right guys, some ATC 800 advice needed.
How can you get an atc 800 to near 0 deg when the minimum set temp is 5 deg c ?
Is it via the temp diff setting which goes from 1-5?

 

[J_P]

I thought the temp diff setting was how much the temperature at the sensor had to go over or under your desired temperature before the heating or cooling relays switched.

If you set your desired temperature at 5C and then set your temp diff to 5C it would warm to 10C before the cooling relay switched.

I'm not sure you're going to get it to go to 0C with an ATC800 :wha:

 

[Vossy1]

Suppose it's alright for ales but no good for lagers...not that I'm a larger drinker
Might change it for a pid in the future. I will need another fv cupboard but that's a long time away...new house and all

 

[BillyB]

Well, Norms delivered in 2 days as per usual...great fella, and he's sent me an extra long product coil

What fittings did you use through your lid Phil ?

Hi Vossy1, Where did you buy this cooling coil? I notice there is a smaller version on eBay at the moment but yours (and Phil's) seem to be a better size.

Thanks. :)

 

[Vossy1]

Hi BB,

I bought mine from a chap called Norman who can supply a lot of brewing related items, JG fitting, regulators, corny's, pumps etc.
He can be contacted on this e-mail.

[email protected]

He's a really nive chap. Please mention Jean-Pierre when you contact him so he knows where his enquiries are coming from, ta

 

[BillyB]

Many thanks. Will do.

 

[Vossy1]

Bringing this one back to life as I'm having problems with my cooler.
I'm finding that because the water recirc line isn't in constant use, that the water in the recirc 'in port' is freezing solid.

Is there a way round this apart from antifreeze in the water bath?

At the moment I've by passed the 'in port' and have routed the water recirc back into the reservoir through the filling port on the top. It's working fine but I'd like a solution to the problem.

 

[EskiBrew]

Nice job Vossy

How can you get an atc 800 to near 0 deg when the minimum set temp is 5 deg c ?

A few months back I was developing an EB110 to replace the ATC800 - the idea being that it will cover the whole range of -10C to 100C and therefore be suitable for anything from largering to basic HLT control. Been too busy taking on new paying projects to get anywhere near it for at least two months if not more unfortunately (well sorta unfortunate if you know what I mean). Still, if I get any time before crimbo to put a prototype together then I'll bring one over to your place and you can trial run it for me.

 

[Vossy1]

Still, if I get any time before crimbo to put a prototype together then I'll bring one over to your place and you can trial run it for me

Happy to oblige eb, If I can help I will

 

[Oggys Bar]

I had a problem when initially testing the design yesterday as there was no ventilation in the bottom section of the cupboard. I turned the cooler on and 45 minutes later the temperature inside the cupboard was 45 deg c....far too hot.
Not only that but due to the temp the cooler was finding it hard to achieve an ice bath.

V1 obviously, I am missing something here....Why did you put the chiller inside your FV cabinet, if you had left it outside it would heat the surroundings... as it is now, but without needing the fan and without heating your FV cabinet :?

 

[EskiBrew]

V1 obviously, I am missing something here....Why did you put the chiller inside your FV cabinet, if you had left it outside it would heat the surroundings... as it is now, but without needing the fan and without heating your FV cabinet :?

It looks like V has some kingspan to minimise heat transfer between the fermentation chamber and the bottom chamber where the chiller is. Presumably they are both in the cabinet to keep it tidy and self contained. Sounds like the bottom chamber just needs more ventilation to get the heat from the chiller out.

 

[Vossy1]

It looks like V has some kingspan to minimise heat transfer between the fermentation chamber and the bottom chamber where the chiller is. Presumably they are both in the cabinet to keep it tidy and self contained. Sounds like the bottom chamber just needs more ventilation to get the heat from the chiller out.

Yep that's it :thumb:

 

[Oggys Bar]

It looks like V has some kingspan to minimise heat transfer between the fermentation chamber and the bottom chamber where the chiller is. Presumably they are both in the cabinet to keep it tidy and self contained. Sounds like the bottom chamber just needs more ventilation to get the heat from the chiller out.

Yeah...knew that really...just trying not to be a waterboy...I use a Maxi 110 for chilling my fermenter using a H/E similar to Vossy's old one. It is fitted to a 50L N.O Thermo box through the lid. It works really well for fermenting, but only had it down to 10C. It is not quite so convenient for lagering over a longer period. I also have one of Norm's python coolers, but it is the box shaped one not the flat one that is shown in this forum. The flat one seems a better option. Not sure how I am going to utilise the box one yet. Keep us posted with developments V1, looks like the way to go.

 

[Vossy1]

Bringing this topic back to life as I'm having problems with my chiller....again!
The chiller is a bit over enthusiastic when it comes to maintaining it's ice bath

You can see from the pictures above that the ice block extends to include the beer lines, but what you can't see is that the ice is encroaching on the python pump. I've already bent the water return pipe away from the ice block once, as the return was freezing up when the python wasn't driving coolant to the product coil in my fv. Today I took the chiller apart and found the water return pipe about 1" inside the ice block.
To get round this, I have bypassed the cold water return as you can see from the bottom photo above.

Does anyone know how to alter the thermostat (top right pic) or are they factory pre set and non adjustable?

 

[Rabmaxwell]

I used to alter mine with my last set-up Vossi very simple buy an adjustable thermostat & wire it in instead of the one on the cooler. :) I used an old Johnston controller but any one will do.Just check how much ice you get with different settings i might wire mine into my new set-up to get more ice. :thumb:

 

[Vossy1]

Cheers Rab, great idea, I should have thought if that

 

[Rabmaxwell]

Your cooler looks identical to my two smaller machines except mine has little water circulators not pythons.My bigger machines don't have pythons either so i fitted 12 volt caravan pumps .I am very pleased as it's working very well the TC-10 is great also. :party: