newby keezer question

[gfxprotege]

Hi all. I was looking at doing a simple install of a maytag 14.8 I saw at home depot. They have a floor model that's heavily discounted but still comes with the 10 year warranty on the compressor.

Is it possible to install a temperature controller without any drilling or needing to build a collar? Are there any ways to feed a temp controller in through the back or bottom? Or, are there any temp controllers with a flat sensor cable to feed through the lid?

I'm looking to only use it for fermentations. I'm not looking to run taps out of it or anything. Just trying to get the temp controller in without any air leaks.

Thanks

 

[mongoose33]

I think you can just lay the wire over the edge and close the lid on it.

 

[gfxprotege]

is there a risk of an air leak by doing that if the temp sensor cable is rounded instead of flat?

 

[day_trippr]

There'll be a pair of very small leaks - lid and door gaskets only have so much compliance.
If this is a chest freezer, the back edge of the lid is a handy air-tight ingress point...



Cheers!

 

[mongoose33]

is there a risk of an air leak by doing that if the temp sensor cable is rounded instead of flat?

There might be a little, but if you're concerned about that, use a little bit of clay or such to fill in the gap. The sensor cable for my Inkbird is about, oh, maybe 1/8".

If your concern is not building a collar you can't later remove, there's a way to overcome that. My keezer collar isn't attached to the freezer; I lined the mouth of the freezer w/ foam tape used for cushioning pickup truck toppers on the sides of the pickup bed.

I did it that way for a couple reasons. One is it's far easier to move since I can remove the collar and lid and move that separately from the freezer body. Another is that if I ever want to return the keezer to being a freezer, I can do that as nothing is permanently attached.

So you could do this with a collar that isn't permanent. I've attached a couple pics that show mine. My collar is a 2x6 box covered by a 1x8 facade. The facade is on three sides so the collar can't slide back or to either side. It's heavy enough it doesn't move.

 

[gfxprotege]

Thats a beautiful collar. Unfortunately, I'm in an apartment and I don't have the tools on hand to build one out. I'd have to get everything cut at home depot and hope that my measurements were 100% accurate, and I just don't trust myself haha.