Keezer condenser cooling

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spog

The Odd Drop Brewery
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As per the topic title, with keezers being enclosed with whatever to trick them up,and advice suggested on running a 12 volt fan to help with circulation over the condenser etc ,can you help ?
This is the unit I am intending to use to convert a freezer into a keezer.
image.jpg
image.jpg
So, to help with circulation ( with added ventilation in the walls of the keezer) can anyone tell me IF there is a way that a fan can be hooked up to such a unit that when the condenser starts,the fan will also.
My reason for this is, having a separate manual switch for ventilating the condenser will only be used when, I remember to switch it on or off,and if left on for extended periods of time is a waste.
Any ideas ?
Cheers....spog...
 
Condenser or compressor?
Not quite sure what you're wanting to the fan to do. Is it to circulate air inside the cabinet, or to help keep the compressor cool?
If it's to keep the compressor cool, you could control the freezer temp with an STC-1000 or similar, instead of changing the thermostat over. That way you could just use a 240v fan on the same outlet (double adapter/power board) as the power to the freezer.
If it's to circulate air inside the cabinet, you could use the same method, but with a 12v fan inside connected to a 240/12v power supply on the outside.
 
My keezer position suffers the afternoon sun. I have yet to put it in that place on account my 2yr old will have full access. What I was thinking doing is thus.

Leave a gap between the keezer and the cladding and have no obstruction from bottom to top. Convection should create a flow of air.
 
Crakkers,yeah I mean the compressor ,the idea is to have a fan hook up ( some how) so when the compressor starts the fan will also,and then switch off when the compressor does.
Just to help with cooling/ ventilating the compressor, as a keezer is basically a box around the unit as compared to a freezer siting in a room with plenty of airspace.

Eagleburger, my keezer ( when built ) will live in my shed so you can imagine that at times it will get pretty warm in the shed .
The planned design of mine will have a mesh screen on the lower part of one end, and the same on the back so ventilation will be across one bottom corner of the keezer.
Ii think I understand what you mean,if I make the 2 end screen panels full height of the unit, this would give a larger area to help with convection ?.
The unit will have a gap between it and the walls of about 50 mm ( maybe less)on all sides as I dont see the need to have a larger gap when the heat will come from the compressor, and being ventilated shouldn't ? cause any issues . The walls of the keezer would become extra insulation for the unit...maybe.

Maheel, the 240v fan makes sense , it would as you said save me from running a 12 v supply for it.
 
Depends on your electrical prowess but the simplest method would be to tee a suitably sized 240V fan off the compressor. When it runs, so does the fan. Jaycar have a good range.
Convection currents won't really create a desirable flow of air. A fan drawing fresh air past the freezer body is an excellent idea and will make it much more efficient.
 
spog said:
The unit will have a gap between it and the walls of about 50 mm ( maybe less)on all sides as I dont see the need to have a larger gap when the heat will come from the compressor, and being ventilated shouldn't ? cause any issues . The walls of the keezer would become extra insulation for the unit...
Click to expand...
You know that most chest freezers use the body of the freezer as the condenser don't you? The heat radiates off the outside of the freezer. You do NOT want to insulate the condenser, quite the opposite. The compressor will generate heat but that's the whole point. You want to remove the heat it generates from the condenser. Depends on your freezer design, but if the outside of your freezer is warm during operation there's your answer.
 
TheWiggman said:
Depends on your electrical prowess but the simplest method would be to tee a suitably sized 240V fan off the compressor. When it runs, so does the fan. Jaycar have a good range.
Convection currents won't really create a desirable flow of air. A fan drawing fresh air past the freezer body is an excellent idea and will make it much more efficient.
Click to expand...
Wiggman,thanks .
I'll be getting a sparkie to do the wiring as my electrical prowess is nil and I don't want to be zapped again. ( got a boot from a dodgy plug on site as an apprentice ,went into shock later in the day,scared the crap out of me.)
Doing a Jaycar search shortly. Thanks again.
Cheers....spog......
 
Should be a pretty simple job for a sparkie to wire a 240v fan in parallel with the compressor. I have a bunch of refrigerated snack/drink vending machines and they all have a fan that cuts in with the compressor to pump the heat out of that area. The wiring is really simple.
You'd get away with any old fan, pretty much, depending on looks and available space. You could even get the sparky to wire up a socket that becomes "live" with the compressor, so you can just plug in a fan when you need it in summer.
 
This looks like what I'm after.
.image.jpg
The idea is that this will start the fan when the keezer motor starts and help circulate air around the unit to lessen the work load on the whole unit.
This unit has timer settings for running upto 20 mins after the " motor " has switched off,so the heat build up from the condenser is disapated.
Early days with the planning so anything could change in the future.
 
If its an old second hand freezer, it may be worth while getting it regassed.
Compressors have a cut out switch that if it becomes too hot, it will cut off for a bit.
Generally, your keezer won't be getting this hot unless it's really old and either, sitting outside on your roof or practically empty on r12.
I was working as a fridge mechanic a while back, and if the compressors got really hot and kept cutting out, all we would do was trap a teatowel, soak it in cold water, wrap a block of ice with it and sit it on top of the compressor until it cooled down enough and kicked back in.
The temp that keezer runs at isn't as cold as a standard freezer and therefore shouldn't be running more than once an hour for the average household.
That said, if your keezer is out in the deck next to the 6 burner hooded stainless BBQ, expect it to run a bit more frequently.

Rather than pulling apart your keezer and changing over the thermostat control, use a stc-1000.
Much easier to install, and much easier to adjust temps in the keezer should you decide to use it as a controlled fermenter one month.
 
Good point on regassing ,the freezer is an old one.
I have decided to go with an STC1000 and mount it on the back some where as I don't want it seen,although that could change as well.
I've spoken to a sparkie about the fan/ compressor hook up and he said " yeah piece of piss ".
When I've got all the above bits I will get it hooked up and run it for a while to check that all is good before doing the full build.
 
I would stick with the fridge to freezer thermostat you put in the first post.
I have the same one in my F&P keezer and have had no problems, very easy to install, no extra wiring and just set and forget.
I have an STC-1000 on one of my fermenting fridge and find the temp probe inaccurate by a couple of degrees, after all they are a cheap Chinese controller.


Enjoy you build.
 
That was the original idea with the thermostat change over,after dialling it in ,it's a set and forget.
I first went with it as I am not keen on having an stc1000 built into the facade,it's not the " look" I want. Also I didn't have to worry about where to mount the stc.
Still early days and no doubt many ideas etc will be changed,the font has already been through 3 designs and the keezer design 4 x.
 
Papa Lazarou said:
I would stick with the fridge to freezer thermostat you put in the first post.
I have the same one in my F&P keezer and have had no problems, very easy to install, no extra wiring and just set and forget.
I have an STC-1000 on one of my fermenting fridge and find the temp probe inaccurate by a couple of degrees, after all they are a cheap Chinese controller.


Enjoy you build.
Click to expand...
They can be calibrated.
 

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