New Dry Curing Chamber Build...42cu.ft. stainless double door

[indaswamp]

So I had an idea...
I pulled out the spare 40amp power supply I bought and put a 110V pigtail plug on it. Hooked the fans and pumps up to that power supply and plugged it into the power strip for continuous power.

hooked the TEM's up to the other power supply and plugged that into a spare inkbird temperature controller I had on hand. Plugged it in and turned the power strip on.

Now I have a way to control the unit both temp. and humidity to run the dehumidifaction test until the rex C1000 PID controller issue get sorted out. JC in GB is helping me on that and it is much appreciated!

I am getting a 1*F temperature drop every 12 minutes or so...so in less than 3 hours should be down around 55*F from ambient temp of 68*F.

 

[indaswamp]

This week..
deep clean the doors and door moulding
deep clean the shelves
Fabricate and install the leg extensions on the shelf brackets
Fabricate and install TEM mounting brackets and insulate
clean and install roof shroud


Dehumidification test

If OK, spray down inside of chamber with star san and hang some salumi in the new chamber!

If test is a fail, design cold dehumidification system using a frost free 1.7cu.ft. freezerless refrigerator 110v, 180watt. This will pplug into the RH% controller in tangent with the peltier dehumidifiers for cold and hot dehumidification inside the chamber.

 

[daveomak]

 

[indaswamp]

Well, the dehumidification test is a fail. The two little 22watt peltier dehumidifiers just can't cut it. Will have to design an auxiliary cold dehumidification system to run in conjunction with the peltier units. With a full chamber, I'm looking at somewhere between400-500grams of water vapor in a 24 hour period. I am looking at a 180watt 1.7cu.ft. freezerless 110v refrigerator. I will have to design a baffle system and incorporate the heat sinks placed in contact with the chiller plate on the back wall of the refrigerator. I have the design in my head pretty much figured out.

The inlet and outlet will be 1 1/2" PVC pipe with a small 1 1/2" 5.4CFM fan for slow air speed and high retention time in the refrigerator for maximum moisture removal. I plan on making a header over the refrigerator outlet where it returns to the cabinet. Plan is to use 3" PVC pipe and rip 1/3 off the side. glue caps on the end cut the same, and bolt that to the ceiling over the return vent. will have holes long the back angled down over the radiator fans...

And I may not even use the rex C100 PID controller. The way I have the system powered now, I can use the auber controllers; which I really like.

 

[indaswamp]

A compressor system is more efficient at moisture removal than a peltier system. Using the refrigerator, It will already have a drain in place as well, I will just have to tap into the drain reservoir and install a drain hose. Should be a straight forward build...

I will also have an additional 180W of cooling to supplement the TEM chillers; which brings me to 540W of cooling capacity... and my calculations say I need around 560Watts, so this should work perfectly.....will be able to remove a large amount of moisture without heating the chamber...may even get slight cooling which is OK....

 

[indaswamp]

I have already figured out how I will cut the 1/3 slice off the PVC pipe. Will have to make a jig for the table saw, but it should work perfectly.

 

[JC in GB]

Yes if the auber controllers are doing the job, no need to reinvent the wheel.

 

[indaswamp]

Doing a cooling test using all three TEM chillers using the Inkbird temp. controller to switch 4.5amps of current to (2) 40amp power supplies. I have one power supply running (2) TEM's and the other is running (1)TEM, pumps, and fans.
Got a 10*F temp drop in an hour. Down to 60*F from 70*F ambient. That is the cooling I was looking for so I will be using (3) 180Watt TEM's for the cooling system.

Now that testing on the cooling system is done, time to clean it up for permanent install. Will solder wire connections and make/install the mounting clips and add piping insulation.

On to the auxiliary cold dehumidification system...

 

[indaswamp]

From 70*F down to 55*F in 1 hour 55 minutes. Perfect!

 

[indaswamp]

Someone made a video on youtube using the idea I had for a refrigerator as a dehumidifier....impressive in practice! This will work GREAT!

 

[JC in GB]

Someone made a video on youtube using the idea I had for a refrigerator as a dehumidifier....impressive in practice! This will work GREAT!

That is a great concept but do you need that low of a humidity level?

Are you going to try this or are you going with the TEM chiller design?

 

[indaswamp]

That is a great concept but do you need that low of a humidity level?

Are you going to try this or are you going with the TEM chiller design?

I will have it hooked up to a controller, it will not run constantly. It won't pull the humidity down that low in the chamber being switched by the controller. But yes, I need the ability to remove a massive amount of humidity....400-500g per day of water vapor. 2 peltier units would have to run 24/7 and it would be very inefficient.

 

[indaswamp]

Bought the little refrigerator this afternoon. Test fit on top of freezer cabinet...

It's a magic chef 1.7cu.ft. freezerless refrigerator. I plugged it in before I placed it on top the cabinet and have figured out where I will drill the inlet and outlet holes.

And my lucky streak continues...on the way home with the refrigerator from Home Depot I found a vacuum hose that a neighbor had put to the road.

I was going to use all 1 1/2 PVC pipe, but this flexible hose will be easier to fool with.

And...found a 120V 14ga. 3 wire pig tail I cut off a microwave that another neighbor put to the road.

That will be used for another 12V power supply. Refrigerator was $89 bucks and the hose and pigtail saved me at least $25-30 bucks....only need to buy fittings and make the baffle for diverting air inside the refrigerator. Then drill some holes and I can do a test....

 

[Bearcarver]

Wow!!
Shouldn't be long now!!
All these parts from the neighbors' piles.
Are you digging these up, or do you have your own "Igor"?

Bear

 

[indaswamp]

All these parts from the neighbors' piles.
Are you digging these up, or do you have your own "Igor"?

Bear

No digging needed...microwave was hard to miss, and the hose was on top of a small pile....easy to spot.

 

[indaswamp]

Bearcarver , It's like that time the butcher got his finger caught in the meat grinder.......Won't be Long Now!!!! LOL!!!

 

[indaswamp]

Made some progress on the baffle plates for inside the little refrigerator. Should be able to install the plates and the fittings for the hose tomorrow. Dehumidification test this weekend.

 

[Sven Svensson]

This has been a great project to follow. We’re all cheering you on.

 

[indaswamp]

This has been a great project to follow. We’re all cheering you on.

Thanks Sven! Doing something custom just takes time. All those small things you don't think about....like some baffle plate mounting clips. Took me all morning long one day just to make those.

 

[indaswamp]

Well the cold dehumidifier is 95% complete. The Baffle to divert the air over the chiller plate is done. Drilled the holes for the inlet and outlet in the insulated refrigerator box, just need to install the fittings, pop some holes in the ceiling of the freezer cabinet and hook some hose and we are ready for a test! Will do that in the morning....gotta knock of around lunch though...big crawfish boil with my fishing buddy @2pm. Hope the rain holds off.

Should be sitting on go for a dehumidification test sat. night or sunday.