I made a thing...

[user 1684]

The wife calls it FrankenFridge:

It's using this temperature controller that was given to me by a friend:

Inside:

The red stuff is anti-condensation heater tape - it puts out enough heat to maintain temperatures if the room gets a bit chilly. Temperature probe is on the left hand side, with the red and white wires going to it.

I'm using this to maintain my fermentation temperatures nice and steady - that's a Munton's lager kit in there at the moment (normally brew all-grain, but I'm testing with a kit). I can use the controller to set a nice low temperature for crash cooling once it's finished, and my two cornies fit in there with the CO2 cylinder nicely (the bottom shelf and compartment have to come out for that).

 

[Runwell-Steve]

Nice work, can't beat some nice temperature control. A word of warning, just like cornies, temperature controlled fridges breed. I have 4 of them now

 

[mashman]

Nice piece of kit, where does the heat tape come from, takes up less space than a tube heater.

 

[user 1684]

RS components, 379-722. It's really expensive though.

 

[tazuk]

i like that well sweet is it hard to do :thumb: :

 

[user 1684]

I didn't find it difficult, but I'm always ripping stuff to bits and fixing it.

The controller has two relays, one for a heating circuit and one for cooling. All I did was switch the fridge power through one relay, and the heater tape through the other. All the wiring is routed through the existing condensation hole, which I've blocked up. (This may be a problem in future, but I don't intend to be opening and closing the door as frequently as you would with a normal fridge, I'll see what happens).

Parts cost:

Fridge: £99 from Currys. I got sick of being outbid on ebay - why do people pay full price for second hand stuff?
Controller: £60 ish (mine was a gift though)
Heater tape: £30.

It is a little pricey, but it did justify its existence to the wife today - we needed to defrost our main fridge/freezer, isn't it convenient that we have a spare fridge darling? Look, I can dial it right down to zero and it'll keep the frozen stuff happy for a few hours :)

All the wiring is hidden away in the back of the fridge, where the compressor lives. Looks nice and tidy.

Thanks for the comments by the way, I'm really happy with it, nice to see some fellow beer geeks like it too :)

 

[Runwell-Steve]

It can be done cheaper.
All my fridges came from freecycle.
Temp controllers can be got from eBay new for about 16 quid. They come from Hong Kong
Bar heaters are about 15 quid from tool station

 

[user 1684]

Definitely agree. I just had a bonus from work, and wanted to treat myself :)

 

[Runwell-Steve]

Yours does look better than mine. Mine are all old second hand fridges with heath Robinson wiring making them all work.

 

[BigYin]

A word of warning, just like cornies, temperature controlled fridges breed. I have 4 of them now

:shock: :shock: :lol: I don't have space for ONE, let alone four :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[WelshPaul]

Nice . What temperature range can you get out of it?

 

[BarnsleyBrewer]

I just had a bonus from work, and wanted to treat myself :)

Are you a banker? :whistle:

 

[user 1684]

LOL no, I work in computer software :)

Temperature range, I've had it down to 2 degrees, not sure about the top end. I reckon it'll easily hold 20 on a chilly day, which is the highest I need for fermenting.

 

[WelshPaul]

Very nice. Looks like I know what my next equipment treat will be after my Corny kegs!

 

[Swift Pint]

A word of warning, just like cornies, temperature controlled fridges breed. I have 4 of them now

I can fully understand this...
As soon as I get a fermenting fridge I know that I will also need a fridge for kegs too. If you do something then you might as well do it properly, right? :whistle:


Its a good job there isn't enough room for any fridges in my flat, otherwise it would be full of fridges :lol:

 

[daz c]

Nice work :clap: got 2 myself already in less than a month since going AG definately helps keeping fermenting temp stable

 

[WelshPaul]

There is one thing that worries me: can that glass shelf hold the weight of a 25l fermenter?

 

[user 1684]

So far, yes :)

It's not entirely borne by the shelf - if you look in the picture you can see a metal ledge coming from the back of the fridge - a lot of the weight is on that ledge.

You're right though, I think I'll get a bit of ply in there for the next brew, I don't like heavy things on glass.

 

[Runwell-Steve]

My much heavier fermenter sits on a glass shelf very similiar to yours.

I have just made a little wooden stand to take the weight at the front. I have cleaned my fridge since that was taken.

 

[user 1684]

That's a good idea - I'll knock something similar together to support mine.