glhs837
Power with Control
No pictures yet, maybe in a week or two since there's no outer sheathing on it yet. But I am happy to announce that I finished my temp controlled fermentation chamber. Large insulated wooden box (internally maybe 2' w x 3' h x 2.5' h) with a mini fridge sans door built into one end, with a small ceramic heater and a small fan inside the fridge. Using a dual mode temp controller that I have wired up wired to 110 outlets in a Radio Shack project box. Both fridge and fan on one outlet, heater on another. Sensor that's part of the controller triggers either the fan and fridge if the temp rises too high, or switches on the heater, which has an internal fan if the temp gets too low. since the sensor is attached with insulation to the 6.5 gallon carboy, which buffers the temp changes, they actually dont run much.
Only need to keep between a low of 60 (mostly 66-68, lower isn't a thing I need yet) so it's not like I'm asking too much of either appliance. The whole point is to keep the fermenting brew right at optimum temp for the yeast to do what they do.
Only need to keep between a low of 60 (mostly 66-68, lower isn't a thing I need yet) so it's not like I'm asking too much of either appliance. The whole point is to keep the fermenting brew right at optimum temp for the yeast to do what they do.
Got one 6.5 glass carboy, should hold two more if needed. Not sure when I'll move up to larger batches. 
But you build, em, why? Even if your stuff isnt quite are good as what you could buy, there's a thing in building it yourself. I would peg my Mr Beer batches at right between the lower grade mass produced "craft" beers and someone like Dogfish. Easy start with Mr Beer, about 2 hours of actual work per batch, since each one is only about 2 gallons, if you bottle 22oz plastic bottles, add about 30 minutes if you use real bottles and cap them. About 22 glass bottles a batch. 
