Making a fridge colder

[nyer]

My kegerator is a standard fridge on the bottom with a freezer on top. I keep it outside in my screened patio that can heat up over 90 degrees. At the coldest setting my beer pours at 41-42 degrees. In the Florida heat that means a pint gets warm really fast. I would like to try an external controller like I built for my chest freezer fermentation chamber. Does anyone see any reason why this wouldn't work? Even in the heat the fridge doesn't run all the time.

 

[Takuie]

Depending on your skill level. You can wire your external controller into your thermostat. This will easily force it run at lower temps. The evaporator in a fridge is in the freezer anyways.

Another option, a little more intrusive/destructive is that if your fridge has the condenser coils on the outside(normally a big black dusty thing in back), you can carefully cut out the bottom of the freezer. This also gives you more room as well. Can also be very tricky as a lot of fridges run a heat element around the doors to help prevent sweating and the wires are sometimes ran through the very part you are removing.

 

[nyer]

My fridge does not have the condenser on the back. The rest of it sounds too complicated for me I guess I'll just have to live with it the way it is.

 

[Takuie]

Don't give up! You can find many tutorials and walkthroughs on how to wire your controller into your fridge. That's the beauty of this hobby. You can as deep into just about any project you want and if you get stuck, there is almost always someone that had same issues as you did.

 

[Setesh]

Have you tried cleaning the coils? Dirty coils don't dissipate heat well and will effect the efficiency of your fridge. People often forget to clean them, especially when they are on the bottom.

 

[nyer]

Just cleaned them a month ago.