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**John Beere** · 05-25-2008, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brrman

We have that freezer! Hmm would the SHMBO mind I wonder?
Did you add anything else besides the Love and the sheeting?

No, I kept everything else intact so it would still be a full functioning freezer if it ever gets decommissioned. I guess the door shelving it gone forever, but other than that, it is now just a precision controlled deep freezer (or fridge).

vfinch · 05-25-2008, 05:24 PM

Wow, nice clean install! I love the placement of the controller. One of my co-workers is selling that exact same freezer because he's moving out of town and I'm probably going to grab it off him.

**John Beere** · 05-26-2008, 10:02 PM

Well, here they both are together - all finished. I'm in hopes my new fermenators will be here sometime this week...

nathan · 05-27-2008, 07:11 PM

If you were not an electrician, can you wire together those controllers? Is setting them similar to setting the dual stage Ranco? I'm running two of those on freezers I set up yesterday (and one freezer **** the bed, DAMMIT!). THey cam pre-wired, though. How do you wire these up?

I'm using dual stage so I can have a heat lamp wired inside it for winter time (it's in an uninsulated garage). Do these handle dual stage or would I just run a low wattage bulb in winter 24/7 to generate enough heat?

**John Beere** · 05-27-2008, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nathan

If you were not an electrician, can you wire together those controllers? Is setting them similar to setting the dual stage Ranco? I'm running two of those on freezers I set up yesterday (and one freezer **** the bed, DAMMIT!). THey cam pre-wired, though. How do you wire these up?

I'm using dual stage so I can have a heat lamp wired inside it for winter time (it's in an uninsulated garage). Do these handle dual stage or would I just run a low wattage bulb in winter 24/7 to generate enough heat?

These are single stage and there is no way to wire them together, but I would think Love makes dual stage controllers. Its very similar to a Ranco, just much sleeker IMO. I'm no electrician and can't advocate enough the danger of messing with electicity if you don't know what you are doing - but, I knew the existing thermostat was obviously a hot switch, so all I needed was to find a common line that was always on - which took a little digging but wasn't that difficult after following the wiring.

PeteOz77 · 05-27-2008, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Beere

These are single stage and there is no way to wire them together, but I would think Love makes dual stage controllers. Its very similar to a Ranco, just much sleeker IMO. I'm no electrician and can't advocate enough the danger of messing with electicity if you don't know what you are doing - but, I knew the existing thermostat was obviously a hot switch, so all I needed was to find a common line that was always on - which took a little digging but wasn't that difficult after following the wiring.

Or you could just put the controller in the main power cord and set the internal thermostat to coldest. I wired mine into the middle of a 15 foot extension cord. I installed the controller into a project box from Tandy and velcroed it to the top of the fridge. It doesn't look as schmick as yours does, but I still have an untouched fridge with no holes in the door and the wiring untouched.....as if it's ever going to be anything except a lagerator

Desert_Sky · 05-27-2008, 09:32 PM

Wow! Very impressive

**John Beere** · 05-27-2008, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeteOz77

Or you could just put the controller in the main power cord and set the internal thermostat to coldest. I wired mine into the middle of a 15 foot extension cord. I installed the controller into a project box from Tandy and velcroed it to the top of the fridge. It doesn't look as schmick as yours does, but I still have an untouched fridge with no holes in the door and the wiring untouched.....as if it's ever going to be anything except a lagerator

But if you cut the main power line, how does the rest of the mechanics (defroster, light, etc) work when the controller toggles off?

nathan · 05-27-2008, 11:45 PM

my current setup has the main power plug into the ranco dual stage. The sensor goes in through the ice-maker mounting hole, and a wire for a dome lamp runs through the hole as well. The lamp has a ceramic heating bulb. The heater is stage 2, set to a low temp, and the freezer is plugged into stage 1, with a max temp. The whole freezer turns off when it reaches temp. No light when you open the door. No fan.

I think the idea is that since you aren't even keeping this at freezing, it won't be a defrosting issue, but I'm no thermodynamysist.

If this controller can be wired to the main power line, I can probably figure that out well enough. I wonder if any local GRABASSers have done a wiring with one of these...

**John Beere** · 05-28-2008, 12:20 AM

Well, I am purposefully going to be dropping these below freezing to clear the beer before transfering to kegs. Also, I have some experience with this sort of stuff with my walk-in cooler and I can tell you that it will freeze up even if you aren't dropping the temp below freezing - especially when there is a lot of moisture in the air. So I liked the idea of going in like I did and just replacing the existing thermostat and leaving everything else alone.