Fridge temp controller - compressor? keep freezer cold?

Hi All,

I'm very new to brewing (first batch is fermenting). A friend of a friend told me the best thing he ever did was make an old fridge into a fermentation box, said it had a bigger effect on the beer than going AG.

Either way, I've been reading the ebay aquarium temp controller build thread and have decided I'm definitely going to make this set up.

It brings me to a few questions though.

1. I could be 100% off but wouldn't having the compressor kick off and on beat the snot out of it? I know it's not a big deal because I'll get a cheap/free on off craigslist. I'm more curious than anything.

2. SWMBO isn't completely sold on the whole idea so I said I'd try to rig it so the freezer was always on as the freezer in the kitchen is always stuff. Can I directly wire it so I'm just turning the fridge off and on but leaving the freezer cold? I'm going to try to pick up a freezer on the top model. My gut instinct says no because all the forums I've read have mentioned something about it being interconnected.

Any advice is very much appreciated!

The compressor keeps the freezer frozen and the fridge cold. If you control its on and off times to regulate the fridge temps I would think the freezer isn't going to be frozen. I admit that I just use my fridge to store my beer and have never tried to regulate it as a ferm box though.

Virtually all modern top-freezer fridges use the freezer compartment to generate the cold air that is then ducted to the fridge compartment below. That would make it difficult to keep the fridge compartment at fermentation temperature while keeping things frozen in the freezer section...

Cheers!

day_trippr said:

Virtually all modern top-freezer fridges use the freezer compartment to generate the cold air that is then ducted to the fridge compartment below. That would make it difficult to keep the fridge compartment at fermentation temperature while keeping things frozen in the freezer section...

Cheers!

Click to expand...

Hmm.....

So I may be best off finding a french door design and hacking out the middle. That way I'll have more space. I say this because I assume the freezer will still be cooler than the fridge and that freezer space would be virtually useless.

What if I get a mini-fridge? Can I fit a 6.5 gal fermentation bucket in a mini-fridge?

Does anyone know of any reliable guides to accomplish what I'm trying to do? I've seen a bunch of posts but I'm not sure of the best set up for my situation. I saw that both of you are in MA so you're in the same boat temp wise. What do you use for the heating portion? ceramic heating bulb? electric heater w/ fan?

The stc-1000 that is discussed in that thread you linked has a built in feature to avoid hot starts on the compressor. It doesn't really run the compressor any more than a normal fridge. You can adjust the timing between restarts.

I use a 60w light bulb for heat. No cost for me as I had all the parts laying around (lamp, socket, guard, wire).

I bought a small fridge used from a hotel that was remodeling. $20. Ripped the door off and built a chamber out of pink styrene insulation. Works amazing, and will hold two ale pails.

One more thought. Total costs for my build:

Fridge. $20
Pink rigid insulation $18
Duct tape free (i have more than Red Green)
Lamp assembly free
EBay temp controller $23

TrainSafe said:

The stc-1000 that is discussed in that thread you linked has a built in feature to avoid hot starts on the compressor. It doesn't really run the compressor any more than a normal fridge. You can adjust the timing between restarts.

I use a 60w light bulb for heat. No cost for me as I had all the parts laying around (lamp, socket, guard, wire).

I bought a small fridge used from a hotel that was remodeling. $20. Ripped the door off and built a chamber out of pink styrene insulation. Works amazing, and will hold two ale pails.

Click to expand...

Cool man! Do you have any pics?

mdineenwob said:

[...]I saw that both of you are in MA so you're in the same boat temp wise. What do you use for the heating portion? ceramic heating bulb? electric heater w/ fan?

Click to expand...

I built a 120W ceramic resistor heater out of parts on hand.

I set it on the fridge floor below the beefy plywood platform that supports my carboys and run it off an external controller once the cold weather sets in.

As for a brewing fridge, you should be able to pick up a mini fridge off Craig's List for really cheap $$. But if you have the room, I'd go bigger. My femto brewery includes a pair of 17cf top-freezers I picked up from Craig's List for $100 each, one literally brand new/never used, the other barely two years old. I use one for fermentation and the other for crash cooling and carbing, and serve out of a 10cf chest freezer (which I also picked up off Craig's List for $125 - I loves me that Craig's List ) set up with six faucets...

Cheers!

day_trippr said:

I built a 120W ceramic resistor heater out of parts on hand.

I set it on the fridge floor below the beefy plywood platform that supports my carboys and run it off an external controller once the cold weather sets in.

As for a brewing fridge, you should be able to pick up a mini fridge off Craig's List for really cheap $$. But if you have the room, I'd go bigger. My femto brewery includes a pair of 17cf top-freezers I picked up from Craig's List for $100 each, one literally brand new/never used, the other barely two years old. I use one for fermentation and the other for crash cooling and carbing, and serve out of a 10cf chest freezer (which I also picked up off Craig's List for $125 - I loves me that Craig's List ) set up with six faucets...

Cheers!

Click to expand...

Whoa. You're not kidding around!

Do you or anyone else know if there is any wiring or mechanicals in between the freezer and fridge parts of a freezer on top unit? I'm wondering if I can use a hole saw to create airflow between the two sections the equalize the temps.

mdineenwob said:

Whoa. You're not kidding around!

Click to expand...

LOL! "Beer: It's Serious Bidness!"
The resistors and terminal strips were free, scavenged from a power supply load test board. I can't imagine any other use for the darned things yet I kept them around for years!

Do you or anyone else know if there is any wiring or mechanicals in between the freezer and fridge parts of a freezer on top unit? I'm wondering if I can use a hole saw to create airflow between the two sections the equalize the temps.

Click to expand...

That has been done successfully on some units. The thing I'd be concerned about would be the wiring to the existing fridge thermostat, it's often run between the two chambers.

I had to drill holes in my fridges for probes and gas hoses, so I got on the interwebs and found repair diagrams for my fridges and used them to identify where wiring and ducting was located before picking safe spots to drill. So I'd recommend doing that research before cutting any holes...

Cheers!