Ferminator has Melted!!!

[Brewnaldo]

You need to add on the cost of a heater aswell to be fair.

I like my ferminator. I hate diy, and the idea of tracking down a cheap fridge and modding it didn't appeal to me very much. I also have a deficit of time.

Pay a few quid, let the doers do

 

[Brewnaldo]

Just to add, ferminator are far from the worst at this. An off the shelf kegerator is wildly more expensive that a home made equivalent.

 

[An Ankoù]

You need to add on the cost of a heater aswell to be fair.

I like my ferminator. I hate diy, and the idea of tracking down a cheap fridge and modding it didn't appeal to me very much. I also have a deficit of time.

Pay a few quid, let the doers do

Fair comment. None of us have got time to do everything ourselves. Just a bit (more than a bit) concerned about the vulnerability of the build material. As seen in the OP's photos and the possibe need for straps! I'd be even more concerned when height modules are added to allow greater volumes.
There are some massive profit margins in play here.

 

[gavp1979]

Sorry it's not entirely my fault that manufacturers naming their products similarly.
And the product description let me assume it's made for fermzillas.

I see your point, those pesky manufacturers making products for  fermentation and having the cheek to use the word 'ferm' in the product name, it's almost as if they want the name of the product to have some sort of relevance to its purpose

 

[Rodcx500z]

You need to add on the cost of a heater aswell to be fair.

I like my ferminator. I hate diy, and the idea of tracking down a cheap fridge and modding it didn't appeal to me very much. I also have a deficit of time.

Pay a few quid, let the doers do

I bought a tall larder fridge from currys an inkbird, no mods needed just turn thermostat to full wires for inkbird and temp probe fit between the fridge and door, plug and play so to speak, and a small heater

 

[Braumeister]

I bought a tall larder fridge from currys an inkbird, no mods needed just turn thermostat to full wires for inkbird and temp probe fit between the fridge and door, plug and play so to speak, and a small heater

Yes same, a fermentation fridge needs no DIY, a kegerator on the other hand does, so I can see why people by a ready made one of those.

 

[stripeyjoe]

I got my larder fridge for free from FaceBook or Gumtree, £30 for a wifi InkBird, £20 for a 40W tuber heater. Small hole in the side for the tube heater fleet and it was good to go.
Benefits of a fridge are the low temps available, mine will freeze the beer during a cold crash if I'm not careful, even in my shed when the ambient temp is 20 or 25. I'm not sure the Peltier units in the Ferminator will manage that.
Also, with a larder fridge, there is space for my FV in the top half and the receiving keg in the bottom, I connect them up during fermentation using the CO2 produced to push out StarSan from the keg. Then, when it's time to keg, I have a purged keg waiting at the same pressure as the FV, link the two together with a couple of jumpers, one gas and one liquid, pull the PRV a bit on the keg and it does a closed transfer under gravity.
When not being used for fermenting then it is a useful overspill fridge for parties or for lagering.
I keep on thinking about moving to an SS FV with glycol but cannot see any benefits in terms of space or temp stability.

 

[gavp1979]

I got my larder fridge for free from FaceBook or Gumtree, £30 for a wifi InkBird, £20 for a 40W tuber heater. Small hole in the side for the tube heater fleet and it was good to go.
Benefits of a fridge are the low temps available, mine will freeze the beer during a cold crash if I'm not careful, even in my shed when the ambient temp is 20 or 25. I'm not sure the Peltier units in the Ferminator will manage that.
Also, with a larder fridge, there is space for my FV in the top half and the receiving keg in the bottom, I connect them up during fermentation using the CO2 produced to push out StarSan from the keg. Then, when it's time to keg, I have a purged keg waiting at the same pressure as the FV, link the two together with a couple of jumpers, one gas and one liquid, pull the PRV a bit on the keg and it does a closed transfer under gravity.
When not being used for fermenting then it is a useful overspill fridge for parties or for lagering.
I keep on thinking about moving to an SS FV with glycol but cannot see any benefits in terms of space or temp stability.View attachment 84793View attachment 84794

I like that idea of having the receiving keg underneath being purged I use an under counter fridge and never considered a tall fridge for the fermentation but would now consider one if/when mine needs replacing

 

[MashBag]

I too have a multi purpose fridge. A £50 special "Derby" shop fridge.
Marvellous fermentation, drying, fridge-ING & hanging. Simpley insert necessary stuff & inkbird.

This year it is going to be the reservoir for my chiller coil.... So bucket of water inside and same inkbird.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

I'm using a fridge freezer picked up for free with a homemade brewpiless and heater belt as my ferment chamber.
I Cut a hole from the freezer which is on top of the fridge which ducts freezer air down for rapid chilling effect. Second life for this which would otherwise have gone to the dump. Total cost about 40 pounds. The savings buys a lot of electricity.

 

[foxy]

As lagering takes time, and also my cold crash fridge. I got the Thermentor King Max probably about the same price as the polystyrene fermenting chamber.

But there is a new version coming out a smaller unit and does away with the cooling coil, so going to be a cheap effective way of heating, cooling and cold crashing. Problem with polystyrene it gets even more brittle with age.
Can't help with what caused the hole, would be better to just return it.

 

[MashBag]

Can't help with what caused the hole, would be better to just return it.

That is the best answer.

 

[rclarke]

You need to add on the cost of a heater aswell to be fair.

I like my ferminator. I hate diy, and the idea of tracking down a cheap fridge and modding it didn't appeal to me very much. I also have a deficit of time.

Pay a few quid, let the doers do

Absolutely a fair point.

But!!!!

I lined a cardboard box with foil insulation I bought on Amazon, which was delivered next day, it's not sexy, but it took all of 5 minutes and some left over sticky tape, toss a blanket over and voila, cheap, quick and easy! Holy trifecta.

I wouldn't build my own toaster, but insulating a box and tossing in a controller probe is a job my 5 year old could do!

 

[An Ankoù]

Absolutely a fair point.

But!!!!

I lined a cardboard box with foil insulation I bought on Amazon, which was delivered next day, it's not sexy, but it took all of 5 minutes and some left over sticky tape, toss a blanket over and voila, cheap, quick and easy! Holy trifecta.

I wouldn't build my own toaster, but insulating a box and tossing in a controller probe is a job my 5 year old could do!

Did you have some kind of heating/cooling system in your box? I suppose so since you used a controller, but what did you use?

 

[rclarke]

Did you have some kind of heating/cooling system in your box? I suppose so since you used a controller, but what did you use?

I've yet to dabble with cooling (ambient temps in garage rarely falls below 5C or exceeds 15C) but I found a 100w fan heater more than capable of heating the small space to 38C when it's -5C outside. Fermenting under pressure in summer means cooling isn't a concern, fermentation of lager is achievable without cooling.

 

[Brewnaldo]

Yeah.... You sort of went in two footed on my DIY skills there before really thinking about it.

My ferminator can get down to -1.

Now I have used inkbird plus heat only in the past either for ales, or for lagers during the cold seasons, but I need cooling too for year round lager.
The bottom line is that the ferminator has inproved my beer by a fair bit. Cost a few more quid than had I stick built a ferm chamber, but I saved time and effort and got a very easy to use, very effective off the shelf job.
Horses for courses in the end. There are IMO, far worse wastes of money in this game.

 

[Agentgonzo]

but I found a 100w fan heater more than capable of heating the small space to 38C when it's -5C outside.

I've heard of a lot of people just using an incandescent light bulb as a heater in a beer fridge. Can't get cheaper than that!

 

[MashBag]

Oldest trick in the book. 40w.

Also dries beef jerky and hatches chicken eggs

 

[RoomWithABrew]

I've heard of a lot of people just using an incandescent light bulb as a heater in a beer fridge. Can't get cheaper than that!

Provided you don't have a clear fermenter as you could get light strike.

 

[MashBag]

Cripes how long do your fermentations take