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ddc69
Joined: 13 Jan 2012
Posts: 118
Location: Parkersburg, WV
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 Link Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2014 12:50 pm Post subject: Re: Aluminum Block Size |
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| Discdoc wrote: | | What size are your aluminum blocks. Are they the 1" thick by 4" wide and how long ? Thanks for all your post and help. |
They are 1" thick and 4" tall. I will measure the length but they need to be just long enough to bolt down your heat sink(s).
BTW, I am using this fermenter now for my first lager. It is having to work very little (mostly off) to keep the fermentation temperature at 53F while the ambient room temperature is at 68F.
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Discdoc
Joined: 03 Nov 2013
Posts: 25
Location: Indianapolis, IN
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| Link Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 12:32 am Post subject: |
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Congrats on keeping your Lager temp. Do you think you needed both cooling blocks with all 4 chips, or would a single have been good enough?
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ddc69
Joined: 13 Jan 2012
Posts: 118
Location: Parkersburg, WV
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| Link Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 3:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Discdoc wrote: | | Congrats on keeping your Lager temp. Do you think you needed both cooling blocks with all 4 chips, or would a single have been good enough? |
Thanks! I believe I do need the 4 chips with the 14 gallon fermenter. However, one might be able to get down in the 50's with only two. When I'm done using it for the latest batch, I can give it a try with only two plugged in and do a water test.
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Discdoc
Joined: 03 Nov 2013
Posts: 25
Location: Indianapolis, IN
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| Link Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2014 12:33 am Post subject: |
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How is the cooler working? Are you still happy with it?
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ddc69
Joined: 13 Jan 2012
Posts: 118
Location: Parkersburg, WV
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| Link Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2014 3:13 pm Post subject: |
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| Discdoc wrote: | | How is the cooler working? Are you still happy with it? |
I am loving them! They work great on both conicals I did. I can maintain temperature down to near freezing within 1 degree. I would do it again. Thanks for asking.
FYI: I posted some more pics and information about them in the Pimp my System thread at the AHA forum site.
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Discdoc
Joined: 03 Nov 2013
Posts: 25
Location: Indianapolis, IN
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| Link Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 12:28 am Post subject: |
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I hope you don't mind that I'm trying to copy your set up exactly. Lease take it as a compliment. Any help you could supply with regards to wiring would be greatly appreciated. I'm a spine surgeon first, brewer second and know nothing about wiring. Lol thanks in advance
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aCros
Joined: 01 Apr 2014
Posts: 5
Location: Ottawa
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| Link Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2014 4:29 pm Post subject: |
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Has anyone considered using the peltier plates as a method of cooling down boiling wort?
I brew my small batches in my kitchen, and running a plate chiller or really anything else that requires me to set up a garden hose I find is a pain.
I was considering using a length of copper tubing with several peltier plates attached, and recirculating until temp is reached.
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ddc69
Joined: 13 Jan 2012
Posts: 118
Location: Parkersburg, WV
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| Link Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2014 7:44 pm Post subject: |
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| aCros wrote: | Has anyone considered using the peltier plates as a method of cooling down boiling wort?
I brew my small batches in my kitchen, and running a plate chiller or really anything else that requires me to set up a garden hose I find is a pain.
I was considering using a length of copper tubing with several peltier plates attached, and recirculating until temp is reached. |
I have not. However, I believe that would not be real practical to do and the heat load required to cool the wort is quite high. It looks like it would take roughly 40 peltier chips to cool the 5 gallons of wort from boiling to 75F in 1 hour. For my fermenter 4 chips requires one 600W power supply.
Great outside the box thinking, I just don't know how practical that application would be. Cheers!
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gava
Joined: 10 Nov 2013
Posts: 7
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| Link Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 1:17 am Post subject: |
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This looks very interesting...
How gradual is the cooling?
You show the fermenter walls having ice forming, was this just for testing or does this happen in your fermenting schedule?
I'd be a little worried about having a sub temp pocket around that area which could result in putting your yeast to sleep. have you noticed this?
If not this has made it to my project list.
Gavin
_________________
-Gava
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ddc69
Joined: 13 Jan 2012
Posts: 118
Location: Parkersburg, WV
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| Link Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 12:31 pm Post subject: |
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| gava wrote: | This looks very interesting...
How gradual is the cooling?
You show the fermenter walls having ice forming, was this just for testing or does this happen in your fermenting schedule?
I'd be a little worried about having a sub temp pocket around that area which could result in putting your yeast to sleep. have you noticed this?
If not this has made it to my project list.
Gavin |
The ice only happens when you don't have a heat sink in the fermenter such as water or wort to dissipate the cooling. I can cool the contents of the fermenter at about 2-3 degrees or so per hour (my probe is in a thermowell in the center of the conical. I have had no problems with yeast activity and have fermented saisons and lagers in the fermenter along with about every other style. I have seen no problems with fermentation or flavor related to the cooling or heating that I do with the fermenter. I LOVE the two fermenters I did this to. Cheers!
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gava
Joined: 10 Nov 2013
Posts: 7
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| Link Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 11:28 pm Post subject: |
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here in Australia we tend to have hot summers. My brew room seems to sit around 22c (72f) at the moment and in summer it can get a touch higher but thats because it on a non sun facing room . How efficient do you think this setup would be say from 22-28c (72f->82f)?
Have you put a power meter on your device for a complete ferment? if you have whats your findings? I'd love to go this way and made some keg fermenters just don't want to increase my power consumption while I'm at it.
Cheers
Gavin.
_________________
-Gava
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ddc69
Joined: 13 Jan 2012
Posts: 118
Location: Parkersburg, WV
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| Link Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 12:34 am Post subject: |
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| gava wrote: | here in Australia we tend to have hot summers. My brew room seems to sit around 22c (72f) at the moment and in summer it can get a touch higher but thats because it on a non sun facing room . How efficient do you think this setup would be say from 22-28c (72f->82f)?
Have you put a power meter on your device for a complete ferment? if you have whats your findings? I'd love to go this way and made some keg fermenters just don't want to increase my power consumption while I'm at it.
Cheers
Gavin. |
My brew room in the summer gets up around 70f. I have easily been getting a good 30-35f temperature drop from ambient with my setup. It is insulated which helps. I have not put a power meter on it. I am using a 120v 500W computer power supply to run the unit. At max temperature drop the system runs most of the time. At higher temperatures, say 50-60f, it runs 50% of the time or less.
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kwdriver
Joined: 19 Jan 2013
Posts: 113
Location: Eagle, CO
Drinking: Munich Helles, Schwarzbier
Working on: Guinness clone, Vienna Lager
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| Link Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 1:55 pm Post subject: |
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Is there any reason why you went with the More Beer 14gal vs the Blichman? I'm seriously interested in copying your work as space is an issue and my stairs to the basement would really restrict the size of the fridge/freezer I could install.
Great work and thanks for sharing. Any updates?
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ddc69
Joined: 13 Jan 2012
Posts: 118
Location: Parkersburg, WV
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| Link Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 5:46 pm Post subject: |
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| kwdriver wrote: | Is there any reason why you went with the More Beer 14gal vs the Blichman? I'm seriously interested in copying your work as space is an issue and my stairs to the basement would really restrict the size of the fridge/freezer I could install.
Great work and thanks for sharing. Any updates? |
Thanks. I have a 7 gallon threaded/weldless Blichmann and a 14 gallon tri-clamp MoreBeer! one. To be honest, I like the MoreBeer! fermenter better but haven't really looked at the new Blichmann 14 gallon TC versions.
As for updates, the system continues to work very well. I am currently cold crashing 14 gallons of Kolsch and it is doing a great job. My only problem is now I'm brewing so much in preparation for starting up a micro brewery down the road that I need more controllers and power supplies as I can only ferment, with temperature control, one fermenter at a time.
This truly was one of the builds, obviously after Kal's setup, that I have got the most use out of.
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Cacaman
Joined: 12 Jul 2012
Posts: 23
Location: Laredo, TX
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kungfudrinx
Joined: 13 Nov 2013
Posts: 30
Location: Stamford, CT
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| Link Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 8:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | So, I'm assuming that these TEC devices are much more energy efficient than running a refrigerator? |
Actually TECs are generally about a quarter as efficient as traditional cooling methods (10–15% efficiency of the ideal Carnot cycle refrigerator, compared with 40–60% achieved by conventional compression cycle systems) , and are generally used where there is a limiting factor in a traditional compression refrigerator. In this case, it does offer benefits in terms of being able to more finely tune the output, as well as being able to more efficiently direct the extraction of heat from the fermentor, in the form of the molded aluminum blocks.
I am curious though, have you thought of setting up a PWC controller for the TECs, hooked up to a pid, in order to provide a higher resolution of temperature control? Also, if I remember correctly, TECs can actually be used to provide heating as well, by reversing the current flowing through them. I wonder if you could use the TECs for both heating and cooling? Maybe hooked up to something like the brewpi?
Cheers,
KFD
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kwdriver
Joined: 19 Jan 2013
Posts: 113
Location: Eagle, CO
Drinking: Munich Helles, Schwarzbier
Working on: Guinness clone, Vienna Lager
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| Link Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 9:09 pm Post subject: |
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Well I'm trying to copy the peltier cooling design for my 14.5 gal stout tanks fermentor. I've got everything built and now I'm chasing wires trying to get the power supply to power up. It was mentioned to loop the green wire back to another black wire to ground it in order to get the power supply to turn on. Tried it and the thing won't power up. Also tried simply connecting the green wire to another ground.
Has anyone else tried using a power supply in this manner?
Thanks. Hoping to get this project finished up so I can brew some beer!
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kwdriver
Joined: 19 Jan 2013
Posts: 113
Location: Eagle, CO
Drinking: Munich Helles, Schwarzbier
Working on: Guinness clone, Vienna Lager
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| Link Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 1:36 am Post subject: |
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Disregard. I got the fan turning. Ought to have the fermenter squared away tomorrow.
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rcrabb22
Joined: 23 Dec 2010
Posts: 462
Location: Illinois
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| Link Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2015 1:21 pm Post subject: |
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The current issue of Zymurgy Jan/Feb 2015 Vol 38. #1 has it's annual best of DIY projects and highlights a Peltier cooler project by Dan Curtis who used Rob Swanson's pdf document as a guide.
The article does not address is the machining of the aluminum block to conform to the curvature of the fermenting vessel.
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huaco
Joined: 05 Apr 2012
Posts: 1506
Location: Burleson Texas
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| Link Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 7:05 pm Post subject: |
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| rcrabb22 wrote: | The current issue of Zymurgy Jan/Feb 2015 Vol 38. #1 has it's annual best of DIY projects and highlights a Peltier cooler project by Dan Curtis who used Rob Swanson's pdf document as a guide.
The article does not address is the machining of the aluminum block to conform to the curvature of the fermenting vessel. |
Item number four in the DIY issue was my little creation!
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