Foam fermentation chamber

[Mattrox]

As it happens I have some 75mm foam with the reflective insulation glued on left over from a previous project.

The off cuts have been annoying me. And I really want to get my 2nd fermenter going. I decided that I'd measure up the fermenter and roughly cut the foam.

For the weekend: liquid nails, silicone sealer and insulation tape. I'll use the circular saw to make the final cuts as it leaves a relatively smooth finish.



This should make something suitable to hold temperatures where I need them.

 

[crowmanz]

included some space to put frozen water bottles?

 

[Mattrox]

included some space to put frozen water bottles?

Yep!

 

[Mattrox]

A bit of a rough job, but it should work.

 

[Mattrox]

I got itchy feet. Had to put it to use.

 

[Mattrox]

Oh, instead of liquid nails use silicone. I don't remember the solvent of liquid nails eating into the foam last time I used it, but it does. I'm sure it is going to cure fine though.

Ice bottles pull down the air temp really quickly. Testing out the FV from 35 with a bag of Ice. I usually can get 24 or so when I fridge the top up water. (Kits and bits brewing.)

Maintaining temp should be no problem though.

 

[Mattrox]

Now that the wort is down to temperature, it's been holding steady all day. I removed some ice bottles for re-freezing this morning, but haven't had the add any back. The remainder of the bag of ice is still in there.

 

[Bribie G]

Great jobbie. I love fermentation chambers, a lot of people just don't seem to get the concept and have fermentors sitting in canvas buckets with ice or in laundry tubs with fans blowing on wet towels ... not really appreciating that they are largely just cooling down the air in the garage and not so much the beer in the fermentor.

I've currently got a chamber I made out of a cardboard tea chest sized packing carton and bubble wrap, further wrapped in my urn mash doonah, and frozen bottles. Holding nicely about 19 but it frightens small children and wouldn't mind having a bash at a foam job. Where would you get offcuts or sheets of that thickness?

 

[spog]

Oh, instead of liquid nails use silicone. I don't remember the solvent of liquid nails eating into the foam last time I used it, but it does. I'm sure it is going to cure fine though.
Ice bottles pull down the air temp really quickly. Testing out the FV from 35 with a bag of Ice. I usually can get 24 or so when I fridge the top up water. (Kits and bits brewing.)
Maintaining temp should be no problem though.

Liquid nails sets hard and that's it's biggest problem ,setting hard doesn't allow for movement .
Silicone is the way to go to hold/ seal the joints but it doesn't bond very well to polystyrene as in strength,back it up with some wide cloth bonded tape over the joints and your good to go.

 

[Dae Tripper]

So where does one get said panels from?

 

[Mattrox]

Liquid nails sets hard and that's it's biggest problem ,setting hard doesn't allow for movement .
Silicone is the way to go to hold/ seal the joints but it doesn't bond very well to polystyrene as in strength,back it up with some wide cloth bonded tape over the joints and your good to go.

Thanks for the tip. [emoji106]

 

[Mattrox]

So where does one get said panels from?

Google polystyrene insulation sheets, that's how I found mine, a local company manufactured them.

You can order them various thicknesses. 75mm is overkill for this application. They have a standard width they do and a minimum height. They glue the silver on.

 

[breakbeer]

Just another tip regarding the use of silicone on polystyrene

There are generally two types. Neutral Cure & Acetic Cure, make sure you get the Neutral type

 

[Mattrox]

Great jobbie. I love fermentation chambers, a lot of people just don't seem to get the concept and have fermentors sitting in canvas buckets with ice or in laundry tubs with fans blowing on wet towels ... not really appreciating that they are largely just cooling down the air in the garage and not so much the beer in the fermentor.

I've currently got a chamber I made out of a cardboard tea chest sized packing carton and bubble wrap, further wrapped in my urn mash doonah, and frozen bottles. Holding nicely about 19 but it frightens small children and wouldn't mind having a bash at a foam job. Where would you get offcuts or sheets of that thickness?

I'm not sure if a building surplus outlet would have offcuts etc.

You might have to order a whole sheet from a manufacturer. I'm sure 50mm would work quite nicely and would be slightly cheaper.

I had to take a 1.25L ice bottle out tonight as the temperature was dropping too low. Just the remnants of the ice bag.


*I wrote the post last night and forgot to press reply before putting phone down.

 

[Barge]

It's probably a bit late but I would recommend going with this

https://www.google.com.au/url?q=http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/images/chiller-plans.pdf&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwjhpdrrk8fKAhVGlZQKHUJICK0QFggLMAA&sig2=hgxadsoX-Twb_2shUn2Pwg&usg=AFQjCNHCQHHShBUWk_mwmdNUwzpu7xg6lg

(Sorry for the dodgy link - I'm on my phone. edit - link looks worse when typing the post)

I've wanted to build one for ages but ended up buying one from Westo. Works a treat. I've been brewing all summer at a steady 18C.

 

[Mattrox]

I'm pretty happy with this. It was at 18.7 this morning with no ice in the bag and the 1.25L bottle from yesterday melted.

I put a 2 L bottle in early this morning. When direct sun started hitting it the temp started rising . It 18.4 then drifted up to 18.6. I put another 1.25L in and this afternoon the temp was 18.2 and falling. I have pulled out the 1.25L now. There is ice still left in both bottles.

I might put a fresh 1.25 in for overnight.

 

[Grainer]

Just saw hundreds of fridge panels at work on a construction site.. waiting for decomissioning to build a little cool room.hopefully the will give me a heap.

 

[manticle]

Another easy-ish way of making a poly sty chamber would be to make some timber panels, line with polystyrene sheets that are glued with pva, leaving enough clean timber to join the edges with glue and/or screws and make a box. PVA won't eat the styrene.

 

[manticle]

And cut poly with a sharp knife. Look after your saw better.

 

[Mattrox]

Another easy-ish way of making a poly sty chamber would be to make some timber panels, line with polystyrene sheets that are glued with pva, leaving enough clean timber to join the edges with glue and/or screws and make a box. PVA won't eat the styrene.

I did think of framing it up. I wanted it fairly light weight and portable. Plus I didn't have the timber on hand, and the budget for this was $0 and I blew that on adhesive and tape. I was forgiven for that indiscretion [emoji13][emoji12].

Timber would make it way more durable and is probably the way to go for a more permanent unit.


I went with the saw over a sharp knife due to the 75mm and it made straight clean cut. A timber saw works reasonably well too.


If I were to make 1 from scratch, I'd get a sheet both sides silvered and make it a group buy.