Haier wine fridge fermentation chamber

I know this thread is a little old but hopefully someone can help.

I don't know much about electrical stuff but the original poster @fall-line said they used 14 gauge romex to bypass the controller and keep the compressor permanently on. I have some 20 gauge solid wire I have from Radio Shack, will that work just as well?

I have the exact same fridge and built a shelf the same height as the "compressor hump" in the back of the fridge, worked perfectly and will hold my 6.5 gallon carboy with 3 piece airlock inserted. Clears the roof by about a 1/2" inch after removing the dome light!

Thanks for any info on the wiring you can give and then on to get the new controller working...

 

It will work, technically, but its a little small. From my understanding of it, that jumper wire is carrying the entire load of electricity across it when the fridge is running and that is the reason for the thicker wire. You could use the 20 gauge to test, but I would use 14 or 16 gauge for permanent installation.

Lowe's sells 14 gauge solid wire by the foot for less than $1/foot

 

@hopsandhops Appreciate the advice, will get some 14 gauge, cheap solution.

 

Happy to help!

The solid 14 is reeeaaaallly tight in the plug. 16 might fit better. I used 14 and used some pliers to push it in and then electrical taped it. Been working like a champ ever since!

 

Thanks for the update.
I found a small length of 12 gauge in my basement I was thinking of using. Doesn't sound like that's going to fit. Might just take your first suggestion a buy a foot of 16 gauge from Lowes. Might be a perfect fit!

 

YeastFeast,
On my Haier FC, I cut the compressor wire leaving the black box.

I stripped off the outer cover on the wire leaving the box and capped each wire.
I wired the compressor directly to my remote temp. controller.

The Haier temp display works and displays air temp.
The remote probe is taped to the fermenter.

'da Kid

 

Very interesting. It would be cool to monitor the fermenter AND be able to view the internal temp of the fridge at the same time. Can you share any more details as to how you wired your controller directly to the compressor?

 

Sure.
I used this model controller:
http://www.controlproductsonline.com/documents/TC-9102%20Manual%2042420054A.pdf

It was available locally, rated for the current, made in USA and I had some experience with this brand.

Basically I extended the compressor wires up to the controller with a scrap computer power cord. Cutting off both ends of the PC cord and hard wiring it. A second PC cord is used to supply power to the controller.

So . . . . . . . .
The Haier is plugged into one of the wall outlets. It's settings mean nothing.
The controller with the compressor into the other wall outlet.

'da Kid

 

Nice. Thanks for information. Been looking into the BrewPi controller but obviously there are other options out there. Didn't know about the one you are using.

 

+1 on the brewpi. I started with an STC-1000+ and quickly built a brewpi. The thing is amazing. The ITC now controls a chest freezer

There's a thread on here on building a brewpi on the cheap

 

This must be the thread your talking about:
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=466106&page=375

Holy crap, it has 375 pages to it!!!

According to BrewPi's website, the controllers have been out of stock for a while but new ones should be available by the end of the month.

 

That's the one! All the necessary info for building one is on the first page. It was a good bit of work to get it all wired up, but it works like a charm. There was a bug in the software when I originally built mine, which caused some major headaches, but that has since been resolved.

I looked into buying one when I was struggling with the unknown bug at the time but long story short, I got mine finished, with indicator LEDs and everything for less than half what it would've cost to order one.

Heres my build: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=6873600&postcount=3471

 

@The10mmKid This project has been on hold for a while but I'm back at it now.
So it looks like you cut this wire (arrow below), put caps on the black/white wires on the "black box" side of the cut wire and then wired the brewPi to the compressor side of the cut wire.
Is that correct?

Also, I'm a complete electrical idiot. I'm guessing the white wire is the "hot" and the black wire is the ground? I assume it matters when I'm wiring this to an SSR or an old computer power cable like you did.

Thanks!!

 

I cut the cable where you have the red arrow.
Strip back the cable to expose the black and white wires.
Place a wire nut on the two wires from the Hair control box and place the box back in position. You are done with your work there.

Bring power from your controller down to the compressor wires.
White is neutral, black is hot. Your salvaged 'puter cord may be blue and brown.

Does your controller have an outlet, or is the output something you have to hard wire?

Later,
Mr. Bill

 

Thanks for getting back to me! Good information.

I purchased a BrewPi so I have to hard wire it. I purchased an SSR as well. I'm assuming I'll need to go take the black & white compressor wires to the SSR, then connect the power cord to other side of the SSR to power everything.

Does that sound correct?

Thanks again!

 

The SSR controls the black 'Hot' wire.
The white 'Neutral' just passes through to the Haier.

 

Sorry, not sure what you mean by this?

 

Basically the white wire is unswitched.

All the white wires in your controller are 'tied' together. Only the black 'hot' wires are switched by the SSR.

 

Yeastfeast - not trying to be a jerk but it sounds like you don't know much about electrical wiring. Please find a friend who is an electrician or is experienced enough that you'd trust your life in their hands because that is what you're risking if you get this wired wrong.

If you're just learning and you're up for it then kudos - just please research the heck out of this and maybe practice with a lamp before you cut into the fridge.

Best of luck!

 

Can't tell how many hours I've put into reading and trying to learn all this stuff. You're right, I have zero experience with electrical wiring but was really hoping I could do this myself. I love a challenge but im still not close to understanding how to wire everything. I still need to educate myself on SSRs and also the BrewPi wiring side of things.
Without a step by step procedure, I've got a ways to go yet.

Thanks for the reality check, I needed that. Not looking to kill myself anytime soon! ⚡️⚡️⚡️

 

This is a pretty simple mod thanks to fall-line's instructions. I just picked up a used Haier BC112G off CL and an Inkbird ITC-308 off Amazon. I took a picture of the electrical connector I used as a shunt to hot wire the compressor, it was a perfect fit.