For controlling the temperature and turning on/off the AC unit, I decided to go with an Inkbird ITC-308. Any more follow ups? No more draining water out of the cooler twice daily! Currently, my glycol chiller and fermenters are living in the garage which gets really pretty warm this time of year. Quick update. I guess it would all depend on how possible it is to separate everything from the fridge so it could be incorporated into the system.
I made one and it worked surprisingly well. Even though I only have one piece of equipment right now that can utilize the glycol, I went ahead and cut the extra spots for easy equipment additions in the future. I decided to stop trying to make it perfect before I caused a leak. Since we dont have to go super cold to maintain fermentation temps, we can use the super high heat capacity of water and create a happy medium of a mix of glycol and water.
For the quick disconnects, I went through US Plastic and ordered off of there. The 10 gal bath, set to 20*F, is capable of getting my uninsulated fermenter down to 42*F. This does tend to tax the glycol fridge, and it runs continuously even with a fan blowing on thr condenser. Im thinking it was stuck between high cold and low cold and couldnt make up its mind so did nothing! Hi Matt, This seems to be the happy spot for my setup so that the AC unit isnt running constantly trying to cool the solution and it stays cold enough to chill my fermenters easily. Im glad you got some use out of my build write-up! I was going to box it in but for now ill just leave it as is. Ive ran it a a couple times for a few minutes and gets ice cold. Im sure you could make a water tank, put in a fridge and control pumps and temps with Johnson controller But that would take some doing and money Wondering if a bigger unit (>5000BTU/hr) might be needed for multiple/larger fermentors and cold crashing. Ill probably make a few volume marks in the cooler. Plugging everything into an inkbird temp controller will keep it from actually running non-stop. Hi, great job! I'm wondering what size reservoir you'd need to hold two 5 gallon fermenters in the mid 60's where the ambient temp is 70-75. Ive seen them plenty of times before in the past at Walmart as well as Target. Cheers! I didnt check it when I bought it. Kinks in the tubing will greatly reduce efficiency and any cracks in the tube will render the AC unit useless. This way, when moving the fermenter towards the brewery or towards the cleaning area, its much easier to disconnect the glycol system. I'm a few degrees away from where I'd like to be. Unfortunately, Im not quite sure the exact size of the pump for recirculating they glycol. I did see that but I was thinking about simplifying things. how are the AC, temperature probe, duct tape, and aquarium pump holing up? Not sure how fridge thermostats work. I ran the probe through the top of the cooler with a wrap around the probe right into the glycol. The glycol will lower the freezing point of the solution and the water will keep the heat capacity sufficiently high so we can pull heat out of the fermenter. There is a black foam on the bottom and edge that is a PITA to peel off. Sounds like your conditions are similar Thanks.
Next comes the scariest part of the entire build! The first one is on the glycol chiller so that I can control accurately what temperature the glycol solution is currently at. I used Metzon's notion and set up the fridge as a 10gal tank, with two circuits (planning on adding a second vessel, likely 7gal). Hey Matt, does the entire cooling fin piece need to be submerged by the liquid solution? Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. I reinforced it with a heavy layer of black duct tape to keep everything together and then installed the female end of the liquid quick disconnect. Or is there a temp differential between your glycol reservoir and the fermenter? How did you make it pump when the ac unit kicked on? Only reviews I havent verified. I have a very similar unit but the wire colors are a bit different. No problem at all! Enter your email address to follow Ornate Brewing and receive notifications of new posts by email. For the insulation, I just used black foam pipe insulation from Menards. So was looking for a solution and the idea of an IC or "attemperator" seemed a good one, just couldn't figure out how to do it. I'll throw some pictures up to show the innards and the frame I welded to secure the bulkhead without cracking it (like also happened to the acrylic I tried previously). Great write-up. I messed with the knobs and settings and it kicked on for me. Almost fully covering the coil. I own a small craft distillery and am looking for something like this to cool my reservoir tank I use to cool the stills. It doesnt hurt that it classes things up a bit! I have a glycol reservoir in the back of my kegerator and it keeps ales at low 60s very nicely. Likes, dislikes, anything you would do differently? As nice as glycol would have been, ice water was working just fine, although it was a pain in the ass! Cheers to Metzen for laying the ground work. I found a few build logs that other people had done, but I needed more info! The AC unit seems to keep up with demand really pretty well and is usually fully recovered within about 30 minutes after reaching the target temp. The common option of an ice bath in a cooler is too much of a hassle - replacing frozen bottles several times a day wasn't going to work for me. The A/C units inkbird actually has a small power strip connected to it, so when the glycol solution rises to above the specified temperature, it actually powers the A/C unit as well as a small pump inside the cooler to keep the glycol recirculating over the cooling fins. Switched on the FTSs for the first time to start the crash chill today.
We will see. I was considering this option, but looking to control two fermenters at 10gal each.
It will get better efficiency and less chance of freezing up the water in the solution and humidity in the air. I've thought about this a bit, I have a minifridge that I straightened out the freezer portion and have thought of putting a reservoir around that. Anyone use the freezer part of a fridge as a glycol chiller? I had a similar idea but not use glycol and to pump it through a heater core with a fan behind it to cool my fem chamber that I added to the small fridge. Got a window ac in my workshed. It also helps hold things where theyre supposed to be just a bit better so that theres less risk of damaging the copper tubing. I really dont think I would worry about it too much at all. First things first was finding a suitable window AC unit. My fermentation room stays at 68 all year. (LogOut/ I've got a batch that I'll be dry hopping tomorrow and then cold crashing Sunday. Before wiring I set temp to lowest and mode to high cool. A word on AC units for other folks who are using this design a digital unit is no more difficult than an analog unit to set up. Change). Thanks for the quick reply. Im sure it happens to small extent, but theres no way that I can really control it at all. All you need is some refrigeration knowledge, an EPA Section 608 license, and know how to braze. Sneezles61. Hi, Great article, thanks for sharing. As long as you keep the capacitor to spin up the compressor, you dont need the fan or temperature controls since youre using the ink bird to control the temperature. Im glad everything is coming together for you on your glycol build!
Cheers!
Next, we need to disconnect the thermostat and trick it into thinking that it always needs to run.
Thanks for sharing. The Stasis looks neat and has pumps and controllers already installed. This looks good. Yes, great work again. I didnt have to do a ton of bending just a couple tweaks and its sitting flush on bottom of cooler. Create a website or blog at WordPress.com, Brew Bros Hops and Sprockets Club Off2019, https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=118169&catid=743, https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=118171&catid=743. Glycol is a funny thing. Hey Ed! The AC unit I used is a 5k btu unit and it will cold crash 12-13 gallons down to serving temp in about an hour. BruControl: Brewery control & automation software.
Cal in the summer. I have beer fermenting right now, but once this current batch is packaged up, Ill probably replace the glycol solution to keep things fresh. Im glad you were able to get some use out of the build thread and get a glycol unit of your own up and running. Thanks for the great write up! And thinking. It really doesnt seem like its a powerful pump at all. I wonder if it would end up turning on your fridge's compressor way more than it's designed for by constantly bringing in some heat into the freezer compartment? Ive also used an inkbird on kegerator and have it in a mason jar filled with water to slow down the cycling on/off of the deep freezer and it seems to still be in great shape as well. If I concerned myself with temp gradients inside the fermenter, I think I would slowly drive myself crazy! That is valuable information that you shared tjthanks for your continued updates and look forward to your findings! nice job with your build just wanted to know what size pump did you use to pump the glycol through your feed lines? Thanks!
Matt, one more question, those 3 wires that were attached to the condenser, did you reattach them to to base of the unit for grounding purposes? Not pretty, but I insulated the lines and fridge. 
Looks really nice. My other thought was make a wide enough platform that I can put the CF5 and roll chiller under it and slide it out like a drawer if needed. Sure did. Agree with transamguy, really happy to be coming to the thread, if only today. With the plywood housing fully put together, I decided it was probably a good idea to glue in some screens over the vents to help keep more of the garage crud out of the system. I have a spare dorm fridge, do you think it could be used instead of the AC unit? Sounds like a brilliant idea.
All in all, the whole project wound up costing me about $250 to get everything up and running. Yes-ish, I'm currently wet testing the "vessel." I noticed you bent yours so the evaporator was standing vertical instead of horizontal. What percentage of the time would you say unit would be running? Thought about fabricating but I'll wait till I get a few runs in. Looks good! Haven't had a chance to test yet as I'm on a business trip running long. Yep. Sean here again, my son and I just picked up our cooler and we are getting closer, and are super excited. Keep your eyes open for any kinks that might be starting in the tubing and prevent them the best you can. After months of searching for more build logs, I finally decided to just jump in head first and see what came out the other end. I don't know how I missed this thread! Let me know what route you decide to go! Can i put several pumps to recirculate in several fermentors with a STC 1000 for each fermentor?. This is a great design. It wound up being 26 tall, 29 deep, and 41 long. Im dealing with very high energy bills here. Cheers! Thanks again. (LogOut/ Do you think a mini fridge would achieve the same return. Set the differential to 3*F so the pump kicks on at 38*F. This is pushing the limits of the system as the pump kicks on every 110 minutes or so and runs for about 12 minutes to get back to 35F, the fridge doesn't get much down time. As usual for me, nothing ever goes easy. Yeah thats a good idea then no messing with wiring. Should I swap it to high fan? Plus I travel for work and wouldn't be around enough to be able to manage it. I dont have any experience with the aquarium version at all, but surely it would work just as well as the regular versions and maybe even a bit better? Any thoughts besides ac unit is no good.
I was then able to plug the AC unit into the Inkbird and also get the temperature probe installed deep down inside the glycol reservoir. The second temperature controller is attached to the fermenter and allows me to adjust things depending on what stage of fermentation Im currently at. Hi Keith! For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. BTW great build. Complete with vent cutouts and a good black staining, it really made things look pretty nice! is it possible to use ice maker for glycol fermenter? Not sure if that matters. Thanks for the responses. Have a few questions about the glycol. One question I have is regarding the cooling fins. Mini-firdge Stainless Glycol Reservoir, What Connector to Use? For my system, I shot for a 1:2 ratio of glycol to water. Also, at what increment are your fermentation temps controlled (.5 deg, 1 deg, etc). Good luck with everything! Having a dedicated glycol temp controller and then separate temp controllers for my fermenters allows me to adjust everything independently depending on what stage my beer is at and also allows the glycol chiller to maintain a steady 25 degree temperature. I am thinking that they can both be spliced. Any data on getting from room temp to 34F or so? Category: Equipment Tags: DIY, Glycol Chiller. Temp of glycol and water wont go below 82.5. I've been on hiatus from homebrewing for almost like 2 years, what have I been missing? Did you leave it in? Now that everything has been fully put together and the glycol solution added to the reservoir, it was finally time to plug things in, set temps on the controller and let it do its thing!! The fridge I'm using is small at only 2.65 cf so you wouldn't be able to fit much more in it. Im a bit concerned about having the self-contained DIY unit getting too hot in my garage here in So. Its a good idea immersing the freezer unit, Im sure this will work great. Keeps the glycol cold for the long running. I slowly started my own build this week. Im really not sure what it would take to crash multiple fermenters at the same time, but unless you get super crazy with it, I dont think youd have much problem at all. Seems to do everything I need it to without too much complaint either. Do you think it would have enough BTUs? I decided on a commercial food bin slightly bigger than the one I showed in the photos. any chance to test this yet? It doesnt seem to have any problem keeping up with things, but I would much rather overshoot on things to keep the system stress low. Appreciate any help you can provide. Do you still get to use the rest of the fridge for something else? Cool, thanks for the quick reply again, I have a picture I would like to share with you of our current build. I dont have a great grasp on that subject and Id hate to give you bad advice. Gardening: My Tomatoe and Pepper Progress. I am opting to stop at 10 for now and hold my other 2 gallons in reserve as the tank is quite full and the front bulkhead, despite being made of 1/4" lexan, is still deflecting slightly under the weight (calculated static force against that surface is about 40lbs). What pump are you using inside the fridge? Now that we have the AC unit and cooler prepped, its time to build something to house the whole thing and keep dust/dirt/crap out of everything as much as possible. Separate the cooling coils and submerge them in the glycol? Or what materials you used? No more buying huge amounts of ice! Chilling great now! Im really not sure if a dorm fridge would work or not. Thanks for the info. Had a question about the aquarium pump setup you have recirculating the glycol/water in the cooler. I guess it really just depends on what the mini fridge is rated for. I had a manual AC and never had to worry about settings or wiring. Hey Karl! Can send photos if needed as I took pictures the whole way thru. I have a question about fermentation temp control. No more spilling water all over the garage floor! Do you have any in progress photos of how you sealed that fridge? I'm transitioning from a fermentation chamber to a glycol cooling system using a converted mini fridge with a freezer compartment as a chill source. Im glad you enjoyed my article! The trick to this part is to go extremely slowly bending small sections at a time. You could make your own extremely efficient glycol chiller out of a mini fridge, freezer, or a wall unit. The only modification I did to it was to remove the rolling handle because it only got in the way and doesnt have any functional benefit for the glycol chiller. My setup currently runs pretty infrequently and doesnt seem to have any issue at all keeping up with things. I got the SS Brewtech FTSs2 conversion kits and it includes the insulating jacket so it should be more efficient. Is it simply daisy chained into the inkbird cooling outlet? Dont do what I did at first and order parts that were different sizes and incompatible because of it.
I recently bought a cool zone wrap but was having the same dilemma about how to cool the damn thing. I also installed a small aquarium pump inside the reservoir that will turn on and off with the AC unit to keep the glycol solution moving. After removing the covers to reveal the guts of the AC unit, the temperature probe attached to the radiator on the front needed to be unhooked so that the other parts of the unit can be moved around more easily. 
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