Modifing An Old Fridge For Fermentation

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Hi, I found this bar fridge (see attachments) and want to turn it into a fermentation fridge. It has an old school metal freezer with coils around it. The freezer makes it too small to fit a fermenter in it. The question I have is can I either bend or remove these coils without wrecking its function as a fridge so that it accomodates a fermenter easily?

 

[scott_penno]

I had similar thoughts with a 140L bar fridge. I thought if I just bent the coils or whatever you call them *really* gently it will be just fine. It wasn't and I now have a 140L esky and had to find another bar fridge.

My suggestion would be to purchase a fermenter that fits in the fridge rather than trying to mess with the coils...

sap.

 

[scott_penno]

Just looking at it and that looks like your standard 140L'ish type bar fridge. How big is your fermenter?

sap.

 

[[email protected]]

Just looking at it and that looks like your standard 140L'ish type bar fridge. How big is your fermenter?

sap.

I just found it in the back of a uni building. I don't have my fermenter with me now so its hard to say, but I think its 40cm tall. I just measured it and I will probably be able to fit my 20 L bucket fermenter in there, without the airlock.In which case I'll just drill a small hole into the freezer and stick the airlock through. Otherwise I might be able to fit a skinnier fermenter in front of the motor hump If I remove the shelves from the door. Anyway all excited about making some proper lagers now Just need to somehow get it home, It's going to struggle to fit on my scooter. And get myself a temp controller, any reccomendations?

 

[Maheel]

the bunnings one i have is 32cm diameter and 45ish high and i just put glad wrap over it and no lid or airlock

 

[Amber Fluid]

I just found it in the back of a uni building. I don't have my fermenter with me now so its hard to say, but I think its 40cm tall. I just measured it and I will probably be able to fit my 20 L bucket fermenter in there, without the airlock.In which case I'll just drill a small hole into the freezer and stick the airlock through. Otherwise I might be able to fit a skinnier fermenter in front of the motor hump If I remove the shelves from the door. Anyway all excited about making some proper lagers now Just need to somehow get it home, It's going to struggle to fit on my scooter. And get myself a temp controller, any reccomendations?

You maybe interested in reading this regarding a temp controller.

 

[Pennywise]

Some people have successfully bent those pannels down, you really need to be carful not to break any of the channels as this render the whole thing useless. Can you fit the fermenter in there with out the lid? Just use some glad wrap and a lakky band.

 

[[email protected]]

You maybe interested in reading this regarding a temp controller.

Thanks for that, just ordered one for $23.

Somebody needs to design a fermenter that fits perfectly over the motor hump of a fridge, then I could probably fit 2 in there .

 

[Pennywise]

Water jerry cans from bunnings might help you out there

 

[Malted]

without the airlock.In which case I'll just drill a small hole into the freezer and stick the airlock through.

No no no :angry: Why drill into the fridge and potentially wreck it if you don't have to.

Options include (but not limited to):
~ Glad wrap and lakky band instead of the fermenter lid as Pennywise said.
~ Cut the stem off the airlock and squeeze a bit of hose over it one end (with the other in the airlock grommet) then run the hose into a container of water. This is called a blow off tube.
~ Buy a piece of stainless steel tube bent at 90o angle. One end through the rubber grommet, hose shoved over the other end. Blow off tube arrangement.
~ Buy another type of fermenter that fits. Measure everything before purchasing.
~ Use jerry cans to ferment in as Pennywise suggested. You could put a blow off tube into the lid or just gladwrap and a lakky band instead of the lid. They might fit into your fridge.

 

[Logman]

We need something shaped like this - this thing is 35cm x 50cm at 50 litres...

 

[[email protected]]

No no no :angry: Why drill into the fridge and potentially wreck it if you don't have to.

Options include (but not limited to):
~ Glad wrap and lakky band instead of the fermenter lid as Pennywise said.
~ Cut the stem off the airlock and squeeze a bit of hose over it one end (with the other in the airlock grommet) then run the hose into a container of water. This is called a blow off tube.
~ Buy a piece of stainless steel tube bent at 90o angle. One end through the rubber grommet, hose shoved over the other end. Blow off tube arrangement.
~ Buy another type of fermenter that fits. Measure everything before purchasing.
~ Use jerry cans to ferment in as Pennywise suggested. You could put a blow off tube into the lid or just gladwrap and a lakky band instead of the lid. They might fit into your fridge.

I only planned to put a small hole in the metal freezer box, I doubt that would ruin it, there is plenty of room between the coils. An added bonus of doing it this way is the alcohol in the airlock would probably be subzero and more harmful to any wild yeast trying to get through it. But like you point out, there are plenty of other options available that don't involve modifying the fridge and once I've got it home and set up I'll work out the best option.

 

[[email protected]]

The other problem I'm going to have to work out is power availability. There's no room in my unit for it but I have a store room downstairs in the garage. Trouble is there's no powerpoint in the store room and I'll have to run a cord out to a strata powerpoint. There is one really close which is above my car space. However it has the fire door plugged into it. I plan to chuck a piggyback extension cord onto this and run it to the store room. It wont be completely hidden. Living in an 800 unit complex you can imagine how bad the strata is at complaining about trivial things, like theft of $2 worth of strata electricity.

So do I a) request to use the point from strata, and go through probably a mountain of paper work, only to be told, no I can't use the point and in the process alert them that I plan to use it so people will look for it, or B) just put it in and try to hide it as best as I can until I get told off about it, or someone just unplugs it ruining a lager.

 

[Pistol]

G'day mate, I can't see the picture, but if that is a bar fridge with a rectangle shaped freezer box at the top it's the same as I have.

I successfully bent the frezzer so it goes accross the top and down the sides of the fridge. I did this by pulling all the internal doors/ crap in there and unscrewing the freezer box so it was just hanging, then I drilled out the pot rivets holding the freezer box in box shape and carefully bent the freezer to desired shape.

I also use glad wrap instead of a lid and airlock so it fits, it's also a lot easier cleaning this way too.

Looks like your sorted with the temp control with an STC1000, that's what I use good unit.

 

[QldKev]

The other problem I'm going to have to work out is power availability. There's no room in my unit for it but I have a store room downstairs in the garage. Trouble is there's no powerpoint in the store room and I'll have to run a cord out to a strata powerpoint. There is one really close which is above my car space. However it has the fire door plugged into it. I plan to chuck a piggyback extension cord onto this and run it to the store room. It wont be completely hidden. Living in an 800 unit complex you can imagine how bad the strata is at complaining about trivial things, like theft of $2 worth of strata electricity.

So do I a) request to use the point from strata, and go through probably a mountain of paper work, only to be told, no I can't use the point and in the process alert them that I plan to use it so people will look for it, or B) just put it in and try to hide it as best as I can until I get told off about it, or someone just unplugs it ruining a lager.

Do you have a light in the store room?

QldKev

 

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Do you have a light in the store room?

QldKev

Good idea but no, its not a seperate room, its a partition of the large underground parking lot and light comes in over the top and bottom of the walls. There is a flourecent light near the back of the store room that would be usable, but I think getting caught doing illegal electrical work to tap off it would be far worse then simply plugging something in. I guess its option B). I doubt I would notice something like that so hopefully the neighbors are the same.

 

[Malted]

Good idea but no, its not a seperate room, its a partition of the large underground parking lot and light comes in over the top and bottom of the walls. There is a flourecent light near the back of the store room that would be usable, but I think getting caught doing illegal electrical work to tap off it would be far worse then simply plugging something in. I guess its option B) . I doubt I would notice something like that so hopefully the neighbors are the same.

Bending the freezer panels, drilling through them, taking power from a fire door, powering a fridge from a light... Oh dear this really is going downhill.

I would have thought a bar fridge could be fitted into an apartment somewhere. Put something on top of it so as to not waste it's space footprint. Use it as a bedside table, a coffee table, or something to put your TV on top of; with the fermenter inside it.

 

[Pennywise]

The lighting cable is prolly only 1.5mm, power points use 2.5mm don't they. Not sure how safe it is but I wouldn't do it

 

[[email protected]]

Bending the freezer panels, drilling through them, taking power from a fire door, powering a fridge from a light... Oh dear this really is going downhill.

I would have thought a bar fridge could be fitted into an apartment somewhere. Put something on top of it so as to not waste it's space footprint. Use it as a bedside table, a coffee table, or something to put your TV on top of; with the fermenter inside it.

Don't forget strapping it on the back of my scooter and riding 60kms home with it!

I'll try the power point with the fire door. I'm not going to take the power from the fire door, just put a double adaptor on there so both can get power. If someone complains I'll go the inside apartment route.

 

[Spartan 117]

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...c=52503&hl=

See last comment with bmp attached

Aaron

edit ; dead link