Keezer fan

[BOB357]

My refrigerators are full of meat.

Mine too. Had to move some stuff around yesterday to make room for a whole bottom round. Plan to smoke/grill it just as I would a whole brisket the first time I host a BBQ party this summer. Decided to buy another one tomorrow to cut down for 3 or 4 slabs of corned beef and pastrami. Got them on sale for $1.99/lb. all week. Great price for choice beef. Just wish I had more room.

 

[GFHomebrew]

Been looking at that Keg King. Me likey!

my only gripe would.be.not a tun of room above the kegs for dicking around with fittings. as opposed to freezer where all your connections are widely accessible.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I think Ill mount mine on the lid with a spacer so its out of the way and plug it into the stc-1000 outlet

 

[GFHomebrew]

I think Ill mount mine on the lid with a spacer so its out of the way and plug it into the stc-1000 outlet

so you running all the time or when cold side kicks in?

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

only when the cold kicks in

 

[Hawkbox]

Hawkbox, you said you use a fan? Any tips on placement, powering/cycling?

I have a https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B009OXTWZI/ref=pe_3034960_233709270_TE_item that I have sitting on the compressor hump to move some air around. I could do better but I've been pretty lazy about it over the winter.

 

[jeffpn]

So here’s my installed fan. I paid for the deluxe installation! You can see it laying in the four kegs to the left. I have it blowing down. That happens to be where the water jug is, but I’m sure that’s inconsequential. I just plugged it into the hot side of my STC-1000, since it’s free and nearby. I don’t really want it on all of the time, and my theory is that it probably doesn’t matter much when it cycles. I’m sure it’ll help. I guess I should find an expert in thermodynamics, find out the best installation, blowing up or down, powered by hot or cold, etc. Now I have to find a probe so I can check the upper cabinet temp without opening the lid.

 

[Hawkbox]

Looks a lot like mine, except I have mine running all the time.

 

[jeffpn]

I could drill a hole through my collar (that’s why it’s there!), and insert an analog stem thermometer like this one to see what the top temp is.

CDN IRXL220 - ProAccurate Large Dial Cooking Thermometer - Insta-Read, NSF Certified https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000A3L614/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_rL9ZAbY88FYPK

 

[jeffpn]

Now with a fancy temperature monitoring system!

 

[GFHomebrew]

So here’s my installed fan. I paid for the deluxe installation! You can see it laying in the four kegs to the left. I have it blowing down. That happens to be where the water jug is, but I’m sure that’s inconsequential. I just plugged it into the hot side of my STC-1000, since it’s free and nearby. I don’t really want it on all of the time, and my theory is that it probably doesn’t matter much when it cycles. I’m sure it’ll help. I guess I should find an expert in thermodynamics, find out the best installation, blowing up or down, powered by hot or cold, etc. Now I have to find a probe so I can check the upper cabinet temp without opening the lid.

well you sure dont muck about thrre jeff. you know its prob not that bad an idea on hot side really. my thinking is once the cold side relay clicks off and drops down to kick on your warm relay this will then circulate the cold air just generated from keezer and hopefully keep the probe cool for longer and thus prolong the heat function relay fan.

 

[jeffpn]

Plugged into the hot side, it showed 52° this morning. I have it plugged into constant now.

 

[Hawkbox]

I have a normal outlet on the back of my keezer that I use for the fan, it's not fancy but it does the job. This summer I might build an airflow rig out of white PVC. That looks good though, I have to lift my lid to see the temperature on mt STC-1000.

 

[jeffpn]

My STC-1000 is behind the keezer. The probe is at the bottom of the keezer, which is a very different temperature than the top.

 

[Hawkbox]

That's more or less the same as mine, I leave the fan running to try and make the temperature in the keezer more uniform.

 

[jeffpn]

40° now. Checked it when I got home from work. Constant recirculation it is. Good enough for me.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I would seriously look at the heat coming from the back of your freezer, i found this out by accident when my fermentation chamber wasn't cooling enough, the heat from the compressor bleeds through the freezer wall and counteracts the freezing, I ended up putting a fan on the compressor blowing the heat away and it worked

 

[jeffpn]

It’s not surprising to me that the top of the keezer is significantly warmer than the bottom. My collar is not insulated, and there’s no chilling going on there either. That comes from the freezer walls down below. I’m happy with 40°.

 

[Mase]

Since our beer pulls from the same elevation at only a couple inches from the bottom of the Keezer, the beer temp is always consistent (so long as we don’t drink too much at one time). Having a fan would definitely help when cold crashing as the temperature difference is relatively substantial between the top of the fermenter that I’m cold crashing and the bottom. So a fan is on the bucket list for home brewing. Great thread!

 

[jeffpn]

It took me over two years to put a fan in, because of your reasoning. My beer is always cold. But when I put things on top of the kegs (like meat for sausage or jerky) it’s a little too warm.