Right guys, my latest project has just been finished so I thought I'd share it with you.
This is my new fementing cupboard so I can control the temperature at which my beer ferments
The outside front
Inside top
Close up of FV top
Inside bottom
I've purpose built the cupboard around my 60ltr fv. The top section is lagged with 25mm kingspan.
The temperature of the fv is controlled by a ATC 800 (front top).
There is a temperature sensing probe inside the fv which gives feedback to the ATC 800. Depending on what temp I've set the ATC 800 to maintain, it will either switch on a heater, or a chiller.
To cool the fv I'm using the water recirc path on a twin line beer cooler, which is housed in the bottom section of the cupboard. I've used 3/8th beer line covered in armoflex insulation to take the chilled water to the fv heat exchanger, and the same again to take the return water back to the chiller. The HE has been fitted through the lid and is secured in place using a giant cable gland, the temperature sensor of the ATC 800 has also been fitted through the lid using a cable gland.
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.
My solution, I bought a bathroom extractor fan and wired it into the compressor circuit of the cooler, so when the compressor comes on, so does the extracor fan. I also drilled a 100mm ventilation hole in the side of the cupboard where the radiator to the cooler sits. This means most of the heat generated by the compressor is extraced to the environment.
It's taken 2 hours for a full ice bath to be achieved and tonight I'm going to set the ATC to 5 deg c and see what temp it can drop a beer to.
The height of the fv has been set so I can fill corny's beneath it via gravity. I have bought a 1/2" to 3 x 3/8th splitter so I will be able to fill 3 corny's simultaeneously when the brews dropped bright.
Finally I will be able to brew all year round now and not have to worry about fermenting temps...at last