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Yeast Infection · 09-18-2007, 04:41 AM

I just bought a beaut of a chest freezer, 8.9 cf of glorious glorious cold beer. Now I need to keep that beer cold, and not frozen.
I want the Ranco ETC-111000, but I am not 100% sure how this works. My overall question is....Am I going to have to hard wire this thing at all? Or does it work by...I plug my chest freezer into the Ranco, and then the Ranco will turn the the chest freezer on and off accordingly? I have searched, but I need this basic question answered. Thanks all

FlyGuy · 09-18-2007, 05:07 AM

Congrats on the new purchase.

You can buy the Ranco pre-wired from a few sources. A search on eBay should turn up a few. But you can do it yourself really easily. Just get an extension cable that will handle the load of your freezer, basically cut it in half, and wire both ends into the controller. Now you plug one end into the wall, and the other (receptacle end) is where the fridge plugs in. The controller is then programmed to turn off the power to the receptacle (i.e. freezer) when it gets cold enough.

You could hard wire the controller directly to the freezer, too, but the extension cord method is more flexible (e.g., if you wanted to unplug the freezer and use it on something else).

Here are two links to wiring instructions, if you are interested:
http://www.zymico.com/thermostat.shtml
http://www.rancoetc.com/pdf/ranco_etc_instructions.pdf

There is also a good thread on this here at:
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/ranco-temp-controller-35078/?highlight=ranco

Yeast Infection · 09-18-2007, 05:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlyGuy

Congrats on the new purchase.

You can buy the Ranco pre-wired from a few sources. A search on eBay should turn up a few. But you can do it yourself really easily. Just get an extension cable that will handle the load of your freezer, basically cut it in half, and wire both ends into the controller.........

Thanks alot for your quick response. That seems easy enough, now all i have to do is decide, do I want the collar connected to the lid of the freezer, or the base of the freezer......haha say goodbye bottles....

camiller · 09-18-2007, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yeast Infection

...now all i have to do is decide, do I want the collar connected to the lid of the freezer, or the base of the freezer......

If attached to the lid the weight of the collar would probably keep the lid from being able to remain up by itself without some kind of prop, plus your beverage lines might have to be excessively long to reach your shanks while the lid is open. Better to put the collar on the bottom. Just my two hundredths of a dollar.

Edit. Oh, and if the collar is on the lid you would have to set the freezer further from the wall to open the lid.

**Bobby_M** · 09-18-2007, 01:56 PM

Sorry, I'm on the opposite side. I put my collar on the lid and think it's the better method (obviously). You're going to want your lines to be at least 7' anyway so longer lines is a moot point. It depends how strong the lid springs are but mine hold up the collar, lid, and four Perlick faucets just fine with no prop. The best part of collar on the lid is that you cannot bump your faucets while you're loading/unloading the kegs. Nothing like breaking off a tap stem or even pouring a pint onto your foot to ruin a day.

Now, I see a lot of guys using 2 x 6 lumber to build a collar. If that's the plan, forget mounting to the lid.

See my vids for the conversion process.

Yeast Infection · 09-18-2007, 02:11 PM

Yeah, Bobby, I have watched your videos, and that is where I got the idea of putting it on the lid. The only thing is....you did a reallllly nice job on that. I dont know if I have the craftsmanship for that. I have all my faucets and lines and every thing, for now I just may hook up a picnic tap, as I only have 1 keg filled, and it is going to be a few weeks before others get filled. During that time I will do lots o' planning and figure out what works best for me.

Oh, and I ordered the Ranco this morning.....cant wait to fire this puppy up!

blefferd · 09-18-2007, 02:13 PM

sorry to get this further off topic lol, but i just mounted a collar to the freezer, but if this freezer ever dies my next one is going to be mounted to the lid, i have about 4 1/2 feet+ to lift a keg now lol

mrkeeg · 09-18-2007, 03:50 PM

Has anyone ever tried mucking with the native temp controller on a freezer to be able to dial it down further, thus negating the requirement for a $60 external controller?

... I suppose if it was possible there would be more posts on that, and fewer on how to use an external controller....

Keegan