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  • #31
    Originally posted by Langchop View Post
    Thats a great idea. Or better, pop over for a beer during a brew session, which I will hopefully do within the next 3 weeks. If you're keen DM me your details and I will let you know when.

    Sorry back to your topic Toxxyc...
    That may give me enough time to bring the Pliny and 90 shilling around. I will let you know closer to the time but keen!
    "Well, I suppose if I’m being honest, there were a few times in the past where I admit I did have a drinking problem,

    But I can truthfully say that I’ve become more responsible since then,

    and today I always make sure that I have enough beer around so that I’ll never have a problem drinking again."

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    • #32
      I have a reptile pad pasted on the inside back of the fridge, just above and behind where the fermentor sits.
      The temp probe is inside a small piece of polystyrene, sealed with tape on the front of the fermentor.
      Next winter I will be using 2 reptile pads, reason being after cold crashing it takes to long to get to about 20C, approx 24 hours.
      Cannot remember what wattage the pad is, I think it was around 15W.

      Ferment1.jpg
      Everyone must beleive in something, I beleive I'll have another beer

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      • #33
        I have the heatpad in the middle back of the fridge (single door fridge only jobbie) stick the sensor on the fermentor with electrical tape (opposite side of the heatpad) fan to circulate air at the top - heat rises. 0.5C variation set, get quick chill, quick heating. it's a set and forget affair. If i do double brews, then the yeast gets pitched when the last added fermentor reaches desirable temp. blow off tubes on both. excitable sound from a double ferment :-)

        stc sits on top of the fridge inside an electrical box (slide open to expose plug receptacle) dremel came in handy to stc slot out. building another one soon for the kegerator.

        good luck with your build, fermentation control = here is where beer making gets good.

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        • #34
          Alright, so a few people recommend a small fan. I think what I need to do, because I need to get 220V inside the fridge anyway, is I'm going to drill a hole in the side and fit a plug of sorts to the inside of the fridge. As small as possible while still being able to draw an amp or two. Then I'll use the plug to wire 220V into the fridge, as well as route the temperature probe to the inside. The 220V plug will feed the heat pad (or heat pads, maybe I'll do one on each side), as well as a 12VDC wallwart so I can run 12V stuff on the inside - like LED lights and a 12VDC fan. That way I can do inside the fridge whatever I want. I have A LOT of space on the inside, so that's nice.

          Hell, maybe I'll even fit a vibrating pad to the bottom of the fridge to keep carbonating bottles agitated for a week or two. I'll see. Fridge is REALLY old so I don't really mind hacking the crap out of it. Seals still look good and I had to poprivet one or two things stuck, but considering I paid R800 for the fridge as well as it's matching upright freezer, I think it was a great bargain.

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          • #35
            Originally posted by Toxxyc View Post
            fit a plug of sorts to the inside of the fridge.
            I did get warned by some about this (condensation) when I did my keyser. I rebelled and did it anyway. So far I havent had issues, but maybe it hasnt been in use long enough. Just something to complicate your project. Its a pleasure
            Cheers,
            Lang
            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
            "Dudddde...Hold my beer!".... ; "I wonder what will happen if I ...."

            Comment


            • #36
              Originally posted by Langchop View Post
              I did get warned by some about this (condensation) when I did my keyser. I rebelled and did it anyway. So far I havent had issues, but maybe it hasnt been in use long enough. Just something to complicate your project. Its a pleasure
              Honestly, if the gap between the pins is far enough apart, I don't see the risk. To boot, the inside of a fridge/freezer is very devoid of moisture. Condensation happens when you open (which results in freezing inside the fridge), but I'm not worried about that. Will just play it safe. I'm thinking a kettle cord type connection.

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              • #37
                Just be careful for the cooling lines in the fridge when drilling, I run my probe and heatpad lines through the top of the door, thin wires doesn't impede the seal. The fan inside is part of the fridge, no big hacks required

                Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

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                • #38
                  Originally posted by groenspookasem View Post
                  Just be careful for the cooling lines in the fridge when drilling, I run my probe and heatpad lines through the top of the door, thin wires doesn't impede the seal. The fan inside is part of the fridge, no big hacks required

                  Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
                  Yeah my fridge is damn old. Doesn't have cooling lines from what I can see. Has a steel back plate at the rear of the fridge that does the cooling, so the side panels should be clear to hack through. Fridge doesn't have a fan. It's just way too old for that.

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                  • #39
                    You can get 220V fans and LEDs, etc if you don't want to bother with 12V DC transformers.

                    Also, if you electrically minded - no drilling, just hack the wiring that's there already. Inside the fridge is 220V wiring going to the thermostat and existing lamp - can do a nice neat job, then if you really want, mount the STC through the door, or depending on the fridge, in the plastic capping at the top.

                    You'll find 4 wires coming in;
                    1) Earth
                    2) Live
                    3) Neutral
                    4) Switched live for the compressor

                    Colours can vary due to brand and age.
                    * Neutral should go to the lamp
                    * Live should go to the door switch and the thermostat
                    * Switched live for the compressor should go to the thermostat
                    * Earth can go a few places
                    * There should be an extra wire from the door switch to the lamp

                    Hook the live and neutral to both the STC power and fan.
                    Hook the cold outputs to live and switched live for the compressor
                    Hook the hot outputs to live and one leg of your heater of choice
                    Hook the other leg of your heater to neutral.

                    Someone check my logic - I have done a couple.
                    camsaway
                    Senior Member
                    Last edited by camsaway; 24 July 2019, 20:20.

                    Comment


                    • #40
                      Originally posted by camsaway View Post
                      You can get 220V fans and LEDs, etc if you don't want to bother with 12V DC transformers.

                      Also, if you electrically minded - no drilling, just hack the wiring that's there already. Inside the fridge is 220V wiring going to the thermostat and existing lamp - can do a nice neat job, then if you really want, mount the STC through the door, or depending on the fridge, in the plastic capping at the top.

                      You'll find 4 wires coming in;
                      1) Earth
                      2) Live
                      3) Neutral
                      4) Switched live for the compressor

                      Colours can vary due to brand and age.
                      * Neutral should go to the lamp
                      * Live should go to the door switch and the thermostat
                      * Switched live for the compressor should go to the thermostat
                      * Earth can go a few places
                      * There should be an extra wire from the door switch to the lamp

                      Hook the live and neutral to both the STC power and fan.
                      Hook the cold outputs to live and switched live for the compressor
                      Hook the hot outputs to live and one leg of your heater of choice
                      Hook the other leg of your heater to neutral.

                      Someone check my logic - I have done a couple.
                      I'm not terrible with electrickery, but I'd prefer to not get too technical. Apparently I couldn't even properly wire up the STC-1000 to start with, so there's that. I also want to avoid changing the fridge too much so I can sell it as is later on, should I need to.

                      Regarding the wiring, I found a link last night where people went and did their magic through the draining hole in the fridge. I checked - mine's got some space. I don't know how much, but it should be enough to house a piece of wire in there. The cable doesn't need to carry a lot of power, at all, so that'll be fine. I'll fit a plug on the inside and fans, lights and whatnots can be powered off there.

                      As PS: I want to avoid spending too much more money on this. I spent more yesterday buying some more cool stuff from Plastilon, so wife is already telling "now it's time to stop". So I'll have to see what I'll do.

                      As a second PS: Local pet shop is damn expensive with their heat pads. R180 for a 20w heat pad. I'm now hoping someone has something I can take somewhere as I'm not paying R180 for a R40 heat pad, now am I paying R150 shipping on a R40 product. It's nuts.

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                      • #41
                        You're a brewer now, and will probably NEVER sell that fridge again
                        The Problem With The World Is That Everyone Is A Few Drinks Behind.!

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                        • #42
                          The illusion of the option is what keeps my wife sane. I let her have it.

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                          • #43
                            Hey, on the heating. I just saw an interesting take on this. I saw a guy who dealt with the heat in a VERY simple way. He took an aquarium heater and placed it in the fermentation bucket. Temperature probe on the other side of the bucket. I'm not sure if this will cause "hot spots", but as I have it, it should work just fine. I'm not sure I'll do it, because of reasons, but it seems like an option, and a cheap one at that...

                            Comment


                            • #44
                              Originally posted by Toxxyc View Post
                              Hey, on the heating. I just saw an interesting take on this. I saw a guy who dealt with the heat in a VERY simple way. He took an aquarium heater and placed it in the fermentation bucket. Temperature probe on the other side of the bucket. I'm not sure if this will cause "hot spots", but as I have it, it should work just fine. I'm not sure I'll do it, because of reasons, but it seems like an option, and a cheap one at that...
                              There is a cheaper, easier way to generate heat............

                              100W incandescent globe in a jam tin..........I kid you not.

                              Should cost R30 per globe or less, everybody is switching to LED or Energy Savers and the hardware stores have old style globes on special.

                              Use a ceramic bayonet fitting if you're worried about heat soak.

                              Comment


                              • #45
                                Originally posted by jakeslouw View Post
                                ...everybody is switching to LED or Energy Savers and the hardware stores have old style globes on special.
                                When I did my little lamp warmer thingy, it was a bit overpowered so I eventually landed up needing the lowest power incandescent candle globe, and went from 100W to 75w to 60W to 30W.. With all these new LED globes, damn it was hard to find a plain incandescent. I couldnt believe it. Most of them are now halogen, but still do the job. I think I eventually settled on a fridge bulb or some other specialised type, which I think was about 15W iirc

                                Originally posted by Toxxyc View Post
                                aquarium heater and placed it in the fermentation bucket. Temperature probe on the other side of the bucket. I'm not sure if this will cause "hot spots", ..
                                How did this guy seal the hole where the heater wire comes out of the fermenter? I wanted to do this initially, but this was the complication that was a dealbreaker for me. It shouldnt cause any more hot spots than a heater pad underneath the fermenter imo.
                                Cheers,
                                Lang
                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                                "Dudddde...Hold my beer!".... ; "I wonder what will happen if I ...."

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