brewfridge heater

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tourer
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Location: spitting distance of the Beacon hotel, home of Ruby red

brewfridge heater

Post by tourer » Thu Dec 29, 2016 10:48 pm

Checking my brew fridge temperature i found the fridge wasn't reaching the set temperature on the STC. i use a 40 watt tube heater which obviously isn't up to the job at winter temperatures. So i went and bought a one foot 60 watt today recommended by someone on Jims from toolstation a few weeks back. I will fit it tomorrow. The old one wont be wasted as i can use it in my cupboard for conditioning my bottled brew and save having bottles hanging around the house.

Fil
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Re: brewfridge heater

Post by Fil » Sat Dec 31, 2016 4:07 pm

Is it a big fridge?? just to be sure i would check the door seal, Im far from expert in the area but my limited understanding leads me to think if the fridge is sealed up ok and any warm air isnt leaking out carrying its heat energy with it, a 40w heater should be ample..

if not already employed a small fan to move the captured air about in the fridge may also help as the air is the medium of heat exchange and without a fan may not be turbulent enough to effect the change efficiently.

iirc im using a 40w tube heater, though my fridge is sat inside ..
ist update for months n months..
Fermnting: not a lot..
Conditioning: nowt
Maturing: Challenger smash, and a kit lager
Drinking: dry one minikeg left in the store
Coming Soon Lots planned for the near future nowt for the immediate :(

tourer
Hollow Legs
Posts: 479
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2009 9:09 pm
Location: spitting distance of the Beacon hotel, home of Ruby red

Re: brewfridge heater

Post by tourer » Sat Dec 31, 2016 9:46 pm

Hi Fil, it's a large upright fridge which will accommodate 2 fermenting bins. The only way i can check the seal would be to put a light in there at night and see if any light escapes, i'll do that at some point. The fridge is in the shed so ambient temperatures will/may have an effect on efficiency. There is a gap/slot of about 6mm in the seal at the top of the door where the door closes against the cables which reduces the gap to almost almost nothing with the cables in place. But it has forced me to buy another heater so i can use the 40watt in my bottle maturing cupboard which is also in the shed so thats a plus.
Thanks for the good idea.
Forgot say upped the temperature on the STC to 29c it's taken 2 days to get to 27.5c

Fil
Telling imaginary friend stories
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Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2011 1:49 pm
Location: Cowley, Oxford

Re: brewfridge heater

Post by Fil » Sat Dec 31, 2016 11:20 pm

Im basing all my thoughts on limited experience with my own brewfridge and following discussions such as this in here and similar haunts..

And your 40w tube heater may have developed a fault?? it is after all just a length of resistance wire strung within the tube akin to a toaster element or decoiled incandescent light bulb element ;)

Fwiw I followed 1 forum thread regarding the expanding of a small fridge into a larger box to chill more than one FV, achieved by constructing an insulation sheet box and abutting it up against the doorless fridge. In this case tiny slithers of broken seal around the doorway/box junction dropped out all the cold air formed off the fridges cold radiator resulting in the fridge compressor running 24/7 and Not achieving the target temp. however when the box/fridge seal was completed using gaffer tape, the builder reported the fridge hit target within a few hours and sat stable without overtaxing the fridges compressor.

Perhaps?? similar is occurring around the cable entry point and your fridge seal?? If you press cling film over the fridge body where the cables broach the seal you can squirt some silicone sealer or decorators caulk to fill any gaps up without worrying about glueing the door shut ;) Once set/cured you can trim off excess cling film with a razor ;)
ist update for months n months..
Fermnting: not a lot..
Conditioning: nowt
Maturing: Challenger smash, and a kit lager
Drinking: dry one minikeg left in the store
Coming Soon Lots planned for the near future nowt for the immediate :(

tourer
Hollow Legs
Posts: 479
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2009 9:09 pm
Location: spitting distance of the Beacon hotel, home of Ruby red

Re: brewfridge heater

Post by tourer » Mon Jan 02, 2017 9:40 pm

Another good idea Fil, checked the temperatures today still not up to what i want/need even with the 60 watt heater. i know it's freezing out there but i'm going to check the door seal with a lamp inside the fridge. Just checked it all appears OK and i have wedged a small spong around the cable so we'll see tomorrow. I have also removed an empty fermenting bin from the fridge, anythings worth a try.

mbrew
Steady Drinker
Posts: 59
Joined: Fri May 06, 2016 11:52 am

Re: brewfridge heater

Post by mbrew » Fri Jan 20, 2017 12:49 pm

If your running the cables through the door seal you'll loose heat, fridges are really small inside & well insulated so if sealed up should have no problem getting up to temp. I've just fitted a 45w heater in my fridge that lives in the conservatory so pretty cold & has no problem getting up to temp.
See my recent thread on the subject.

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