Here's some pics of a 1 bbl conical fermenter from
Stout Tanks and Kettles (40 gallons total capacity) and the conversion of a
20.5 cf upright freezer from Lowe's. Stout has a diagram of how this conical fits inside the freezer
here. I really don't see the need for the 3/4" plywood on the floor yet. I'm a big guy, and I got inside the freezer and stood on my heels and toes in every spot I could, and the floor never seemed to be affected. I think it'll be ok without. I hope to put this fermenter to the test very soon.
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| click for more pictures |
Priscilla and I spent about 3 or 4 hours total converting the freezer to hold the fermenter. We unscrewed all the screws on the outside of the door panel and removed it. The gasket comes off with the panel. We decided to glue the gasket back in place, and this was a pain, especially since we did it without taking the whole door off the freezer first. We tried using clamps to hold it in place, which didn't work well, so we ended up carefully taping it in place and letting it dry until the next day. The glue held well, but we ended up deciding that we really didn't need to glue the gasket on to begin with. You can just as easily cut around the outside edge of the door panel, so that you end up with an approximately 1" strip of door panel just to make use of the screw holes. Using this will hold the gasket in place just fine. Next, we glued a piece of 3/4" insulation board to the inside of the door and put cold weather aluminum tape across, from top to bottom.
The freezer and a
heat belt designed for a 30 gallon drum are both plugged into a Ranco 2-stage temperature controller, and the temperature probe from the Ranco is plugged into a
sanitary thermowell from GW Kent. In case you're looking at this and thinking about a similar setup, you might want to consider a less powerful heat belt. I haven't put this to the test yet, but I suspect the heat belt pictured needs to be seriously downgraded. More on that later after I'm able to test it out.
Hello there!!
ReplyDeleteYour system is very cool!!! next week i will get my 1 bbl equipment from Stout Tanks.
Could you sell the bluto555??
My email is cielk7dm@gmail.com i dont see yours.
Wainting your comment.
Cheers!
Thanks. It's not for sale... I'm still working on it. Getting close, but not quite there yet.
ReplyDeleteHi! Did the same thing with a side-by-side fridge, used a 1" wide piece of the plastic door shelving unit to hold the door seal and cut away the rest. Plus I added 1.5 inches of insulation. The 7" or so of additional space that gave me, (it was wide enough to hold a milk jug!) allows me to put 8 cornies in it, 4 on the floor (raised up a little on a platform, the back of the fridge floor is sloped), and then put in a HD shelf to hold the upper ones; worked great! Just enough room!
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed reading your articles. It is well written. It looks like you spend a large amount of time and effort in writing the blog. I am appreciating your effort. .Freezers
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteBeen watching your blog since late last year. Any updates?
John
I've been enjoying testing the system. Plenty of mistakes made the first time, but I'm working those issues out and am excited about the progress each test.
ReplyDeleteJust haven't been blogging much lately. Completely switched from general Google Account to Apps and haven't gotten back into Blogger and Picasa use yet. Didn't even realize this comment was here till now.
Otherwise I'm just saving up for other acquisitions. That doesn't always work out as quickly or easily as I hope.