Fermentation Fridge - Where Can I Drill Holes?

[orwell_g]

Hi guys,

I've got my tempmate all wired up and working WOOT! Now, I've sussed out where the condensation exhaust pipe is for the temp probe to go through, piece of cake. My next issue is where can I drill into the wall of the fridge to insert a light globe (for heat) that is:

1. Not going to blind me/get frostbite from the fridge gas
2. Not going to hit some radiator tubing within the wall of the fridge

I have got a newer fridge where the radiator pipes are NOT on the back of the fridge. This would indicate that they are packed into the walls of the fridge somewhere. The fridge has a freezer above the fridge, so I won't be able to go through the roof of the fridge ...

Does anyone have any ideas of where these radiator pipes might be on a new fridge (if they even exist)? This is the last thing I need to do to get my fermentation fridge complete and start back on the brews.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

NOTE: I don't have the make/model number as of yet of the fridge as I'm at work, I'll update the post later with model numbers etc. if that helps ...

 

[Ross]

The easiest way is to just cut a small section out of your door seal (or drill a small hole through it) at the top & insert the leads through there.
If you want to drill through the side, drill from the inside out. Drill just through the plastic liner & then use a screwdriver or similar to dig through the insulation & check there are no copper pipes there. If you drill from the outside in, you'll more than likely drill straight through any concealed copper pipe. When I checked with the manufactuer of mine, they said there were no set positions for the pipes.

cheers Ross

 

[Gout]

does a light effect the beer as in light strike (i assume its only the UV that effects it)

i painted the globe in mine black so it was only heat - just to make sure(yrs ago)

now i use a heater mat inside the fridge....... is this best?

 

[Pete2501]

does a light effect the beer as in light strike (i assume its only the UV that effects it)

i painted the globe in mine black so it was only heat - just to make sure(yrs ago)

now i use a heater mat inside the fridge....... is this best?

Directly heating the yeast cake? I've always liked the idea of heat belts better for this purpose.

 

[bum]

Or you could just put the heat pad in your big insulated box and heat the inside rather than heat the fermenter directly.

 

[Fents]

does a light effect the beer as in light strike (i assume its only the UV that effects it)

i painted the globe in mine black so it was only heat - just to make sure(yrs ago)

now i use a heater mat inside the fridge....... is this best?

some people i know use a ceramic pot to shield the light or a empty dog food tin works as well.

 

[orwell_g]

I will be putting a box around the light, so that it doesn't seap light through, good advice though thanks Ross! I've been thinking I'll just have to take it slowly and "feel" around really to make sure I'm not going to hit anything ... I was just nervous about going into the unknown really ...

I was thinking about the door seal, but would like to not touch that if I can. Only due to the issue if I stuff up the cut or whatever in the seal, it's game over for the seal ...

Might see if I can get some schematics for my fridge from the manufacturer (fingers crossed).

 

[Ross]

If you are worried about cutting the seal, just run through the seal without cutting it - As long as you go through the top door seal you'll waste very little cool air (it's the way I do it).

cheers Ross

 

[orwell_g]

Cheers Ross! I'll get my socket and everything sorted out and see what I can do regarding mounting it in the fridge. I'll see how it runs running through the door seal. I think it's going to be a bit fatter, because it will be basically a 240v extension cord type wire running through the seal. So will have to see how that goes ...

The temperature probe I should be able to feed back up through the condensation exhaust ...

 

[orwell_g]

Alrighty,

After much ringing around and getting "I don't recommend you do that" from various people, just ran the fridge for about an hour. The fridge started to exhaust it's heat through the pipes in the wall. Feeling around the fridge the only place that didn't have heat was about a half a foot off the ground. This worked out well, as this was where the veggie crisper was. Mounted the light there (after much sealant) and have used self tappers to sit the socket on the wall. Regarding light, because the light goes in the veggie crisper, I can use the lid of the crisper to cover the light.

Unfortunately couldn't run the temp probe through the condensation exhaust as there was a sharp bend just before entering the fridge ...

Oh well, put that through the door seal, then packed up either side with tape so it was a more gradual rise and a better seal on the door. Had it all in for 1 day, and have got the water chilled ready for a brew down today!!!

 

[Barley Belly]

Any pics?

 

[orwell_g]

Sure here they are:

Feeling for heat in the walls of the fridge:


Get through the skin of the plastic:



Dig through the insulation with the screwdriver and note the depth after hitting something solid:







Go all the way through once the depth was checked:


The light is now mounted and wired:




All wired up:



Temp probe on keg:

 

[Pete2501]

This reminds me I really need to have my probe attached to my fermenter or at least get a stainless steel probe.

 

[orwell_g]

Not sure what difference it makes. I like to think that the blu (or white) tac is insulating it somewhat. However when I open the fridge door, it quite quickly rises about 0.7 degrees. Whether or not the actual wort is doing that, or the insulation isn't as "insulating" as I'd like to think ...

If there are any other ideas out there I'd love to hear them, or people's experiences with this ...

 

[leiothrix]

However when I open the fridge door, it quite quickly rises about 0.7 degrees.

The simplest way to fix that is to not open the door h34r:

 

[roo_dr]

Laws of Thermal Mass etc... I would be very surprised if the temperature of the wort changed a biologically significant amount by opening and closing the door for a short period.

All things being equal, an empty fridge full of cold air will have to work harder to stay cool than a fridge with 30L of water (like the kitchen fridge) or with 30L of wort (the brewing fridge) in the bottom.