Help with Mini Fridge Fermentation Chamber

[Pratzie]

Came across this on Craigslist for $50 and couldn't pass it up...

http://www.lowes.com/pd_326299-4722..._?productId=3256590&Ns=p_product_avg_rating|1

Its the perfect size for what I need for lagering or brewing in the summertime.

Just wondering if anyone had any experience with where the cooling coils are for this. I currently have a Johnson Digital Controller but was looking at the STC-1000's so I could make a three outlet system for a fan, small space heater and then cooling for the fridge itself.

Once I get the controller built i'd love to run the probe and cord from the space heater thru either the top or the side so I don't have to worry about running them thru the door but i have no idea where the coils are. I checked an appliance parts web site i found thru one of the threads here but couldn't find any diagrams for the internal parts.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated! :fro:

 

[Psych]

Almost all fridges (newer, mini fridges at least) have coils across the sides in zig zag patterns, and often across the top as well so it forms one continuous loop (compressor, side, top, side, compressor).

Doors are always safe, and often low down on the sides is safe but it depends. Very small pilot holes may be your friends if no one can give a diagram for where the coils are. Basically they're all over the thing and small, so in any given 2 inches of space you have a cm worth of coils (two loops perhaps) hiding in there right below the outer metal skin.

 

[day_trippr]

Inexpensive mini-fridges are virtually disposable, it's a rare one that shows up on a replacement parts site.

I expect that unit uses the exterior skin as the radiator for a buried condensing loop, and uses a cold plate in the little freezer compartment.

To check the former, turn the unit on and start feeling the side, rear and top skins to see if they warm up. For the latter, you should be able to follow the lines in and out of the plate to see where they go. Good chance one goes straight to the back wall, the other one might go straight back as well, or might go into the side wall or top before traveling back...

Cheers!

 

[Psych]

You can also check out my own mini fridge that I dismantled at this link:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/frigidaire-frt03cngw-full-dismantle-move-guts-new-chamber-317662/

You'll see in the pics what the hot side coils look like, and how many there were for my fridge. The exact design will vary a bit, but essentially your compressor will have three lines coming from it:

- One big one that goes up and into the fridge, this is the cold side, the evaporator plate, and connects to the cold plate in your fridge.
- One line of thin gauge copper that comes out of the compressor side and gets buried somewhere in the fridge side
- One line of thin gauge copper, possibly REALLY thin, like a wire almost, that goes to the other side. This is the opposite side of the hot side loop.

 

[VonMessa]

Sounds complicated.

I used some patio enclosure material, cut a hole for the fridge, relocated the door and shoved it all under my stairs in the basement...

http://s239.photobucket.com/user/tymekeepyr/library/Beer/Ferm%20Chamber