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BeerLane · 09-02-2009, 11:11 PM

Hi all - I have read through a lot of the DIY projects on here and have too many ideas I want to attempt. My first project is a fermentation chamber using a chest freezer. I bought a used one from craigslist and ordered a Love TSS2-2100. I have seen some fermentation refrigerators/freezers where folks wired an outlet inside the freezer where one receptacle was used to plug in the heat source and the other was continuoulsy on for a stir plate. My question is how have these held up over the long-term and would using an outdoor plug offer any benefits? Also how would the wiring schematics look? Thanks for any help.

**wilserbrewer** · 09-02-2009, 11:31 PM

Chest freezers are typically very humid and wet on the inside, I can't imagine putting an electrical outlet inside??

MSUConrad · 09-03-2009, 03:29 PM

I have two outlets in mine for that reason. Just make sure you buy outdoor rated electrical components. I told the guy (which actually knew his stuff) at Home Depot I was putting it in for a pond. Worked great ever since.

BeerLane · 09-03-2009, 04:09 PM

Thanks MSU - how did you wire them in and what did you use for the connections (solder or wire nuts)?

samc · 09-03-2009, 04:14 PM

Why wouldn't you just route the wires outside of the freezer in the same place you bring the wire in for the outlet? Seems safer and cheaper to do it that way.

chuggs · 09-03-2009, 04:36 PM

Most everyone's Freezer has an 110v outlet already. It's a 2-pole plug for hooking up an ice maker.

If you're concerned about moisture you can splurge and route a pigtail into the Keezer with one of these:

Leviton Wetguard Locking Connector Plug L6-30 30A 250V - eBay (item 390082761204 end time Sep-15-09 13:01:56 PDT)

And for your stir plate & heater:

Woodhead L6-30 Watertite Locking Plug 30A 250V 28W48 - eBay (item 250026423382 end time Sep-20-09 11:17:20 PDT)

Expensive stuff..but you could have rain falling and not worry about it.

The other thing you might consider is putting a little dielectric silicone grease (Avail at West Marine) on and around the contact area...to avoid arcing in the wet environment.

Just some ideas.

BeerLane · 09-03-2009, 04:47 PM

I am going to be tapping into the existing wiring of the freezer already for the love controller and if i can just install an outlet as part of that process it will make things much cleaner. I also want to be able to take my heat source and stir plate out when lagering - so it wouldn't be too convenient if I had to continously route / re-route the wires for the heat source / stirplate. As far as the safety aspect - I've seen it done on projects in this forum and have seen receptacles/plugs/outlets inside commercial freezers growing up workig in them, so it is possible. I just want to make sure I install it properly for my application.