FV Cupboard cooling equipment

[leadhead]

Just begun building an FV cupboard. Stuying the posts here, I remain a bit confused as to which temp controller is the best route to go? ATC 800/STC 1000? Any advice/opinions appreciated.
Secondly, I will be adding a cooling device and would gratefully recieve advise on what to use for that also.

 

[Nero]

I got an old but working fridge off Freecycle for mine. I have ordered the STC 1000 as the temp controller and a 40w tubular greenhouse heater. I am at prescent waiting for them to be delivered. This seems to be the way other people seem to do theirs. There is quite a lot of info on the forum, try searching for 'beer fridge' :thumb:

 

[leadhead]

Nero
I will be converting a large old office cupboard and so want to provide cooling to it.
Why did you go for the STC1000?

 

[Nero]

The STC 1000 just because everyone else uses it, and me being new to this game I thought they would know better than me. Odered mine from 'elin.ou' on e-bay for £18 delivered. How you will cool your cupboard I wouldn't know, hence the fridge for mine as it has all that stuff built in.

 

[Mark1964]

We use a TC 10 which controls a maxI beer chiller which works very well the cooler also chills your beer as It's served

 

[Kev888]

If you want cooling, its normally better to convert a fridge than a cupboard, if it fits your FV and if you can get one off freecycle. Not only is it about the best/cheapest/ quietist way to get a cooling device, but you also get an insulated, well sealed, wipe-down cupboard into the bargain. Cooling devices can otherwise be tricky; I've tried aircon units (which are a bit over the top and struggle to go cool enough for crash cooling or lagering), and active cool boxes (which tend to be pretty inefficient) - neither was as good as the fridge.

If you really need a cupboard for some reason, my first thought would be to either fit one around a fridge, or butcher a fridge to fit in it - taking great care not to puncture any of the cooling pipes or wires. Older fridges can be easier, as they have pretty obvious cooling plates and piping/wiring etc. and try to avoid ones with freezer compartments, as these normally have cooling lines running through them and so can't just be cut out. This was my last attempt:

(carefully piggling away foam to make sure there were no pipes etc)

(constructing the cupboard for a larger FV. There is now a door on and a small fan in to push the cool air around)

A better alternative, as mentioned above, would be to get a used beer cooler with recirculation/python lines. These are normally used to circulate cool liquid around beer lines, but you can instead pump it through a coil around your FV or through an immersion coil in the FV - normally you'd insulate the FV directly rather than having it in a cupboard. This gives you more direct and accurate control of the wort/beer temperature than controlling the air in a cool cupboard and is what I'm moving to now, but used beer coolers are more costly and they can be quite noisy.

For controllers I've used both ATC-800s and TC-10s (which I believe is quite like the lower priced STC). The main difference (aside from size and temperature range) is resolution; the ATC can be set to the nearest 1c, but IIRC the TC-10 can be 0.1c. It doesn't really matter that much if you're measuring and controlling air in a cupboard, but if you may want to measure the wort (either directly or by having the probe against the FV) I'd choose the higher resolution one myself.

Cheers
Kev

 

[leadhead]

Thank you Kev. That is a neat piece of reverse logic, putting the chopped fridge inside.
It answered more problems than you could have imagined. As there is a small hotel room fridge available which I looked at canibalising the cooler from. Frankly it was a bit daunting!!
Your way way nicely solves the engineering problems.
Many thanks for the idea.

 

[silverbrewer]

My cooling devices are going to be two of the coolers that some workplaces have connected to a separate "very cold water tap" They are basically small fridge grubbins, but designed to cool water rather than an air cavity, so all you have to do is come up with a pump to replace the mains water pressure and decide how you are going to plumb up your fermenter (external or internal cooling coils,) then decide what you are going to use as a coolant fluid (water,or glycol) both my coolers were getting chucked out and getting replaced by newer ones!

Always keep an eye on skips, especially the ones outside a maintenance department, and whenever you see anything made of stainless steel, ask yourself "where can that be used on a brewery?" If anyone starts calling you a skip rat, tell them you are saving the planet

Rog, Sutton Coldfield.

 

[calumscott]

Kev,

That chopped fridge...

...you do have the hot side heat exchanger outside the cupboard don't you??

 

[JABB]

Kev,

That chopped fridge...

...you do have the hot side heat exchanger outside the cupboard don't you??

First pic of the three shows a large hole to the back of the cupboard.
I think he thought of that too!

 

[calumscott]

Kev,

That chopped fridge...

...you do have the hot side heat exchanger outside the cupboard don't you??

First pic of the three shows a large hole to the back of the cupboard.
I think he thought of that too!

I just remember that question in Higher Physics which confused the hell out of most of the class...

..."If you put a fridge in a perfectly insulated room, open the fridge door and switch it on, does the temperature rise, fall or stay the same?"

 

[Kev888]

Heh heh, yes the hot side of the fridge is indeed outside of the cupboard :-)

Its not a perfectly insulated cupboard but I did my best, so if it weren't for the hole in the back the temperature would rise. It took me longer to understand how/why aircon units are more than 100% efficient though..

Cheers
kev