I am thinking I will pick up a small (7 cu ft) chest freezer to use as a fermenting chamber. Haven’t gone to measure one yet but I think it will fit 2 carboys/ fermentors. I realize it will be a little exercise lifting 5 or 6 gallons in and out but it is doable for me, for now anyway. What is the best way to figure out where to drill for the temp probe mounting? I don’t want to hit anything vital…I would like to have the probe go in on the side that has the high shelf ( I assume the compressor is under that "shelf like " area).
My hope is in the summer it will keep the fermentation temp lower and in the summer I can use the heat wrap around the fermentor along with the freezers insulation and keep the fermentation temp high enough to keep the yeast happy.
Tom
There’s nothing vital in the lid. I would probably just run the probe over the hinged side… maybe just magnet the temp controller on the side panel. Or just build a little collar out of wood and mount it there.
I have this one:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Magic-Chef-6-9-cu-ft-Chest-Freezer-in-White-HMCF7W2/203445397
You can only fit one carboy or bucket in it. You can however fit 3 ball lock kegs in it so I lager in kegs. Lifting kegs in isn’t too bad. I wouldn’t want to wrestle a carboy in and out of it. The compressor is under the “hump”. I lager at 33 degrees so I also store vacuum packed hops in the basket and on the hump.
I just drop the temp controller probe inside the lid and loop it through the basket so it hangs in mid air below the basket. I didn’t want to drill anything on the new freezer and didn’t find a schematic of the coils after a couple of search attempts. It works just fine.
You can make a collar high enough that you can set a fermenter/keg/CO2 tank, or pygmy giraffe on the compressor hump. Instructions are at: http://www.northernbrewer.com/connect/2012/05/how-to-build-a-keezer-kegerator-freezer/
I use a 5 cubic foot freezer for a fermenter. With a little juggling, I can get two fermenters in it. If I added a collar it would be easy to add a second fermenter.
My seven cubic foot serving freezer holds four kegs, one on the hump, using a 2 x 8 – actual measurements: (1.5" x 7.5") collar. I run the CO2 lines through the collar, along with the taps.
This is all I do no drilling no fuss no muss.
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Pretty fancy distributor setup. Mine is just zip tied to the basket.
Had a few scrapes of wood laying around took 10 min to screw together.
Great info thank you!
I am hoping a 7.2 cu ft may fit two carboys, I will measure to be sure.
I may buy a cheap omega temp controller that has two doc outputs and just run them to a couple of PowerSwitch Tails I saw on the web. Then I would be set up for heating and cooling. I can prob find a very thin thermocouple wire ( or rtd) to run over the lid.
Agreed, nice. I may try to fashion something like that. My manifold is just kinda laying awkwardly on the hump.
Mine looks like yours Voodoo! I just put 2- 6.5 gallon fermenters in… So I took my solo corny keg out and put in my upright, normal fridge… lacking a few shelves… I just put the gas hose/thermometer probe over the edge, shut the lid and call it a day… I’ll get a bit more fancy later. I even dropped my Johnson controller probe right into the growler with water, the same one I’ll put my blow off hoses into! Simple is best… Sneezles61
What I have is a inkbird 308 plug and play, got it from amazon for 38 dollars.
