Kegerator Temp

[troyedwards]

Hi All,

I recently purchased a kegerator system from an aussie supplier. I have set it to 21 deg C to culture some Coopers Pale Ale yeast in, but it dropped to 18deg c overnight (the fridge).

Is this normal or a fault? Has anyone else had the same issue - I don't understand why they claim that you can set the thermostat up to 28 deg if it will not hold temp when set at 22 deg.

Cheers,

 

[kdaust]

Is it a reverse cycle kegerator?

 

[kelbygreen]

well its a fridge so it cools unless it has a heater in it which I never heard of then it will only cool. Of coarse there will be a slight over shoot as while its cooling it will turn off at 21 deg but the air in the fridge is cooler then that. With a keg or fermenter it may make it .5 deg cooler but with a starter it will cool and heat alot faster then 23lts of wort would. It wont reach 28 deg unless the ambient temp is the same. So if its 15 deg outside you will find it will drop below 21 deg even without the fridge on.

I just got a heating pad hung up in my fridge (not under the fermenter) just hanging there so it heats the air in the fridge up not the fermenter its self.

 

[bignath]

Hi All,

I recently purchased a kegerator system from an aussie supplier. I have set it to 21 deg C to culture some Coopers Pale Ale yeast in, but it dropped to 18deg c overnight (the fridge).

Is this normal or a fault? Has anyone else had the same issue - I don't understand why they claim that you can set the thermostat up to 28 deg if it will not hold temp when set at 22 deg.

Cheers,

sounds pretty normal to me.

Think about what's going on here - you've got a fridge or a freezer. It keeps things cold. That's what it's designed to do. It's not designed to heat or maintain heat.

If it is being effected by ambient temps (location dependent) then those temps will bring the temp inside it down, until it stabilises. A lot of the country is still in cold weather, and in particular if your unit is outside (like mine is) i wouldn't have thought maintaining a warm temp in a fridge would have been possible.

To be honest, why are you trying to use the fridge to maintain the yeast at that temp? Just leave it on a safe place anywhere inside your house. Most people would probably have the temp in their house sitting around 20degrees anyway, so i'm stumped as to why use the fridge for this.

Sure, i keep yeast in my fridge, but only after i've finished doing whatever i'm trying to do.

 

[roller997]

Hi All,

I recently purchased a kegerator system from an aussie supplier. I have set it to 21 deg C to culture some Coopers Pale Ale yeast in, but it dropped to 18deg c overnight (the fridge).

Is this normal or a fault? Has anyone else had the same issue - I don't understand why they claim that you can set the thermostat up to 28 deg if it will not hold temp when set at 22 deg.

Cheers,

The first question I would ask is - Was it cooler than 18 degrees C around the fridge?
Fridges don't heat, so while you might have a setting at 21 degrees, it has no way of heating unless you install something which generates heats when required. The temperature setting for a fridge are really only applicable if you have ambient temperatures which are equal or higher.

So assuming that it the surrounding temperature was cooler than 18 degrees, yes it is normal for a fridge to not have the capability to heat and for it to drop below the set temperature to 18 degrees.
If you were to install a low power heater which is turned off while the fridge is cooling then this would achieve what you are after.

Cheers

Roller

 

[troyedwards]

The first question I would ask is - Was it cooler than 18 degrees C around the fridge?
Fridges don't heat, so while you might have a setting at 21 degrees, it has no way of heating unless you install something which generates heats when required. The temperature setting for a fridge are really only applicable if you have ambient temperatures which are equal or higher.

So assuming that it the surrounding temperature was cooler than 18 degrees, yes it is normal for a fridge to not have the capability to heat and for it to drop below the set temperature to 18 degrees.
If you were to install a low power heater which is turned off while the fridge is cooling then this would achieve what you are after.

Cheers

Roller

Ahh yes, that did cross my mind as a potential problem. Thanks for confirming. Cheers,