Circulation Fans

[reboot]

I have a quick question about air circulation inside my chest freezer conversion. Should I leave the circulation fans on all the time, or should I only run them with the compressor? I don’t want to run them all the time if it’s not really necessary.

Thanks

[KingPin461]

If you use computer fans, then running them all the time won't hurt. Most of them don't generate enough heat or consume enough power to alter anything drastically. I leave all 3 of mine running constantly (1 at the top left, 1 on the bottom right, and 1 for the tower cooler) and I have no issues thus far, just nice ice cold beer......

[jumper]

Run it all the time. Power consumption is minimal and it helps the freezer maintain a constant temp throughout and reduces icing tremendously.

[bg44]

I want to put some computer fans in my chest freezer. Where do you buy the fans and How do I wire them up.

thanks,

ben

[jeffie45]

fans..

If there is a Frys nearby you can get 80mm or 92mm fans for $4-$9
the fans I use are Antec and have a 3 pin connector and a 4 pin computer hard drive/cd drive adapter. Also they have a fan that is a TriCool , so you can choose from 3 speeds.. Try not to get one that has LED lights on it unless you want your fridge to glow all the time..
power supply I would go with a 1 amp (1000ma) 12volt power supply..
wire it however you wish.. if you have an opening for CO2 can snake a wire in with it..
you can get those at Frys as well or radioshack...

Radio shack, bestbuy or any computer parts store would be good for the fans. Maybe not the Power supply. If you have any old linksys routers (dead or unused) their power supplies (at least the few I have lying around) are 12v 1amp..

[bg44]

If there is a Frys nearby you can get 80mm or 92mm fans for $4-$9
the fans I use are Antec and have a 3 pin connector and a 4 pin computer hard drive/cd drive adapter. Also they have a fan that is a TriCool , so you can choose from 3 speeds.. Try not to get one that has LED lights on it unless you want your fridge to glow all the time..
power supply I would go with a 1 amp (1000ma) 12volt power supply..
wire it however you wish.. if you have an opening for CO2 can snake a wire in with it..
you can get those at Frys as well or radioshack...

Radio shack, bestbuy or any computer parts store would be good for the fans. Maybe not the Power supply. If you have any old linksys routers (dead or unused) their power supplies (at least the few I have lying around) are 12v 1amp..

Thanks, I'll go to radioshack tonight and see what they got. I assume you can plug in multiple fans into one power supply.

[KingPin461]

Thanks, I'll go to radioshack tonight and see what they got. I assume you can plug in multiple fans into one power supply.

Just make sure the combined amperage for all the fans you are going to use, doesn't exceed the power supply rating.
For example, typical computer fans are .15 amps (150mA), assuming you are using a 12VDC 1 amp (1000mA) adapter, you can safely use 6 fans.

6 x .15 = .90 amps (950mA)

All 6 of those fans will receive 12VDC and will run at full speed.
This is the fan I used in my example Kingwin F-01B-4PIN 80mm Case Fan 2500RPM 32.4 CFM-Best Computer Online Store Houston Buy Discount Prices Texas-Directron.com

Just remember that all fans are different and some consume more power than others. Ive seen some that use .35 amps (350mA)

[Sammy1759]

fans

with a fan blowing directly up the tower that is hooked up on its own plug that runs all the time, do I need any type off return venting or does the "hot" air just work its way back into the "cold" box? i have the fan mounted next to the tower on the top of the "celing" inside of the box with enough room to let 3 beer line come back into the box. any help is appreciated

[BrewGuru]

Most tower coolers use a length of tubing to deliver the cold air up the tower.

The most important thing in trying to push cold air into a tower is to ensure that there is a return path for the air to come back, I've witnessed several times where proper tower cooling was mitigated because the air could not effectively return to the box, so very little air was flowing.

Ideally you want to rig your fan to push into a length of 1" or 1.5" tubing, which is routed to near the top of your tower, effectively delivering the cold air from the box to the top of the tower and letting it travel back down into the box, keeping the temp of your faucets and lines in line with the rest of the system.

Generally speaking fans blowing AT the tower opening are less than ideally effective but depending on your setup,, tower diameter, etc... ymmv.

Good luck!

[bg44]

I installed a fan in my deep freeze and now I have cold beer on the first pour. I have a 7.2 cubic ft. deep freeze and one fan seems to work very well. I tried placing it by the shanks for a while but the shanks got too cold and built up condensation on the faucets. Mounting it on the lid pointing down seems to work really well.

Thanks for the advice.

[jlopez77]

What would be the best fan position in a regular refridgerator? I have it on the bottom pointing up. It cools down the cup of water with the thermometer in it to about 34 (it was 38 before the fan), but the beer temp is 40 (it was 38 before the fan). I was getting perfect pours, but I wanted to improve the air circulation because there was about a two degree difference between the top and bottom of the fridge. Thanks for any help.

[bg44]

What would be the best fan position in a regular refridgerator? I have it on the bottom pointing up. It cools down the cup of water with the thermometer in it to about 34 (it was 38 before the fan), but the beer temp is 40 (it was 38 before the fan). I was getting perfect pours, but I wanted to improve the air circulation because there was about a two degree difference between the top and bottom of the fridge. Thanks for any help.

I placed my fan away from my cup of water and beer lines. I would suspect you have a temperature difference b/c you have your fan pointed right at the cup of water.

[jlopez77]

I did move my fan to the other side of the fridge. It is on the side of the keg. The temps seem to be leveling out.

[jlopez77]

Like I said in the previous post. My temps are leveled out. I have the fridge set on 6 (7 the highest) and the beer temp is still over 38. Before the fan I had it on 3 1/2 and the beer temp was 37 - 38. I'm not sure what is wrong, but I took the fan out and I'm back to the way it was before. I guess I should of left good enough alone. Anyone have any ideas why this is, maybe the fan was too strong? Thanks for any help.