SANGER_A2
Well-Known Member
DISCLAIMER: I have a lot of experience of working with electronics. If you don't, probably best not to attempt this - find a friend to help you. I take no responsibility for you getting electrocuted or your house burning down if you copy anything I described here!
IMPORTANT SAFETY UPDATE: If you are planning on using a cylinder jacket with a brew belt please read post 16 as the belt will melt the plastic in the jacket if you don't put something in between them.
It is incredibly dangerous when having any kinds of liquid near electricity - especially mains. It can lead to you getting electrocuted or fires starting. The biggest danger is my setup is the 550W computer PSU. I couldn't put it in an insulated box as it needs airflow for the fan to work. I just did my best to keep liquid away from it. The STC-1000 is mounted above the setup on a strong shelve, so that is fine. The power source for the STC-1000 is above that again. There are two sources of liquid in this setup - the brew and condensation build-up from the cooling system. As for the brew, I will be turning off the power at the mains whenever I do anything with it such as putting it on or off or sampling. Also, the "stool" is incredibly strong so there is no change of it collapsing and the brew ending up on the PSU. As for condensation: there are two layers of plastic between the liquid and the top of the power supply and a layer of plastic in between the side of the PSU and the fan cooling the heatsink on the peltier in case it flings condensation out to the sides. Any gaps are filled with silicone. I also have fuses and electrical cut-outs all over the place. I built an automotive fuse-holder into the molex wire that powers the peltier so if it dies it won't fry the power supply. The power supply has a fuse in it's plug, as does the heater belt, as does the plug for the STC-100. The STC-1000 is plugged into an extension lead I mounted on the wall, which has it's own fuse and that is plugged into Masterplug RCD Plug, which will cut-out if the current overloads (these things really work - I was using a hedge-trimmer plugged into one of these and accidentally cut through the lead and the RCD cut the power immediately).
So my OH is completely illogical and won't let me buy a second hand fridge for ã5-10 to control my fv temperature. So I decided to try to get the same effect without the fridge. It's nearly complete, apart from that I need to buy a hot water cylinder jacket for ã10 or so to make it more efficient. I bought a cheap plastic tub from sainsburys and a couple of plug sockets and pattress boxes from Toolstation to fit an STC-1000. Pretty much everything else I needed I already had lying around - including a load of wooden bed slats for the base, a computer power supply and an old mini fridge. The stc-1000 heat sensor is held next to the fv with duct tape insulated from the outside temperature with a few layers of thin packing foam.
For heating, instead of using the usual greenhouse heater that everyone else uses inside the fridge I bought a brewing belt for under a tenner that works brilliantly and only uses 60 watts.
For the cooling I chopped up an old mini fridge I never use to get the peltier and heatsink from. You can see pictures of how I set it all up below. I've put some plastic on top of and to the side of the computer power supply to stop any condensation getting into it. The way peltiers work is they generate heat on one side of the plate and cold on the other. The cold side is transferred through a block of aluminium to the round disc of aluminium I attached using thermally conductive glue. The heat is transferred to a heatsink that is blown away by a fan. I upgraded from the cheap rubbish 80mm fan that came with the fridge to a much more powerful 120mm I had lying around. The fan works great, even after being on a whole day the heatsink doesn't get more than slightly warm. The PSU powers the fan and the peltier and the whole thing including the stc-1000 draws just 50 watts.
It heats up the ferments vessel brilliantly. Cooling is not so great due to the low power of the peltier the cold lost through the sides of the fv (which will be fixed when I buy the hot water cylinder jacket). The biggest issue of course is that I'm putting cold into the bottom of the vessel and he heat can't spread through convection, just radiation/conduction (not much I can do about that without changing the laws of physics). I can go the brew down to a few degrees below ambient at the moment, but I'm hoping that will be doubled when I get the insulation on it.
It does an okay job, but I'd much rather have a fridge using refrigerant cooling rather than a peltier! I'll have to keep nagging the wife! Space is really tight in the garage, mounting the stc-1000 on the wall above the cooling stand helped a bit.
View attachment uploadfromtaptalk1438292372440.jpgView attachment uploadfromtaptalk1438292407172.jpgView attachment uploadfromtaptalk1438292419827.jpgView attachment uploadfromtaptalk1438292433310.JPGView attachment uploadfromtaptalk1438292481431.jpgView attachment uploadfromtaptalk1438292467166.jpgView attachment uploadfromtaptalk1438292499658.jpgView attachment uploadfromtaptalk1438292536175.jpgView attachment uploadfromtaptalk1438292560562.jpg
IMPORTANT SAFETY UPDATE: If you are planning on using a cylinder jacket with a brew belt please read post 16 as the belt will melt the plastic in the jacket if you don't put something in between them.
It is incredibly dangerous when having any kinds of liquid near electricity - especially mains. It can lead to you getting electrocuted or fires starting. The biggest danger is my setup is the 550W computer PSU. I couldn't put it in an insulated box as it needs airflow for the fan to work. I just did my best to keep liquid away from it. The STC-1000 is mounted above the setup on a strong shelve, so that is fine. The power source for the STC-1000 is above that again. There are two sources of liquid in this setup - the brew and condensation build-up from the cooling system. As for the brew, I will be turning off the power at the mains whenever I do anything with it such as putting it on or off or sampling. Also, the "stool" is incredibly strong so there is no change of it collapsing and the brew ending up on the PSU. As for condensation: there are two layers of plastic between the liquid and the top of the power supply and a layer of plastic in between the side of the PSU and the fan cooling the heatsink on the peltier in case it flings condensation out to the sides. Any gaps are filled with silicone. I also have fuses and electrical cut-outs all over the place. I built an automotive fuse-holder into the molex wire that powers the peltier so if it dies it won't fry the power supply. The power supply has a fuse in it's plug, as does the heater belt, as does the plug for the STC-100. The STC-1000 is plugged into an extension lead I mounted on the wall, which has it's own fuse and that is plugged into Masterplug RCD Plug, which will cut-out if the current overloads (these things really work - I was using a hedge-trimmer plugged into one of these and accidentally cut through the lead and the RCD cut the power immediately).
So my OH is completely illogical and won't let me buy a second hand fridge for ã5-10 to control my fv temperature. So I decided to try to get the same effect without the fridge. It's nearly complete, apart from that I need to buy a hot water cylinder jacket for ã10 or so to make it more efficient. I bought a cheap plastic tub from sainsburys and a couple of plug sockets and pattress boxes from Toolstation to fit an STC-1000. Pretty much everything else I needed I already had lying around - including a load of wooden bed slats for the base, a computer power supply and an old mini fridge. The stc-1000 heat sensor is held next to the fv with duct tape insulated from the outside temperature with a few layers of thin packing foam.
For heating, instead of using the usual greenhouse heater that everyone else uses inside the fridge I bought a brewing belt for under a tenner that works brilliantly and only uses 60 watts.
For the cooling I chopped up an old mini fridge I never use to get the peltier and heatsink from. You can see pictures of how I set it all up below. I've put some plastic on top of and to the side of the computer power supply to stop any condensation getting into it. The way peltiers work is they generate heat on one side of the plate and cold on the other. The cold side is transferred through a block of aluminium to the round disc of aluminium I attached using thermally conductive glue. The heat is transferred to a heatsink that is blown away by a fan. I upgraded from the cheap rubbish 80mm fan that came with the fridge to a much more powerful 120mm I had lying around. The fan works great, even after being on a whole day the heatsink doesn't get more than slightly warm. The PSU powers the fan and the peltier and the whole thing including the stc-1000 draws just 50 watts.
It heats up the ferments vessel brilliantly. Cooling is not so great due to the low power of the peltier the cold lost through the sides of the fv (which will be fixed when I buy the hot water cylinder jacket). The biggest issue of course is that I'm putting cold into the bottom of the vessel and he heat can't spread through convection, just radiation/conduction (not much I can do about that without changing the laws of physics). I can go the brew down to a few degrees below ambient at the moment, but I'm hoping that will be doubled when I get the insulation on it.
It does an okay job, but I'd much rather have a fridge using refrigerant cooling rather than a peltier! I'll have to keep nagging the wife! Space is really tight in the garage, mounting the stc-1000 on the wall above the cooling stand helped a bit.
View attachment uploadfromtaptalk1438292372440.jpgView attachment uploadfromtaptalk1438292407172.jpgView attachment uploadfromtaptalk1438292419827.jpgView attachment uploadfromtaptalk1438292433310.JPGView attachment uploadfromtaptalk1438292481431.jpgView attachment uploadfromtaptalk1438292467166.jpgView attachment uploadfromtaptalk1438292499658.jpgView attachment uploadfromtaptalk1438292536175.jpgView attachment uploadfromtaptalk1438292560562.jpg
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