Secondary Fementation - off the shelf box?

[kimosabby]

Gents (and ladies),

is there a warm box that I can buy off the shelf for taking care of bottle secondary fermentation? Not sure I am up to a diy job. Any previous discussions, equipment or ideas would be geratly appreicated.

My current set up is a 40w heating tube underneath an upside down milk bottle crate. Then I put a card box on top of teh crate which takes about 32 bottles. Temprature stability is always a problem and fluctuates far too much. Also uneven heating in the box makes some bottle carb more than others. It sounds unorthadox but has given the best results so far

 

[ACBEV]

I use a cupboard with a small heater attached to plug-in thermostat and a small fan to keep temp. even.

Heater goes on bottom of cupboard and thermostat at the top. With this very simple setup I can keep the whole cupboard within 1c of set temp.

 

[kimosabby]

thanks for reply. whats the dimensions of your cupboard

 

[ACBEV]

My cupboard is quite big...

Width 1m
Depth 60cm
Height 1.4m

I have room for 2 FVs on the base of the cupboard and a mesh shelf above for conditioning bottles (100 bottles).

I use a small oil filled radiator with the plug-in thermostat and 5 inch fan to keep temp. even.

I suspect you could do with a smaller cupboard, perhaps a kitchen unit cupboard. They are around 60cm squared.

 

[Bigcol49]

some bottle carb more than others

Hi!
This may be down to uneven priming rather than temperature.
I have a DIY winter fermenting chamber heated by a 40W tubular heater and I find that the bottles closest to the heater don't have higher carbonation than those further away.

 

[-Bezza-]

If you don't mind the most basic of DIY jobs, just buy a sheet of Celotex and a roll of strong tape to make an insulated box.

 

[terrym]

Hi!
This may be down to uneven priming rather than temperature.
I have a DIY winter fermenting chamber heated by a 40W tubular heater and I find that the bottles closest to the heater don't have higher carbonation than those further away.

+1 on that.
I mostly bottle in PET, and for carbing they get consigned to a corner in the kitchen near a radiator. The bottles that are near the radiator will carb fastest and then the degree of carbing falls away to those furthest away. To get round this problem I move bottles around occasionally. Also since I siphon, the last bottles might have a little more yeast in than earlier bottles, and they will carb up quicker too. All that said in the end given enough time they should all achieve the same carbing level assuming they are in a warm enough place for the yeast to work.

 

[Spapro]

I made my box out of insulated board from B&Q and ducktape - works really well and exactly the size I needed to stand on top of my brewfridge.

The board was very easy to cut - I used an old blunt saw but a stanley knife would have been up to the job.

Thread is here, Post 19 has images: https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/screwing-into-top-of-brewfridge.68417/

 

[-Bezza-]

I made my box out of insulated board from B&Q and ducktape - works really well and exactly the size I needed to stand on top of my brewfridge.

The board was very easy to cut - I used an old blunt saw but a stanley knife would have been up to the job.

Thread is here, Post 19 has images: https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/screwing-into-top-of-brewfridge.68417/

Yep, that's Celotex that you've used. Might be a bit thick for a Stanley knife I would have thought? A bread knife would go through it though!

I note that you've put Celotex on the bottom too, which I was going to suggest but forgot to mention. I'm sure I lose a lot of heat through the shed floor with my water bath setup. Extolling the virtues of Celotex further, it's plenty strong enough to hold the weight of a full fermentation vessel.

I guess just to check with @kimosabby - is space an issue? If it's not, you'd be better off picking up a small fridge from ebay for £30 than spending the same amount on Celotex. If it is a space issue, Celotex held to together with Velcro strips so you can easily dismantle would be a good shout.

 

[kimosabby]

Gents,

thanks for all the replies some good ideas in there which have generated a few more questions:

1. If I use an old fridge where does the cable go through for the heater and temp. proble do I need to drill?
   
2. I presume a tube heater 40w is ok and best to go at bottom of fridge/box?
   
3. I have an mdf record box 1m x .5m x .5 reckon it would take about 35 bottles; can i line this with foil or other reflective sheeting instead of fridge?
4. Temp control - is the Inkbird ITC 308 Temperature controller suitable?

thanks again

Kimosabby

 

[EVVO]

1-I went through the compressor bulge from the back. I didn't think there would be any cooling coils in that area. Just to be sure I used an old soldering iron to make the hole. Worked very well for me and no problems encountered.
2-That's what I use.
3-I had the fridge so used it. Never had any regrets.
4-I use STC1000 but Inkbird is used by many.

 

[kimosabby]

Thanks Evvo; where did you put the end of the temp probe and how do you fix it in place.

Also how close is the tube to the nearest bottle?

 

[EVVO]

Poked through the condensate drain hole. My probe just hangs loose. I Have 2 additional thermometers mounted in door with temp sensors taped to fermenters with insulation. Never seen more than 1/2deg difference in all 3 so never considered any other way.

 

[-Bezza-]

For what it's worth, I would suggest spending the extra pennies on the STC 1000 as it then has the ability to set different temperatures on different days. This might be useful if using the fridge for fermentation and want to kick off at a warmer temperature and then drop down after a couple of days.

For the temperature probe, you could tuck it behind a bit of polystyrene taped to the fermentation vessel when fermenting. For conditioning, just leave it loose in the fridge - with bottles being quite small, the difference between air temperature and the liquid temperature will be minimal. You can set the inkbird so the heater will only come on once the temperature has dropped by a degree or two, so it won't be cycling on and off too frequently.

 

[kimosabby]

thats really helpful gents thanks

 

[-Bezza-]

For what it's worth, I would suggest spending the extra pennies on the STC 1000 as it then has the ability to set different temperatures on different days. This might be useful if using the fridge for fermentation and want to kick off at a warmer temperature and then drop down after a couple of days.

Just realised I was getting in a muddle here - blame all these silly model names and numbers. I meant to suggest the Inkbird ITC-310T.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B019Q3K4EI/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[Bigcol49]

• I have an mdf record box 1m x .5m x .5 reckon it would take about 35 bottles; can i line this with foil or other reflective sheeting instead of fridge?

Hi!
If you plan to put a tubular heater in the box I would line it with polystyrene - I understand that polystyrene tiles are no longer available, but something similar would be great. There is a relatively new insulating foil on the market that would suit perfectly.
One alternative - if appearance isn't important, simply throw a cheap quilt over the box.