Its Finished! The dual heated/cooled conical project!

[yeastmeister]

Many have seen this in progress, or heard of its existance, but here it is, finished and all working.

One custom made 18 gallon conical, one 12.5 gallon MoreBeer professional series conical. Glycol chilled, and electrically heated. Can hold the temperature to within 0.2F of set temp.

This is a combined project between me and Zeeboz. We proudly present:


Full build:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yeastmeister/sets/72157615372400032/

[triple-oh_six]

Nice, hopefully I can see it in person soon.

[yeastmeister]

Added some legs to the shorter one.

[aleguy]

I'm hopeful that a large dog never bumps it and sends it crashing over. The height makes it more user friendly but it looks less stable now.

[yeastmeister]

Nah, actually, its more stable now. Previously, it had casters that made it very unstable. Now its rock solid, notice the circular weight distributors screwed to the bottom of the legs.

[aleguy]

Yeah, and I have seen it get bumped by a large dog too. Very stable.

[positiverpr]

hoping to have one of morebeer's new conicals soon. until then, i'll lust after yours.

[jimmiec]

Has anyone tried with with glass carboys and could plastic tubing be use instead of copper?

[redtail28]

I think it would work good. I had that same idea a couple of years
ago. My mom had knee surgery and they sent her home
with a ice chest with a small pump that would currculate ice
water though plastic tubing. can't see why you cant rap tubing
around carboy just insulate really good

[thebuddrik]

There is a guy on homebrewtalk that has been working in an aluminum coil for carboys that works like the Brewhemoth chillers. Just saying.

[yeastmeister]

I believe plastic is an insulator, thats why its used in ice chest. The idea behind the coil is that it transfers heat between itself and the conical efficiently. Not sure plastic will do that.

[jimmiec]

Once Aleguy and I get the brew stand in better shape, I'm thinking of building one of these for 2 or 4 carboys or a 2 chamber brew cabinet / closet.

[aleguy]

The thermal transfer of plastics vary considerably. but the main insulation in most picnic coolers is open-cell polyurethane foam. the plastic itself is just there to hold the shape. I guess you don't remember the old metal Coleman coolers.
Those things were great! They had a latch that held the cooler closed even if it fell off a cliff. They all eventually rusted out though. I guess that's the main reason coolers use plastic. It doesn't rust.