Excited about my Sanyo Mini Refrigerator SR 3770S

[coffearobusta42]

My wife's parents just brought down her old college mini fridge - a Sanyo Eclipse Counter-High Refrigerator SR 3770S. It's pretty cool looking with a stainless steel front and all black interior. This particular fridge was clean and still worked. It's quiet and gets very cold.

After removing all the shelves and evaporator drip tray, I still couldn't fit a carboy in there because of all the door hardware. Luckly, it's all one plastic panel thats screwed onto the door. The screws are under the door seal. I used the same screws to reattach the door seal after removing the door panel.

My plastic bucket will fit with about 3/4 inch clearence from the evaporator tray, but is too wide to sit on the bottom of the fridge. While my carboy is just fine on the bottom. Still, they both fit!

Now I am waiting on delivery of an STC-1000 and am formulating plans on moding my fridge. Anybody have tips on how to locate cooling lines? I can feel around the case while it's running and defintely feel spots that are warmer than others.

All I have is a 18 volt cordless drill...will that be able to drill through the wall?

 

[watermelon83]

If you can get your hands on a thermal imaging camera the lines become quite obvious. If not you could probably use a contact thermometer to chart the wall.

 

[etk29321]

You drill will be fine. It's just sheet metal. Drilling it is more about going slow and taking your time than power. Use very little pressure and let the bit do the work (standard advice for most tools. Pressure is a poor substitute for sharp tools.). That'll help prevent it from getting away from you when you break through the thin skin into the soft insulation.

 

[coffearobusta42]

Thanks guys! I was able to feel the heat from lines with my hands on the top and sides, but not the back. Anyway I chose to use an existing hole that was already on the back of the refrigerator, at a level just below the top insulation of the fridge. I could see foam isulation behind the hole, my guess is it was used as a port to fill the space with foam. Anyway, I drilled slowly to widen the hole and dig out the insulation till I made it through.

My STC-1000 arrived on Monday and I spent the past few days gathering parts and putting together my temp controlled fermentation chamber.

Dry fit to check how much room I have.

All wired up.

At this point I realized I forgot to install the nuts used to secure the outlet. So I had to take off the back and while installing the nuts I pulled out a wire from the STC-1000 contacts. Which basically meant I had to pull that out again since the contact screws were on the other side. Sigh. Did I mention I'm not that handy with tools?

All setup with a temp conversion chart with fermentation temp ranges for ceratin beer styles and instructions. I forget who made that chart, but thanks!

My nearly finished mini fridge fermentation chamber. I'm still trying to figure out what I what to do for a heat source. I'm thinking of getting some Flexwatt heat tape. Anybody have any experience with that product?

 

[soccerguy83]

Very nice, have a link for that chart?

 

[D-Train]

My nearly finished mini fridge fermentation chamber. I'm still trying to figure out what I what to do for a heat source. I'm thinking of getting some Flexwatt heat tape. Anybody have any experience with that product?

It's not flexwatt, but I have a THG heat tape which is nearly identical. If you buy it from reptilebasics.com with the clip set you can opt to have them crimp on the clips which is great because they require a special tool. It's worked well for me. Right now I'm lagering a doppelbock in my unheated breezeway. I also used it recently to hold a berliner at 110F to sour the wort.

 

[coffearobusta42]

Very nice, have a link for that chart?

The credit for the chart goes to BrewProf...
http://brewprof.com/weekend-diy-homebrew-project-dual-stage-temperature-controller-stc-1000/3/

 

[markvale5]

I'm currently using a heating pad that doesn't have the auto shut off in my kegerator/fermenter it's been working great so far.

 

[soccerguy83]

Thanks for the chart link!

 

[coffearobusta42]

Built a step to account for the lost floor space due to the compressor housing. There is about an inch clearence wiht the top of the bucket and the evaporator plate. Airlock won't fit under it but there is enough room to sit in front of it. Temperature sensor is strapped to the side sandwiched between some styrofoam and the bucket. An old heating pad, propped in the back, is plugged into an extension cord running through a hole out the back. An American wheat beer in the bucket.