Ahhhh, crap - S/S Fridge Question

So, I'm pretty sure I already know the answer to this, but I'm not very mechanically savvy, so someone school me up if I'm wrong...

I bought a cheap, used Side-by-side Fridge (amana SZ22NL), thinking that I could use the freezer side for a couple of fermentation buckets and keep cold beer bottles in the fridge side. I want to hook up a nice digital thermostat, so I tore it apart tonight looking for the built-in freezer thermostat controller (which happened to be found in the most logical place, duh)...okay, so I learned a lot about how refrigerators work.

Basically, what I'm seeing is that the coils are in the bottom/back of the freezer, and there's a fan that blow the cold air upwards and distributes it. There are holes in the wall between the fridge and the freezer that allow cold air to get into the fridge. It looks to me like the freezer gets cold, and the fridge just kind of piggy-backs on that. The "temp control" for the fridge apparently just opens a little port on the back of the fridge that allows excess cold air out. There doesn't appear to be any active cooling just for the fridge.

So, basically, if I'm fermenting beer at 60 degrees in the freezer side, my bottled beers in the fridge side are never going to get colder than 60 degrees in the fridge side?

Is this right? Is there something else I should be looking for, or did I basically buy a fermentation chamber with a slightly warmer fermentation chamber attached to it?

If so, any clever ideas on what to do with this thing?

 

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but your later assumption is correct. The "fridge" side is controlled by the "freezer". Cold air from the freezer is used by the fridge to cool it's contents.

 

Well, thanks for confirming...

Any ideas how I can make both sides useful in some way? If I turn the freezer side into a kegerator at around 35-37 degrees, will the fridge maintain close to that temp at the coldest setting so I can store bottles in there for serving?

Open to suggestions. Anyone?

 

Tear down the septum between the two sides and make one large compartment. I've seen it done online (here?). Seems like a good idea to me.

Might need some cheap styrofoam sheets (home depot) and/or expanding foam (Good Stuff) to fix the holes and such.

 

Check out this thread, it may help a little. By the way, I'm also in San Antonio and planning on doing the project in this link so if and when it's done feel free to come check it out.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/side-side-freezer-refrigerator-two-zone-control-235960/

 

Looks like that other thread doesn't apply here. My fridge-side temp control is mechanical, not electric. Good news is I can jam it wide open with a little plastic piece I ripped out of the freezer-side in order to keep it as cold as possible in there. I guess this thing might become a kegerator with cold bottle storage space.

 

Since my fridge-side shelves mount on the back of the fridge, I might end up going this route:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/side-side-fermentation-chamber-build-105054/

Knock out most of the middle wall, put two kegs on the freezer side, two kegs on the bottom of the fridge, and three shelves of beer bottles above them. Probably find room to fit the co2 tank in there somewhere, too.

 

That's exactly the one I was thinking of!

 

Why not put your bottles in the freezer side and ferment in the fridge side?

 

I considered that, but I think it would be hard, if not impossible, to maintain that huge temperature differential that I would need to ferment an ale at 60-65 in the fridge, but keep my bottles at serving temp in the freezer.

The end goal of using it as a fermenter isn't *required* since I have a chest freezer with a johnson controller I'm currently fermenting/lagering in. The plan was to turn that one into a kegerator and use the fridge/freezer for fermenting. Now I'll just turn the fridge into a kegerator instead.

 

i copied that same build and love it. it is your only real choice.

 

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-side-side-refrigerator-fermentation-chamber-183647/

 

It wouldn't be too hard to use a lauver and fan to control the tempeture of the fridge from the freezer. A bit more involved but essentially you would be doing the same thing as new style fridge freezer combos.

 

I spent today gathering supplies and cutting two big holes in the wall between freezer and fridge compartments. I left a bar across the middle because I want to re-use one of the metal removable shelves that came with it to put a carboy on for lagering. I'm lazy, and didn't want to build a whole thing out of wood. Next stop is the hardware store to get a couple pieces of wood for the base, and I'll be ready to add kegs, faucets, and the Love 13010 I ordered earlier today. Also ordered a 31CFM 80mm 115VAC fan to hook up and circulate air, even though that might be a little overkill. Woot!