LethalCorpse
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 19/2/07
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- 824
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Went to put my Maerzen to sleep at lager temps for a few weeks today, and got a bit concerned that my fridge might not go that low. I turned the fridge and freezer thermostats down as low as they would go, but still didn't trust this to be low enough. So I got out the screwdriver for a wee poke (unplugged it from the coolermaster first, of course). First thing I found was that the fridge thermostat isn't what one normally considers to be a thermostat. It's a metal plate attached to the end of an adjustable bimetal strip, over the front of an inlet from the freezer. When the fridge cools down below the setpoint, the bimetal strip pushes the plate so it covers the inlet, and no air comes in from the freezer. So I just removed the whole assembly so that air can always come in from the freezer, and the fridge can (theoretically) get close to the same temp as the freezer. The next thing I discovered was a separate path from the freezer down to an outlet in the crisper. It enters the fridge, has a little removable plastic right angle jobby, then goes back into the rear panel of the fridge, coming out in the crisper. The plastic right angle jobby was caked full of crud, presumably up into the freezer inlet as well. Ideally I'd remove the whole thing and clean it out, but it's completely sealed into the frame. Next best option was to seal it up entirely, so that the inlet I already cleared up is the only path for air to enter the fridge. I grabbed the nearest suitable item to hand - in this case, a disposable latex glove - and jammed it into the right angle. There's probably gunk in the main path too, but nothing obvious. I might try to recirculate some cleaner through it if I can convince myself it's just tubing, no electrics or exposed insulation.
Next I pulled the back plate off the freezer and found the main cooling heat exchanger. This had the freezer thermostat attached to it, which is now bypassed with a fixed wire. In the future I may decide to rig a thermostat to the freezer and modified mechanical one to the fridge so that their temperatures can be controlled independently - say, for lagering and fermenting (my stubby fermenter just fits in the freezer) or for fermenting and hops storage. This probably isn't all that necessary though, as there's another fridge beside it waiting to be pressed into action.
Next step is to modify the coolermaster for a wider temperature range, and set/measured/ambient temp display. Bloody stupid of Jim Rowe not to have included it in the first place.
Next I pulled the back plate off the freezer and found the main cooling heat exchanger. This had the freezer thermostat attached to it, which is now bypassed with a fixed wire. In the future I may decide to rig a thermostat to the freezer and modified mechanical one to the fridge so that their temperatures can be controlled independently - say, for lagering and fermenting (my stubby fermenter just fits in the freezer) or for fermenting and hops storage. This probably isn't all that necessary though, as there's another fridge beside it waiting to be pressed into action.
Next step is to modify the coolermaster for a wider temperature range, and set/measured/ambient temp display. Bloody stupid of Jim Rowe not to have included it in the first place.
