Old fridge for fermentation chamber

[kaminsknator]

I'm not that knowledgeable on fridges but this gem I got for free. It appears that 100% of the cooling comes from the freezer, thoughts? It only has one temperature knob as well. I am going to convert in into a temperature controlled fermentation chamber. Would be cool to remove the freezer part and get some more room just checking with some more experienced people.

 

[day_trippr]

Virtually every fridge/freezer unit has the evaporator (the thing that "makes cold") in the freezer compartment, so that ol' girl is hardly unique in that respect. And in her case that aluminum freezer compartment is the evaporator, so it's not going anywhere if you want her to keep working...

Cheers!

 

[kaminsknator]

Ok so you're saying its not just a shield protecting the coils but an integral part? Maybe I could still cut the bottom part off?

 

[Morrey]

Ok so you're saying its not just a shield protecting the coils but an integral part? Maybe I could still cut the bottom part off?

It's like drilling a hole thru the side of a chest freezer to run an external CO2 line.....It is not advised to do it! I would be very hesitant to cut or modify anything that has coils running through it. I realize it will be in your way but it is very risky to start hacking on the plate. Hopefully you can work around it.

 

[kaminsknator]

Thanks for the replies I'll just use it for ice pack storage assuming it still gets freezing temperatures when keeping the rest of the fridge at ideal fermentation temperatures.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

I think the best you'll get is fridge temps in the freezer with the fridge set to ferm temps....

 

[day_trippr]

Ok so you're saying its not just a shield protecting the coils but an integral part? Maybe I could still cut the bottom part off?

Look at the lower left corner of the freezer compartment and you'll see vertical channels turning the corner and likely running for some distance across the bottom (can't really see the extent from here).

So, no, you can't cut off the bottom, either...

 

[Morrey]

Look at the lower left corner of the freezer compartment and you'll see vertical channels turning the corner and likely running for some distance across the bottom (can't really see the extent from here).

So, no, you can't cut off the bottom, either...

day_tripper I think those vertical channels probably run all the way close to the front lip of the freezer compartment. Like you, I believe that cutting that plate in any place will destroy this unit.

 

[skraeling]

Long as she gets cold it'll work. Sadly though it's not modifiable.

 

[JLeuck64]

Yup, those previous responses all back up what I've experienced with my old fridge. On my fridge I fill the top portion with bottled water, soda or store bought beers. It keeps them cool... not cold like a fridge but cool depending on how much the unit runs to cool your ferment chamber. My thought on keeping the extra stuff up there is I am not dedicating space for it in a regular fridge and once it gets cool it may help stabilized the ferment chamber temps or reduce how long it takes to cool it down again. These things bleed the warm ambient temps into the interior and I figure if keeping a little more cold thermal mass in the freezer reduces the cycling of the compressor it should extend the life?

Lots of folks, myself included, set up their fridges to heat as well. Lots of ways to accomplish it, I use a cheap hair dryer in the bottom compartment and it's been very effective for several years now.

I built a shelf in the bottom and can easily get three plastic ferment buckets in there at the same time