linux20

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Just finished my keezer build and am super excited about how it turned out. A big thank you to everyone here that supplied much needed advice and inspiration.

My contribution to this build will be this:

In my area, Northern VA/Wash DC, at the Reston Community Center for $10 you can go use its woodshop. They have every tool and gadget imaginable to help build your collar or whatever. Plus they have an instructor/woodworking dude that will help show you how to use all equipment and answer any questions that you may have. So for $10 you get use of equipment (no need to buy anything and ability to use the right tool for the job) and the advice/help of someone who actually knows what they are doing for those of us who are handyman challenged.

maussy

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I tried going through this whole thread to see if anyone has hardwired a love controller directly to the freezer but couldn't find anything. I have mine wired up and everything turns on but the compressor doesn't kick off when it's supposed to. Does anyone have instructions/pictures of their wire job? Also I bought mine used on CL for $80 (STEAL) but it didn't come with a wiring diagram. Does anyone have this on their computer?
Here's a link to my build so far.
Keezer Build

Carlscan26

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Recently finished my own conversion - with lots of info from this thread.

I'll add some lessons learned/my experience in my own thread.

Thanks again to all that posted!

tojo

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Can someone do me a huge favor? I need a picture of the wiring connections for the this freezer thermostat. I took mine off to paint it and then accidentally deleted the picture I took of the wiring positions.

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I love a good train wreck!!

CapnBry

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It may not be a great picture but this is the only one I have


The connections are simple though:
-- Double white (neutral) connector goes to the top of the green light
-- Double black (hot) connector goes to the bottom of the green light
-- Red wire to compressor goes on "deepest" thermostat connector (this spade is actually slightly smaller than the rest)
-- Black wire goes on next deepest connector, next to the red.
-- Green wire (GND) goes to the spade on the thermostat that's attached to the chassis and all off by itself.

weeple2000

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I am planning on doing this in the near future. I have a question about the thermostat and the bilge blower. Will the stock thermostat work for beer temperatures? Is the bilge blower necessary, will things stay cool without it?

zachattack

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No, you'll need an external controller. I don't think I've heard of anyone successfully fiddling with the coarse adjustment screw on this freezer, but I might be wrong. Your best bet is to check out the "ebay aquarium temperature controller" thread, you can put together a controller for $30 or so if you're comfortable doing a little wiring.

A fan or blower isn't necessary, but it's a very good idea. It'll make sure lines don't get too warm, the shanks/faucets stay cold, the kegs are at the same temperature, etc. You can use a recovered PC muffin fan (or buy one for a couple bucks) and an old 5-12V DC power supply (aka wall wart) from a cell phone, cordless phone, etc.

jcoxen

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A blower of some kind isn't strictly necessary but will help keep the temperature even from top to bottom. I use an PC fan powered by an old cell phone charger. I have dryer vent hose running from the fan down to the bottom of the keezer. The fan pulls cold air up from the bottom and keeps it circulating so that everything stays the same temperature. The cell phone charger is plugged into a power strip that is NOT plugged into the temp controller so it's running all the time.

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Time's fun when you're having flies. - Kermit the Frog

jcoxen

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This is what comes of not reading all the other posts. I could have saved myself a lot of typing with a simple, "What he said!".

__________________
Time's fun when you're having flies. - Kermit the Frog

zachattack

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I'm glad we're thinking the same things!