How to seal fermentation cabinet doors?

[rocketman768]

So, I've (finally) built a sweet fermentation cabinet.

Due to the fact that the hinge pushes the door away from the face a bit, and that the hinges only apply a gentle force, and that the gap at the top of the door is slightly smaller than the gap at the bottom, what's the best way for me to get a seal that is as close to airtight as possible around the door so that I don't have big heat leakage?

 

[TipsyDragon]

first thing that comes to my mind is weather stripping.

 

[rocketman768]

first thing that comes to my mind is weather stripping.

I tried that, but it doesn't quite work for a couple of reasons. First, the doors don't close with enough force to really make a good seal against the stripping, and second, there are still gaps at the door bottom due to the asymmetric gap I mentioned.

 

[flyingwmelon]

Magnetic refrigerator door seal?

 

[NoNothing]

Silicone to seal at the top and bottom of the doors, and at the hinges some sort of rubber attached to the door and cabinet on the inside to prevent airflow?

That's a pretty hacky, and probably not a good permanent solution.

Is there anyway you can move the hinges back so the door gets a better seal by itself, and then use some silicone to help get a final seal?

 

[brewnickbrew]

Great Job on the fermenter. There should be some type of door weather stripping you could use in that application.

 

[cimirie]

I'm working through the exact same logistics at the moment (except I'm only in the "blueprint" stages right now). Bottom line, you need a fastener that will exert pressure on the door so that it compresses the weather stripping.

My current solution involves a door latch screwed to the end of the door and the side of the cabinet (I'm using one large door as opposed to your beautiful two doors). In your case, you could probably try a hook latch with the eye attached to the door and the hook attached to the top of the cabinet. It may not be the "prettiest" solution, but it might work for you if you make the hook and eye really stretch. The weather stripping will be essential in any case.

 

[Cpt_Kirks]

How about a combination of the thick rubber weatherstripping, and rare earth magnets?

The stripping will handle the sealing, and the magnets will hold the doors tightly closed, with no latches showing.

 

[rocketman768]

Ok, so I can use silicone caulk (since it remains flexible right?) or I could use thicker weather stripping if I could get the door to close with some more force.

How about a combination of the thick rubber weatherstripping, and rare earth magnets?

The stripping will handle the sealing, and the magnets will hold the doors tightly closed, with no latches showing.

I had the exact same idea. What about this stuff?

http://www.thehardwarecity.com/products/01610-36x82-Be-Stl-Dr-W-strip/7007313

As I understand it, it's just like the stuff that goes on door fridges, so I'd just need to line the door opening with some iron or steel.

 

[kpr121]

Cool idea.... just wondering how is this an 87% discount?

Retail Price: $31.99
Sale Price: $17.08
Availability: IN STOCK
Saving: 87%

 

[Swordsman]

I think they got confused, they did the percentages backward. $31.99 is approximately an increase of 87% from $17.08. It's just not 87% of $31.99 ($27.83) , or 87% off $31.99 ($4.16)

 

[bendavanza]

You could use a latch to keep the door shut with the seal. Even something simple like a block of wood that is between the doors and the width of the gap between them, that you can rotate to keep the doors shut, with a spacer behind it for the proper distance to make a seal. I have a wood dog kennel that uses a simple latch like that. One screw secures it.

 

[Catt22]

lol...very poor math skills is the answer.

Looks like what they did was $31.99-17.08=$14.91

then $14.91/17.08=0.87 or 87% (duh)

It should be $17.08/31.99=0.534 or 53.4% off the original price.

 

[GNBrews]

Use a replacement door gasket kit for a small refrigerator. They're a bit expensive, but designed exactly for the purpose and do the job well.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#1118a74

 

[BrewBeemer]

Ok, so I can use silicone caulk (since it remains flexible right?) or I could use thicker weather stripping if I could get the door to close with some more force.



I had the exact same idea. What about this stuff?

http://www.thehardwarecity.com/products/01610-36x82-Be-Stl-Dr-W-strip/7007313

As I understand it, it's just like the stuff that goes on door fridges, so I'd just need to line the door opening with some iron or steel.

Get some galvanized ribbon stock say 3/4" wide by 16-18 gauge, contact cement it to the frame then add the magnetic sealing edge material to the doors. As long as everything is flat with tight joints it should be air tight and hold the cold where you want it inside.

 

[rocketman768]

Alright, first I'm going to try the rare earth magnets since it's the cheapest and easiest solution. I'll just put weather stripping around the frame and epoxy a few magnets to the frame and door. Supposedly, each magnet has about 4 lbs of pulling force against steel, so I expect even more force between each pair I place. Hopefully I can get the door to compress the stripping.

Otherwise, I'll look to the refrigerator gaskets. However, that means I'll have to replace the hinges. Right now, there is about a 1/4 inch gap between the door and face of the cabinet due to the hinges, but the gaskets are all about 1/2 inch thick.

Also, maybe a really cheap, but very inelegant approach is just to use duct tape and some plastic drape on the inside to create an airtight barrier around my fermenters once I place them inside.

 

[bendavanza]

A piece of wood and screw is not the cheapest?
Think T handle, secure, cheap and you can stain it to match. Vertical between the doors, close the doors and turn the T to lock them shut.

 

[legaleagle]

On mine, I uses "P" and "D" shaped door/window weatherstrip and then force compressed the doors using a couple of bolt latches, one on top and one on bottom, of each door. Works pretty well. Whichever route you take, you should do 2 things to make sure the seal is relatively air tight: (1) let the ambient air warm up, make the fermentation chamber as cold as possible, and then run your cheek all around the seal to see if you can feel any air escaping air or cold spots and (2) at night, turn out the lights and put a BRIGHT flashlight on inside, close it up and look for any escaping light. If you don't feel any cold spots or see any escaping ight, then you are sealed.

 

[rocketman768]

A piece of wood and screw is not the cheapest?
Think T handle, secure, cheap and you can stain it to match. Vertical between the doors, close the doors and turn the T to lock them shut.

You're right, but I was hoping to avoid putting anything else on the exterior of the cabinet. But, you give me a really good idea. Since there are already holes in the door for the handles, I could remove the handles when I need to ferment and put a couple of long bolts through there that could attach to a nut with washer placed behind that vertical piece of wood right? Then, just tighten the bolts to compress the stripping.

 

[MikePote]

Sorry to resurrect a three and a half year old thread but what did you wind up doing. Im basically doing the same thing in some laundry room cabinets and am not yet sure how I plan on sealing the door. At the moment I was thinking foam weather stripping with a fastener of some sort that will put inward pressure to make a tight seal that wont open or also considering getting some magnetic weather stripping (maybe like a refrigerator) and attaching some sheet metal to the cabinet for it to stick to.

 

[Hello]

He hasn't posted since 2012, but he has some links to his software. Maybe try to contact him there. I'm curious actually too, now that I see the thread.

 

[rocketman768]

Sorry to resurrect a three and a half year old thread but what did you wind up doing. Im basically doing the same thing in some laundry room cabinets and am not yet sure how I plan on sealing the door. At the moment I was thinking foam weather stripping with a fastener of some sort that will put inward pressure to make a tight seal that wont open or also considering getting some magnetic weather stripping (maybe like a refrigerator) and attaching some sheet metal to the cabinet for it to stick to.

I ended up keeping the weather stripping, because the gap between the door and cabinet was pretty small. The magnets didn't work to compress the stripping, because they were just too big to fit in the gap. I just removed the handles and fit a bolt through the handle's hole with a washer on the inside to catch the back of the vertical piece of wood that separates the two openings in the cabinet. On the outside, put another washer and nut and tightened it down to squeeze the door against the stripping. It's pretty ghetto.

If I had it to do over, I would buy some magnetic stripping and buy hinges that gave larger clearance to accommodate it, or somehow plan the doors around the stripping rather than plan the stripping around the doors.

 

[MikePote]

Thanks. Hell of an idea with the way to tighten it. definitely super ghetto but so is the rest of my laundry room cabinet/slop sink/ferm chamber build so that will work for me if the magnetic stripping dosnt. Thanks again.

 

[oldstyle69]

yeah, id keep it simple. i have a top opening lid on mine. i put some metal flashing under the weather strip and glued in some real strong rare earth magnets into the lid. its kind of hard to open it.