Ferment Fridge The Way God Intended

[glaab]

Why do you mind how many terminal blocks are in my box?

I don't, but when you put up a post "this is how god intended" and expect everyone to say "oh wow ada, you so clever :wub: " you;re just aksing for people [me] to point these things out. all the wires can be connected and looped to the units terminals. did you really need to run 2 inches of wire to the terminal then connect the sensor to it? extra joins for nothin = reduced reliability x12. who told about my gemini?

 

[hsb]

Looks good ada, now get it making beer!

re: Wort temperature. I just have a cup of water inside the door with tempmate probe in that. This seems to do a good job in keeping the wort/set temperature consistent and not having things kick in everytime I open the door to inspect my precious.

I find I definitely need heating for brewing in Sydney in winter but I'm an ale maker and not enough of a long-term planner to make lager in winter and ale in summer.

Is the light inside the fridge now on 24/7, or just when the fridge is opened? If it's the latter, then good for you it's the little things that count hey!

 

[JestersDarts]

Just incase the lack of comments was because people thought I was full of it.
See attached

I need more pics, because I still think you're full of it.

 

[ada]

Looks good ada, now get it making beer!

re: Wort temperature. I just have a cup of water inside the door with tempmate probe in that. This seems to do a good job in keeping the wort/set temperature consistent and not having things kick in everytime I open the door to inspect my precious.

I find I definitely need heating for brewing in Sydney in winter but I'm an ale maker and not enough of a long-term planner to make lager in winter and ale in summer.

Is the light inside the fridge now on 24/7, or just when the fridge is opened? If it's the latter, then good for you it's the little things that count hey!

Light turns on with door, jeez that little light has caused some discussion, its blue by the way.

The fridge runs as per normal except: compressor now controlled by brewmate, internal fan always on however I will today put a toggle switch on the side of my box so the fan can be "always on" or "run with compressor" so I can use this as a normal fridge without the fan on 24/7 for when I just have some kegs sitting in there cold waiting for room in the keg fridge.

I just built a new keg fridge too by the way, wanted the smallest possible to fit two kegs as it runs 24/7 and my old one cost a fortune to run, hopefully this will pay itself off pretty quick, yes one more tap to come.

 

[ada]

I don't, but when you put up a post "this is how god intended" and expect everyone to say "oh wow ada, you so clever :wub: " you;re just aksing for people [me] to point these things out. all the wires can be connected and looped to the units terminals. did you really need to run 2 inches of wire to the terminal then connect the sensor to it? extra joins for nothin = reduced reliability x12. who told about my gemini?

Yes you partly right I agree and here is my revised wiring, see attached.
still I like having some extra terminals for future revisions, I will need somewere to plug in the robotic mixing arm and extra 4 door lights

View attachment fridge_controller.pdf

 

[QldKev]

Yes you partly right I agree and here is my revised wiring, see attached.
still I like having some extra terminals for future revisions, I will need somewere to plug in the robotic mixing arm and extra 4 door lights

wow, are you going for a disco fermenting fridge.

Only kidding looks great. I never commented on the original diagram cause I was not sure if the controller would like controlling an external power source. In theory I could not see why it would be a problem, but you never know. Also I was no too worried about the light in my fridge as I find when I open the door it does not take long for the controller to start switching the fridge on due to it sensing the external heat on the probe. Probably different for those that insulate the probe against the fermentor or live in Queensland.

QldKev

 

[Peteoz77]

Looks good. I have two of these, but I didn't use any boxes. I cut a hole in the fridge door, mounted the temp controller in the door and ran the power in/out, out through the door gasket. I also tape the temp controller to the outside of the fermenters as soon as I put them in. Not sure why anyone would ever want to measure any other temperature inside the fridge, than the temperature of the fermenting wort. I didn't add fans, and I think I get a pretty damned even temp in the fridge, as the temp controller is taped onto the top ferment, way down low, about in the middle of the fridge.

My total cost for a Pigeon Pair fridge and freezer, two temp controllers, two five meter cords, two light fittings, and 2 big bulbs, was $250. I might still look into the fans.... we'll see how they go.

 

[ada]

Looks good. I have two of these, but I didn't use any boxes. I cut a hole in the fridge door, mounted the temp controller in the door and ran the power in/out, out through the door gasket. I also tape the temp controller to the outside of the fermenters as soon as I put them in. Not sure why anyone would ever want to measure any other temperature inside the fridge, than the temperature of the fermenting wort. I didn't add fans, and I think I get a pretty damned even temp in the fridge, as the temp controller is taped onto the top ferment, way down low, about in the middle of the fridge.

My total cost for a Pigeon Pair fridge and freezer, two temp controllers, two five meter cords, two light fittings, and 2 big bulbs, was $250. I might still look into the fans.... we'll see how they go.

Dont know if the fan is that important as you say when the sensor is in/on the wort it doesnt matter what the rest of the fridge is doing, I just thought when the fridge and outside temp are close to each other and your not really doing much heating or cooling there would be very little circulation and maybe a big temp difference top to bottom. I now can put the fan on "auto" or "manual on" via toggle switch on my box.

Your controllers would be neat looking mounted in the door, are they protected from moisture in the fridge at all?

 

[jotaigna]

Dont know if the fan is that important as you say when the sensor is in/on the wort it doesnt matter what the rest of the fridge is doing, I just thought when the fridge and outside temp are close to each other and your not really doing much heating or cooling there would be very little circulation and maybe a big temp difference top to bottom. I now can put the fan on "auto" or "manual on" via toggle switch on my box.

Your controllers would be neat looking mounted in the door, are they protected from moisture in the fridge at all?

I think your set-up is cool and as to "why go through all the trouble?" , why go through the trouble of making beer in the first place? for the pleasure of it. Of course.

As to fan control. I wouldn't worry about the fan working when "at temp" as all the volume, plus the entire fridge volume is almost at equilibrium anyway, thanks to the foamy stuff that the fridge is made out of. If there are temp differences between top and bottom, it would be negligible and it may be from the chemical reactions of fermentation and perhaps the little yeasties like that.

I would try to use the fan when in heating mode, because then you can get a temp gradient that may negatively affect the brew. In this case you may need a 240V coil relay that goes on with the control signal for the heater, and drive the the fan with a NormalyOpen(NO) contact off the relay.

Always on:Light(with doorswitch In series)
So, for cooling, turn on: Compressor+Fan
for heating, turn on: Heater+Fan

Also, I have a question. I am starting to get differences between the temp sticker and the temp probe, which I didnt use to get. Which one is more likely to be drifting, the sticker or the probe? (Using the temp probe and Fridge master cooling only controller)