Guide to set internal chest freezer thermostat to >32F; Eliminate external control

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Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. I'll give it a shot.

Do you think I should just use electrical tape to tape the two plugs on the black wires together, or would it be better to cut off the plugs, strip some insulation back and twist the wires together and then tape?
 
I think you will have to put one black wire on each terminal in your new digital thermometer. The thermostat acts as a set of contacts and basically acts like a switch. When the thermostat has a need for cooling, it closes those contacts and connects those wires together internally and when it reaches the preset temp it opens the contacts or disconnects the two wires. Again, without looking at the print I would be speculating but I think if you tie the two black wires together your compressor will run all the time.

To answer your original question, I would put a horseshoe connector or ring terminal on the wire and then on the screw on the t state cause stranded wire is very difficult to wrap around a screw and tighten. You dont want to take the chance of burning your house down do you?
 
I wasn't clear. I'm going to connect an outlet to the stc-1000. I'll plug the freezer into the outlet to control the freezer temp that way.

I was just asking how I should connect the original thermostat leads to act as a bypass. I think I'll probably use a crimp or twist wire cap.

I tested the bypass out (by just electrical taping the two lead plugs together), and it worked!
 
Anyone done this with an Igloo chest freezer? Picked up a 7.2cu ft from Best Buy and i'm going to attempt to fiddle with the course set screw (assuming there is one.)

If anyone knows this works already i'd appreciate the response. If not, I will post pictures assuming I can make it work.

This particular Freezer has 2 sections on the fine control knob on the front. One section is labeled Refrigerate and one labeled Freeze. It has settings for both sections, and the knob clicks a little when you move between sections.

I've got it cranked as warm as it will go right now (allegedly as warm as 10C according to the manual.) But I don't have any thermal mass in there cool enough to get a proper reading yet with my digi.

I will edit this post whichever way it works out.

EDIT: It was just as easy as any of the other ones I saw in this thread. Faceplate for the fine control knob popped right out the front with a few clips holding it in place. Set screw was just on the end of the thermostat mechanism, with enough flex room in the tube to allow me to pull the whole contraption out the front and adjust the screw without being worried about breaking anything. I cranked it down about 2 turns. Going to let it settle and see what my digi reads inserted into a water bottle on the compressor hump.

coursesetscrew.jpg


Took all of about 30 seconds to fiddle with it. Thanks for the great thread, made this easy to do and saved me some money!!
 
Does anyone know if you can do this with a side by side fridge/freezer. My understanding is there is only one compressor, on the freezer side, and the fridge regulates temp by blowing cold air over from the freezer side. seems to me, you could use the internal thermo on the freezer side to regulate up temp (so I can make a keezer), then blow the air across to the fridge (aka, fermentation chamber), where I will install a hot/cold love controller to dial in the ferm temps.

thoughts?
 
My understanding is there are two thermostats: one for turning the compressor on and off and one for opening and closing a damper.

Not sure if they'd both have the coarse adjustment screw.
 
My understanding is there are two thermostats: one for turning the compressor on and off and one for opening and closing a damper.

Not sure if they'd both have the coarse adjustment screw.

thats what I figured. So, could you adjust the control for the freezer, to run at fridge temps, and add a temp control to manage the movement of cold air into the fridge side (for ale fermentation temp range)?
 
A big Thanks to all who have posted here with information.
After reading the entire thread I turned the course screw clockwise 6 turns on my Kenmore 8.8 cu ft. It has settled at 40 degree pours.
 
Wow, so glad I found this site! Instantly signed me up for a forum account.

I have a Haier HBF05EAVS kegerator. The internal temperature will not get below 42*. Come to find out, the manufacturer recommends this "calibration" procedure! Here's a doc I found off their website that details it out completely for my unit:

http://service.haieramerica.com/documents/SB-BD-0004.pdf

I was on the verge of buying a custom temp controller until I found this site. So, THANKS ALL! Very helpful and I hope to have less-foamy beer in the near future.
 
Another success. Old fridgidare I got for free from my mom. About 6 turns cw and this morning a bucket of water is at 36. Going to try to turn the fine adjustment knob to see if it will warm it a tad.
 
Anybody have the newer 7.2 cu. ft. Frigidaire with the adjustment plate instead of the coarse screw? I just built my Keezer tonight and I turned the plate toward the "+" 180°, as far as it would go and I've been monitoring the temp for 2 hours. it's steadily falling from 60° to 40°. I have a 15.5 gallon keg and the CO2 tank (5 lbs) sitting in there.
 
Frigidaire 7.2 cu ft Chest Freezer

I just got this freezer. On page 7 of this thread someone posted this exact model and showed a picture of the temperature screw. Mine is slightly different as there is no tape covering anything and I looked on the side of it as well and couldnt find anything. Anyone make anything out from this picture?

2012-02-02_20-07-52_551.jpg


There is a notch on the top that prevents this thread from being turned more than a rotation either way. I cannot figure out if the screw is under that 'plate' or not and if so how do I get to it.

Did you ever figure this out? I just posted about this above.

EDIT* In that picture above, I believe that gray "bump" sticking out at the bottom of the picture is the course screw. I was turning last night and found it to make the compressor stop. Counter clockwise will raise the temperature on this one. I'm still not sure why this has changed from the previous control shown on page 7? My freezer was manufacture in August of this year.
 
Great post! Now if I were to eliminate the regulator completely, would the unit be continuously on or off? I want to place with a temp controlled switch.
 
Did you ever figure this out? I just posted about this above.

EDIT* In that picture above, I believe that gray "bump" sticking out at the bottom of the picture is the course screw. I was turning last night and found it to make the compressor stop. Counter clockwise will raise the temperature on this one. I'm still not sure why this has changed from the previous control shown on page 7? My freezer was manufacture in August of this year.

I have this freezer and it's not the bottom screw as pictured. Adjust the screw on top (after removing the tape) by turning it clockwise. This way you don't have to worry about loosening the screw too much and having it come out of the spring.
 
Update on mine:

This mod worked great for about a year, then I went to get a beer one day.... And found 3 frozen kegs!

Not sure how it overrode the dial, but it sure did. I just rotated it back to original position and use it as a freezer.

:-(
 
Update on mine:

This mod worked great for about a year, then I went to get a beer one day.... And found 3 frozen kegs!

Not sure how it overrode the dial, but it sure did. I just rotated it back to original position and use it as a freezer.

:-(

Have you recently moved your freezer then this happened (level makes a difference)? If not the thermostat is probably bad.
 
Have you recently moved your freezer then this happened (level makes a difference)? If not the thermostat is probably bad.

Nope.

It was in a spot for a while with a temp controller on it. I did the mod in the same spot since it was using my fermentation controller. It worked great for a long while holding at 40°F, then froze everything solid one day.

It still works fine as a freezer and I have plans to build it a collar and get a cheaper analog Johnson controller for it..... Right in line with my plans to finish building a bigger fermentation chamber and the stainless brew stand I am starting.

No worries here. Glad this mod seems to be working for most people.


MT
 
Well I just picked up a 5cu ft holiday from lowes today. Made the adjustment, turned screw all the way in. Put a 5 gallon bucket of water in there. Keeping my fingers crossed it wont be frozen tomorrow morning.

Update: Did this mod on friday. Its working great so far keeps the beer about 38-40 degrees which is where I like it.
 
I've taken a photo of the thermostat in my True keggerator (attached). I've been able to find a coarse adjustment on two other freezers I have, but have been unsuccessful locating one on this. The thermostat is manufactured by Danfoss, and is set just a little too cold for my liking. Can anyone verify that this model of thermostat has a coarse adjustment on it?
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=100776&stc=1&d=1360723627

Danfoss thermostat.jpg
 
Has anyone been able to the GE 5cu ft freezer to work using this method? I tried it the other day but was only able to get my freezer to 20 degrees F. I am going to keep tinkering with it but just wanted to know if anyone got it to work. Thanks
 
I've taken a photo of the thermostat in my True keggerator (attached). I've been able to find a coarse adjustment on two other freezers I have, but have been unsuccessful locating one on this. The thermostat is manufactured by Danfoss, and is set just a little too cold for my liking. Can anyone verify that this model of thermostat has a coarse adjustment on it?
Are you measuring air temperature in the kegerator or the actual beer temperature when you say that it's too cold? Can you see the thermostat probe or does it appear to be inserted into the evaporator coil?

The reason for these questions is that TRUE commercial coolers use a thermostat that monitors the actual evaporator coil temperature during operation. The evaporator is allowed to drop to well below freezing during the cooling cycle. Once the evaporator set temperature is reached, the compressor is cycled off until the probe reads a fixed temperature above freezing and then the cycle begins again. This scheme is used in order to allow the evaporator to defrost for each cycle. You can not use air temperature to determine set temperature, actual beer temperature must be used. The resulting beer temperature is basically an average of the set and fixed temperature.

I would suspect that TRUE kegerators operate the same way.
 
Do you think this would work to LOWER the temperature in my Danby DBC120BLS? It's definitely not getting cold enough. :confused:
 
Do you think this would work to LOWER the temperature in my Danby DBC120BLS? It's definitely not getting cold enough. :confused:

Yes, it will work.

In the long run...we could all be lowering the lifespan of our fridges, making them work harder to get colder. But hey, tis the price we pay for cold brew! I seriously doubt it would break anything in the immediate present.
 
Did this on the ancient 14CuF Gibson chest freezer I found on Craigslist for next to nothing- worked like a charm. About 8.5 clockwise screws puts me at around 36-38F in a bottle of water.

Thanks!
 
My last keezer was "adjusted" doing this method.. I finally spent the $75 and got a JC... much less hassle..

Kudos to this thread though.. we went two years on the old keezer before it finally died. :)
 
How is installing the Johnson controller less hassle than turning a screw? Sorry to troll...but I had to say something...:drunk:

I agree! It does the same thing so it will not increase the life span using either or option. The Johnson controller is way over priced anyway. With the cheap ebay controllers you can have two temp set points for 1/3 the price.
 
Because....

Using the "turning a screw" method, I was able to keep my keezer in a +/- 5* range (34F-44F). With the JC, it's now +/-2* (33F-35F). I like having that sort of control over my temperatures. Perhaps I did the adjustment "wrong" on my old keezer, or wasn't holding my mouth right.. but regardless, and like I said, kudos to this thread, because the old keezer (built in 1988) lasted me a couple of years with this method.

Regarding the "cheap eBay controllers"... yeah.. "cheap" and "eBay". There's your answer. I'd rather pay 3x the price and not have to continuously replace something. The JC are tried and true in the HB community and beyond. The peace of mind knowing that the 20+ gallons of beer in my keezer are going to be hanging out at 34F (+/- 2*) is worth the price of admission to me.

It's along the same lines as to why I bought a brand new freezer from Lowes when my old keezer died, instead of getting a cheap Craigslist one. Again.. "cheap" and "Craigslist". Plus I like stuff that has a warranty, and by the time all the rebates are said and done, I paid only slightly more for a brand new freezer with a warranty than I would have a used one elsewhere.


Flame on and troll away all you'd like... I'm not bashing this method to keep a keezer in beer temp ranges at all. Again, like I've stated a couple times now:

Kudos to this thread though.. we went two years on the old keezer before it finally died. :)
 
How is installing the Johnson controller less hassle than turning a screw? Sorry to troll...but I had to say something...:drunk:

Let's see.. push a couple buttons and plug stuff in vs. spending a week or more tweaking a screw (which involved pulling everything out of the keezer so I could move it to access the screw).

Yeah.. I can see how that's MUCH easier.

:drunk:
 
Let's see.. push a couple buttons and plug stuff in vs. spending a week or more tweaking a screw (which involved pulling everything out of the keezer so I could move it to access the screw).

Yeah.. I can see how that's MUCH easier.

:drunk:

Johnson controller is an advanced install. Splicing wires is harder than turning a screw.

I wasn't trying to troll, I was just pointing out it was not as easy as you make it sound.

My thermostat adjustment took all of 10 minutes. Maybe some units' thermostats are harder to get to than others. But hey, to each their own.

I think everyone should try the thermostat adjustment prior to JC, as the JC involves splicing/wiring and costs $$.
 
My Johnson controller was set, plug in, go. No wire splicing. I didn't have to find my screwdriver - that would be a hassle!!

I see! You must have the blue 419. The grey 419 install involved splicing into your existing wiring. I agree the plug/play option is good, but still $80. The temperature fluctuation of 5 degrees is concerning, but hasn't caused issue for me.

Sorry, I hate stirring up a ruckus!! My bad guys, let's keep the positive karma a flowin :D
 
Now that I'm thinking about it, there are two major differences between adjusting your thermostat screw and using a Johnson Controller:

Keezer vs. Kegerator

If you're using a Keezer, the Johnson controller is probably better than adjusting the thermostat screw, as it is a plug/play solution. Adjusting the thermostat screw COULD be more of a hassle due to the location of it.

If you're using a kegerator, the thermostat screw is easier to get at (usually right on the back somewhere under a cover).

You COULD use the plug/play JC, but usually mini fridges/kegerators have an automatic "Defrost" mode where the compressor is not allowed to kick on until it has defrosted. Therefore the Blue JC plug/play unit wouldn't work efficiently, as the defrost mode may prevent the compressor from starting anyways. However, if you splice into the kegerators wiring and by-pass the internal defrost regulator with the Grey JC 419 unit, you can keep your kegerators temperature more consistent.

Make sense to anyone else? Or am I in my own little world here...
 
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