Questions about wine cooler as fermenting fridge

[optimal_pizza]

I picked up a Vinotemp wine fridge off Craigslist in hopes of using it as a fermentation fridge. It has its own thermostat and controls on the front but I was planning on getting an Inkbird temp controller to handle the temps.
Do I need to bypass or disconnect the built in fridge controller or just plug the fridge into the Inkbird and go from there?
I was going to get a small heater for inside the fridge as well. How do you deal with the cords going into the fridge? I put some test cords in and closed the door and there is a gap of space between the fridge and the door. Would I need to drill a hole for the cables or just put some kind of insulation in that gap?

 

[patthebrewer]

I fermented in a wine fridge just like that for a while. It will work, however in my experience the stock thermo in wine fridges have have pretty big temp swings before the cooling unit kicks on. The ones I've had and seen, all seem to wait until the temp is 10 degree or more off the set point before they will kick on. So you will definitely want some temp control. For my setup I used a johnson controls unit, and 60 watt light bulb. Also no need to permanently bypass the stock control unit. Just set the fridge to the coldest setting, and plug the fridge into your aftermarket control, and it will cut power to the fridge when the right temp is reached, and cycle when necessary.
As far as where to put the wire, I did find a spot to drill thru the back wall with no condenser coils, if your uncomfortable with that you could drill thru the gasket near the bottom door hinge to run the sensor (that way it would still be hidden.
In my circumstance I eventually came to the conclusion that a cheap chest freezer was more versatile, as I could drop the temp low enough to lager. Something the wine fridge couldn't do. Also I've not had good luck with longevity of those units (the one that lasted the longest lasted 2 years).
Anyway these are just some ideas, and your results may vary. Good Luck

 

[optimal_pizza]

Thanks for the response! I'm kinda leaning towards the chest freezer route as well based on some of the deals I've been seeing.

 

[satph]

I have a wine fridge plugged into an STC-1000. I have made no modifications to the wine fridge at all. I use a Lasko 100 space heater. I run the Lasko power cord (if I'm heating) and the probe wire right under the door. I'm sure it leaks a little, but not enough for me to worry about it, but I think my gasket is more pliable than yours. You could place a piece of insulation over the gap.

If I set it to never turn the cooling off, I can get it to run at about 50°F at the white wine (coldest) setting. I have no problems having the STC cycle it for temps in the 60°s. I can easily keep the chamber above 100°F with the little space heater.

Although my experience with wine fridges has been better than Pat's, if I were getting a new unit, I'd get a freezer so I could put bigger batches in it and so that I could lager.