After my fridge aversion, I managed to get a vintage 1991 UK built Candy, still respendent in beige with its Buy British sticker!
It's quiet handy having a fridge this old, as it has the old school backplate chiller, less likely to puncture cooling fluids. And the build quality is amazing the die cast door hinges are unbelieveable!.
My 70L was OK width wise , but far too deep with the tap. Enter an angle grinder after removing the HIPS moulded interior. This was cut back to just the rim so I could reuse it to retain the gasket seal. Still hard to cut after 20 years!.
A bit of plywood on the surround screwed into the metal frame on the sides, and top and bottom attached to this with brackets, then kingspan (left over from a roof insulation job) the front is just Kinspan to reduce the door weight. Also height adjusted so I can get a 25L vessel underneath. Shelf is an old enamel roasting tray that fits perfectly!
This is it with the door closed. Nicked named the "Silly Frooker"
I have now purchased a STC1000 and rigged it up with a 60W heater (under the roasting tray.) I am waiting for a pump from Mr Lard which is on its way. I still need a 12V computer fan as the extended belly needs better aircirculation. This I'm going to wire up to the 12V transformer for the pump.
Had a "wet run" on Monday with water, the HLT/boiler is at the top of the stack and needs to be raised a bit more as the sparge arm is slightly above the tap, need it in line as the water pressure is low at low levels. The Wort will go into the FV vessel in the fridge as a holding tank. Then pumped back into the HLT, now boiler. Finally I will drop this back into the FV, hopefully adding some airation.
Still to do:
Copper immersion cooling (I was thinking of a figre of eight design so the coils went through the centre: any comments?)
Pump connection
Fridge fan
Understand water quality
Brew!
