Wine Fridge/Cooler

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jhay

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I've just purchased a Wine Fridge /Cooler and I intend to use it for a fermentation shell.I've ordered a STC-1000 temp controller and I hope to control temp with this setup.Anybody else with this setup and the pros/cons taking into account my lack of room
 
Sounds fine to me, what do those wine fridges go down to, 10-12 degrees? Obviously no problem for ales, and even lagers should be ok. Just no option for crash chilling if that sort of thing floats your boat. Will the glass door be exposed to any direct sunlight?

Wine fridges always struck me as too expensive for what they do...lot of money for a glass door. Did you get a good deal?
 
They dont pull down that much lower than ambient so on a 39C day you might struggle to hold it at 18C. Especially if you have it located in your garage or a hot laundry. I would try to cover the front and sides with a blanket if you know its going to be hot to help it stay cool.
 
Yeah got it for $40 as the people were moving into a smaller house.Has temp control but and it has been also used as a bar fridge.Hoping the STC-1000 temp controller will work with the temp degree control.Looked at bar fridges for a similar price but the hump at the bottom killed the height.Taken notice of covering with a blanket.Had to get out of the laundry as other half was non stop complaing about smell(I couldn't smell anything) non existence mess on floor (Who me! I didn't drop anything) and other complaints.My future in home brewing was in jeopardy unless I moved it from the laundry.
 
I'd suggest you put the fridge's temp control to the coldest setting possible and let the STC-1000 do all the work.
 
Truman said:
They dont pull down that much lower than ambient so on a 39C day you might struggle to hold it at 18C. Especially if you have it located in your garage or a hot laundry. I would try to cover the front and sides with a blanket if you know its going to be hot to help it stay cool.
This is only true if the wine fride is piezo electric.

If it has a compressor, then it is like any other bar fridge, except with an in-built temperature controller.

Don't follow that terrible advice to cover the sides with a blanket - that is how fridges expel heat. You can look into insulating the glass door, but leave room around the rear and sides.

carniebrew said:
I'd suggest you put the fridge's temp control to the coldest setting possible and let the STC-1000 do all the work.
Problem with this, is when the STC cuts power to the fridge, when it comes back on, it can reset to a higher temperature.

I have a wine fridge, and it does 7-18 degrees. Which is fine for ales and lagers, but not lagering.
 
This is only true if the wine fride is piezo electric.
Okay My bad, I assumed it was as most are. And because he has now said it doesnt have a compressor hump then Im guessing his is thermo electric.


Don't follow that terrible advice to cover the sides with a blanket - that is how fridges expel heat. You can look into insulating the glass door, but leave room around the rear and sides.
Not terrible advice as the heat is drawn away from the rear not the sides, note I said cover the front and sides with a blanket not the rear.


Problem with this, is when the STC cuts power to the fridge, when it comes back on, it can reset to a higher temperature.
What can reset to a higher temperature? The STC1000? I always run my fridge at the coldest temp setting and use the stc1000 to control the temp and as far as I know thats what everyone does. if the STC1000 is set at 18C there is no way the fridge is going to get higher than that unless the probe or stc1000 is faulty.

Or do you mean the fridges own thermostat can reset to a higher temperature? Possibly if it was a digital thermostat and the power cut caused it to reset each time, but then an STC1000 wouldnt work at all if that was the case?? it would be okay if the thermostat was a manual dial type (potentiometer)
 
Truman said:
Okay My bad, I assumed it was as most are. And because he has now said it doesnt have a compressor hump then Im guessing his is thermo electric.



Not terrible advice as the heat is drawn away from the rear not the sides, note I said cover the front and sides with a blanket not the rear.



What can reset to a higher temperature? The STC1000? I always run my fridge at the highest temp seting and use the stc1000 to control the temp and as far as I know thats what everyone does. if the STC1000 is set at 18C there is no way the fridge is going to get higher than that unless the probe or stc1000 is faulty.
Apologies, I missed the compressor hump comment. If it doesn't have one, it is likely piezo, as Truman says, and is only really good for something like 8 degrees below ambient.

My fridge gets warm on the sides, so I assume it has cooling coils there. If that is the case I think it is better not to insulate the sides. If it does only vent heat through the back, then feel free to insulate the sides (not that I think it will accomplish much).

My wine fridge goes down to 7 degrees, but after a reset, the controller reverts to 10 degrees or something. So if you hooked it up to an STC at say 8 degrees, when the STC turns the fridge off and on again, the fridge's controller wont kick in cooling again until the temperature gets to 10 degrees. Bypassing the fridge's temperature controller can fix this issue, but I'm yet to look into it.
 
I have a wine cooler (I use it for wine).
It has vents on the sides. It needs 3-4 inches clearance at back and sides.
It does reset to the default temperature of 12C if the power is cut. So an STC would be useless here.

So jhay if your cooler is like that, just use the inbuilt temp control, don't cover the vents, and don't use an STC.
 
You can use an STC for higher temperatures. eg. English and Belgian ales at 20-26 degrees - I do this all the time.

Also, you can use the inbuilt controller to ferment lagers, as long as you have another fridge to lager in (like a kegerator).
 
tiprya said:
it is likely piezo
Peltier?

I think piezo is when you crush a crystal to produce a voltage... and peltier is a cooling effect where some materials channel heat in a certain direction based on voltage
 
Stux is right, I got my electrical things mixed up :p
 
With compressor fridges
Some fridges have the condenser on the back, a big black radiator.
Some are build into the sides, so no big black radiator on the back; generally more modern ones, but not all.

If it's built into the cabinet (sides) what ever you do, don't put a blanket to cover it.

If your fridge is a peltier cooler I would check the power consumption. If you use it often it would probably pay long term to upgrade to a compressor fridge.


QldKev
 
Disaster has struck.The wine cooler/bar fridge has the dreaded hump in the bottom of the fridge which I didn't notice because of bad light and the internal black interior..What a D head.The fridge(it has a compressor) and the fermentor won't fit.So the wine cooler/bar fridge is back on sale.I'm sorry for wasting every bodies' time.
 
Will it fit the fermenter without the airlock? They're useless anyway.
 
Yes Carniebrew it will fit without the air lock.I'll have to take out the light housing but that's not a problem.The airlock is the problem.
 
Have a search on here for "Bunnings fermenter" and "gladwrap",

Basically a <$20 fermenter with a tap, and you throw gladwrap over it using the original lids o-ring. Gets rid of a lot of little nooks and crannies for shit to hide in.
 
Or just use your existing fermenter without the airlock, just gladwrap over the top of your lid, or leave the lid off entirely and cover the lot with gladwrap and a large elastic band. It's not like you're going to use an airlock with the $20 bunnings jerry can fermenter anyway.
 
I have a mate who had the same problem and he built a "collar" to move the door out a bit similar to what some do to turn a freezer into a kegorator and then his fermenter would fit.

He doesn't participate on this forum so I can't ask him to post a pic.

Cheers
 
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