# Fridgenstein - extending my fermentation fridge



## Drunk Az (18/6/16)

Hi all,
I recently bought a secondhand Blichmann 112L conical fermentor - only problem was that it wouldn't fit in my fermentation fridge! My fridge was wide enough but not deep enough - the only logical solution - extend the fridge! (Buying a new fridge would be way too easy! Plus I spent to much $$$ on my fermentor so this is definitely a project done on the cheap!) 




Fridge as it was



My new stainless baby!



First I removed the door and extended the fridge using a 35 x 90mm frame with ply walls



Then I made a trolley to slide in and out of the fridge that the fermentor will go on in addition to being the extension's 'floor'



With fermentor on it



Then I insulated it with expanding foam (this pic is the under side of the trolley)



And the walls with more foam along with the roof






I then painted it white (left over paint from painting the house ceiling... Like I said - done on the cheap!)



Then I fitted slides to it to support the weight of the fermentor when moving in and out - particularly when most of the weight is up quite high



Then I welded up a frame to attach the slides to the trolley



Then I painted that and attached to my trolley with extra supports for where the legs go 



Then stuck on some insulating sticky mat stuff I scrounged from the laggers at work - it's meant to be the ducks guts for insulating things, plus it looks pretty waterproof for any spills and easy to clean - and its shiney!!



With fermentor on it



Installed heat lamp and temp probe from controller



And it works!!! 

If anyone has any questions or better ideas please let me know.

Cheers,
Az


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## Zorco (18/6/16)

Holy fermenting genius batman!


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## H0U5ECAT (18/6/16)

Oh crap. 
You made it look too good. Now i'll have another project to complete out of spite.

Nice jobby!


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## Benn (18/6/16)

Well done man, looks good.


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## Fraser's BRB (18/6/16)

Wow, that's awesome. Great thinking and you even made it look good. 

Well done.


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## mofox1 (18/6/16)

I'd say add a fan or two due to the larger volume... but jeezus, that is an impressive job. Not a 'fridgenstien' at all, it's a work of art.


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## Zorco (18/6/16)

Only just occurred to me that the light will always be on.... Could use that as a power supply for a 230V fan. Then the fan will be on only when the fridge is cooling! hurrah


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## Drunk Az (18/6/16)

That's a great idea! Thanks! I will check some fans out and let you know how it goes. Thanks also to everyone for their feedback [emoji106]


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## Zorco (18/6/16)

Maybe along the lines of a server / rack unit enclosure fan?

http://m.ebay.com.au/itm/SUNON-240V-METAL-FAN-92x92x25mm-Diecast-Aluminium-SF23092-Cooling-AUS-STOCK-/180737336815?nav=SEARCH


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## Bribie G (18/6/16)

Everyone knows that the light always stays on in the fridge and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

I name your project - FridgeZilla.


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## Zorco (18/6/16)

Bribie G said:


> Everyone knows that the light always stays on in the fridge and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
> 
> I name your project - FridgeZilla.


FridgeZilla McFridgeFace


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## Drunk Az (18/6/16)

Ha ha - classic! Big, misunderstood and radioactive?! [emoji39]


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## Drunk Az (21/6/16)

I have just been doing some testing of temps with the fermentor full of water (112L) - interesting to see that when the temp controller is set at 19 degrees C the water at the top of the fermentor is 21 degrees and the water at the bottom is 19 degrees (sample taken from the racking arm). 

I haven't yet put a fan in it yet as discussed above, but it would appear that there might be some merit in it!

For interests sake I have now set the controller to 17 degrees to see what happens.

FYI - The water from the tap is 15 - 16 degrees, so obviously it has warmed it up.


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## pirateagenda (14/4/18)

Planning on something similar. How is this going? Are you able to cold crash with it?


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## Drunk Az (14/4/18)

Hi,
The fridge is working really well - the computer fan works well in distributing the heat / cold around the fridge and temps are really stable. I crash chill in it without issue.


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## Drunk Az (14/4/18)

A thought I had (after I built mine...) was rather than extend the fridge and make slides etc etc - if I just cut the door and the two sides off, so all I had left was the back wall of the fridge (and floor) with the compressor and all that left uneffected. Then just make an insulated box that covers those three sides (and top) that are removable when you need it to fill, clean, etc - much simpler than making everything I have


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