Help with STC1000 hardwired to a refridgerator for fermentation chamber

[bembel]

Hi

Non-electrician seeking some help hooking up an STC1000 to a fridge.

Most of the info I have found on in-line wiring involves converting freezers with these units but not regular refrigerators which are closer to holding fermentation temps.

I have a Frigidaire FFTr1715LBF (freezer on top, one thermostat, thermostat controls both chambers and freezer adjusts with a baffle)

I want to replace the existing thermostat control and temp probe with the STC1000 since now at its warmest setting the fridge it is still at 48-50 degrees and I want to be able to hold it at 55-60 for fermentation of my ciders. Plus is seems to vary WIDELY from 45-55 every time I open the door to look at the temp ( I have a digital thermometer inside to check temp )

I just bought a STC1000 but have NO CLUE how to work around the auto defrost issue, (and of course, the freezer will probably not be cold enough but I can live with that unless you know another way)

Could anyone possibly advise me on the wiring ?

Many thanks

 

[maierhof]

So I did a quick look for you online and here is that wiring diagram that you should review before doing this:
http://manuals.frigidaire.com/prodinfo_pdf/Anderson/241588206.pdf

here are the pics so someone with better knowledge than I can help you on this one:

 

[bembel]

So I did a quick look for you online and here is that wiring diagram that you should review before doing this:
http://manuals.frigidaire.com/prodinfo_pdf/Anderson/241588206.pdf

here are the pics so someone with better knowledge than I can help you on this one:

Thank you for posting that, I thought I had attached the wiring diagram but forgot to!

 

[day_trippr]

The best way to do this is to disconnect the power feed to the fridge, get into the fridge compartment, locate the thermostat and remove it, disconnect the orange and black wires that connect to the "Cold Control" (wiring located at the bottom of this diagram - there are two options shown but they're both the same wrt to the "Cold Control" wiring) and route them through the "Cold" relay on the STC-1000.

The easiest way is to build the typical box with the STC-1000 and a duplex outlet, then plug the fridge into the "Cold" side of the duplex outlet.

If you live in a region where the ambient temperature falls below your expected fermentation temperatures, you'll likely want to add a low-wattage heat source to the fridge interior and control it by the "Hot" relay on the STC-1000. You could either hard-wire that to the STC-1000, or use the box with duplex outlet thing.

Wrt to auto-defrost functions, I wouldn't lose sleep over it. I have that feature on both of my brewery fridges and while it'll cause a double-take occasionally when I see the controllers calling for Cold but don't hear the compressors running, I don't think it has much of an effect on anything at the end of the day...

Cheers!

 

[bembel]

The best way to do this is to disconnect the power feed to the fridge, get into the fridge compartment, locate the thermostat and remove it, disconnect the orange and black wires that connect to the "Cold Control" (wiring located at the bottom of this diagram - there are two options shown but they're both the same wrt to the "Cold Control" wiring) and route them through the "Cold" relay on the STC-1000.

The easiest way is to build the typical box with the STC-1000 and a duplex outlet, then plug the fridge into the "Cold" side of the duplex outlet.

If you live in a region where the ambient temperature falls below your expected fermentation temperatures, you'll likely want to add a low-wattage heat source to the fridge interior and control it by the "Hot" relay on the STC-1000. You could either hard-wire that to the STC-1000, or use the box do with duplex outlet thing.

Wrt to auto-defrost functions, I wouldn't lose sleep over it. I have that feature on both of my brewery fridges and while it'll cause a double-take occasionally when I see the controllers calling for Cold but don't hear the compressors running, I don't think it has much of an effect on anything at the end of the day...

Cheers!

Many thanks, one last question, does this mean I will not be using the temp probe that comes with the STC 1000?

 

[BigRob]

No you would need the temperature probe, otherwise the STC-1000 will not work.

 

[day_trippr]

^Correctamundo. No probee = no workee.

With the thermostat-bypass solution, the only thing out of the ordinary is you're not passing an externally-provided hot AC through the relay on the way to the compressor - you're literally substituting the STC-1000's brain (with its temperature sensor) for the simple OEM dial thermostat...

Cheers!

 

[bembel]

Thanks for the input, but I'm still learning and would be greatly appreciative for some additional details, as this is NOT my language.

I still need to power the STC ( well, in this case its an Inkbird) so where should I do that from?

Could someone look at the schematics from the fridge and tell me exactly what needs to be cut, spliced, and connected where?

 

[day_trippr]

I thought you were using an STC-1000?

You can get power and neutral from the line cord inside the unit.
In the big diagram in the top right you can see where power, neutral, and safety ground enter the unit. You could cut the wires and then wire-nut them back together including leads to power your controller - whatever it is.

The rest I've already explained: find the thermostat and extract it enough to get to its orange and black wires (leave the green-yellow, it's just a ground) and splice those through the Cool relay on your controller.

Done.

Cheers!