Brewing Fridge Upgrade ?

[DC]

Hi all, Finally managed to get the new fridge up and running and decided to give it a trial run with a batch of Muntons Premium Cellar Red Wine (23L) and try and condition my Nettle Beer at the same time. So TC-10 wired up and temp set to 22 Degrees and she was off and running, checked in on her before bed time (just make sure the garage had not burned down due to dodgy wiring) and the fridge was struggling to get up to the 22 Degrees I had set it at. Checked this morning and it was still struggling to get to 22 Degrees.


Ready to Rock & Roll


I think I might try a PC fan as suggested by a few of you guys to move the warm around the fridge and see if that makes any odds.
I am assuming I site the fan in front of the fan and then that blows the air up and around? As for wiring the fan if I used a 12V PC fan with my voltage regulator I would need to run the cable into the fridge and leave it running all the time. What if I wanted use a 240V fan how would I go about wiring this up to the heater/TC10 so that the 240V fan would come on at the same time as the tube heater? but still have the use of the fridge should it get too hot (electrics isnt my strong point)

Do I change the single trailing (heating circuit) socket for a double socket and plug the tube heater & 240V fan into the double socket? (told you it wasnt my strong point)





Cheers DC

[AnthonyUK]

Have you tried closing the door?

Seriously, you could just use a double socket for the fan and heater.
I'm surprised it can't get up to temp though. is it cold in your garage?

[DC]

Hi Anthonyuk,

Have you tried closing the door?

I never thought of that my garage is not particularly cold so just wondering if the addition of a fan may help a little, I will try it out with a 12V pc fan this evening prior to changing the single socket for a double socket and see if that makes any odds

[Pinto]

Useful way of getting 12v from the mains is to use a downlighter power driver at some point i'll be doing an extra frooker like yours (tall fridge) so I can put my Mk I frooker to lagering duties and I'll be fitting fan assistance to the MkII

[Martin G]

Just a thought, where did you have the probe?

[DC]

Hi Martin, The probe was stuck to the side of the fridge about 5 or 6 inches away from the FV, by the time I got home from work the temperature on the fridge was up to 22.5 degrees but I was unsure if the tube heater had been switched on all day via the heating circuit So after work I decided to install a 240V fan to see if that would improve the airflow and get the temperature up to the required level.

240V Fan fitted next to tube heater



Blowing from left to right will hopefully circulate the air sufficiently to raise the temperature



Wire run through the side wall of the fridge to a wall socket for the fan



Wiring on the outside of the fridge



After installing the new fan and running it for around 30 to 40 mins the temperature is hitting the required level, so I will change the single trailing socket for a double one and the heater will come on at the same time as the tube heater ! hopefully that should keep the new brewing fridge running at the required temperature.



Now I need to install a fan into the old under bench fridge and get a new STC100 and get it up and running again until I can lay my hands on another tall larder fridge

Cheers DC

[Martin G]

Seems odd that the heater could not warm the small space inside the fridge, since the probe was in the air could the temperature have been over shooting and triggering the cooling? Anyway, probably a mute point as your fan seems to have solved the problem. I have personally not chosen to go down the fan route as I worry about it being an infection risk.