RighteousFire
Well-Known Member
So my awesome Fiancé found me this sweet freezer on Craigslist for free. It was in a basement flood and one of the connectors shorted out. I took it apart fixed the short and plugged it in and it kicked on. It got cold immediately and sounded fine.
Right now it’s just hanging out with some buckets in it (Scottish Ale and Russian Imperial Stout) that are done fermenting and are now conditioning. I put some frozen jugs of water in there to get it chilly in there. As you can see it has been holding steady at an ambient 49F for about 18 hours now and the buckets are reading about 53F on the thermo strip. Theoretically it can hold 4 fermenters (got to strengthen that shelf).
Now, for my idea. I have a programmable Honeywell Thermostat. It doesn’t matter that it’s programmable because I can set it on a permanent temperature and keep it held there. I'm thinking of adopting an idea from the Son of a Fermenter Chiller and Mother of a Fermenter Chiller concepts. I'm thinking of using the Thermostat to control a relay to control the power of the freezer. It would have to be a 12VDC Coil capable of supporting 120VAC on the switch side. The freezer is only 5 amps so I won’t have a problem with supporting that.
The Thermostat has a swing of +/- 1F and the freezer seems capable of holding temperature very well so my question is:
Has anyone tried this, or heard of this idea?
And, does anyone have any comments/concerns/ideas?
As soon as I get out and find a relay I will report back.
Edit:
How does this look?
http://www.123securityproducts.com/rdc12.html?CS_003=691061&CS_010=rdc12
* 12VDC operation.
* Coil draws 80mA.
* 10 amp/120VAC/28VDC or 10 amp/277VAC DPDT contacts.
* DIN Rail mountable.
* Dimensions (approximate): 1.375”W x 2.7”L x 2.375”H
I know it's a Double Pole, but I don't have to use both poles. its $14.00 plus shipping.
Right now it’s just hanging out with some buckets in it (Scottish Ale and Russian Imperial Stout) that are done fermenting and are now conditioning. I put some frozen jugs of water in there to get it chilly in there. As you can see it has been holding steady at an ambient 49F for about 18 hours now and the buckets are reading about 53F on the thermo strip. Theoretically it can hold 4 fermenters (got to strengthen that shelf).
Now, for my idea. I have a programmable Honeywell Thermostat. It doesn’t matter that it’s programmable because I can set it on a permanent temperature and keep it held there. I'm thinking of adopting an idea from the Son of a Fermenter Chiller and Mother of a Fermenter Chiller concepts. I'm thinking of using the Thermostat to control a relay to control the power of the freezer. It would have to be a 12VDC Coil capable of supporting 120VAC on the switch side. The freezer is only 5 amps so I won’t have a problem with supporting that.
The Thermostat has a swing of +/- 1F and the freezer seems capable of holding temperature very well so my question is:
Has anyone tried this, or heard of this idea?
And, does anyone have any comments/concerns/ideas?
As soon as I get out and find a relay I will report back.
Edit:
How does this look?
http://www.123securityproducts.com/rdc12.html?CS_003=691061&CS_010=rdc12
* 12VDC operation.
* Coil draws 80mA.
* 10 amp/120VAC/28VDC or 10 amp/277VAC DPDT contacts.
* DIN Rail mountable.
* Dimensions (approximate): 1.375”W x 2.7”L x 2.375”H
I know it's a Double Pole, but I don't have to use both poles. its $14.00 plus shipping.