Bypassing fridge thermostat

[aterroba]

Hello, I am new to the forum, I started home brewing almost a year ago and it's now the time to hack a fridge and get that constant fermentation temperature!. However, trying to bypass the thermostat, and I ran into questions. I opened the thermostat and it shows 4 connections: earth + 3 cables (grey, brown and white). I have dismantled the thermostat completely and I can see the letter C (for the white cable), H (brown) and L (grey). Can anyone help confirm that I should:
a) connect the grey cables to the lamp as per original clip
b) connect the grey and brown cables together
c) what do I do with the white and earth cables?
Thanks a lot in advance!

 

[McMullan]

You should probably call an electrician at this stage.

 

[Cqr]

I would like the info to please

 

[ManseMasher]

You don't need to bypass the thermostat. Get an STC-1000 controller and power the fridge/heater on/off as required. Much more simple this way.

 

[Cqout]

Hello

I'm not sure why you would want to bypass the thermostat - I am an electrician and I don't even do that. Get yourself a prewired stc1000 or get yourself a pre made ink bird system to controll your fridge such as this from amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B018JPUZKC/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

all you need then is to plug in the fridge and your heater tube and away you go

Please..... if you don't know what you are doing with electric then don't play - remember electricity kills and I would hate for somebody to die in the name of the hobby - also don't forget to use an rcd protected circuit as we are playing with liquids and electricity :-)

 

[ManseMasher]

Hello

I'm not sure why you would want to bypass the thermostat - I am an electrician and I don't even do that. Get yourself a prewired stc1000 or get yourself a pre made ink bird system to controll your fridge such as this from amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B018JPUZKC/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

all you need then is to plug in the fridge and your heater tube and away you go

Please..... if you don't know what you are doing with electric then don't play - remember electricity kills and I would hate for somebody to die in the name of the hobby - also don't forget to use an rcd protected circuit as we are playing with liquids and electricity :-)

Bloody good advice. Thank you Cqout.

 

[Twostage]

Yep, set the fridge thermostat to max (7 on mine) and use an STC 1000.

 

[JapanBrew]

So you can use any kind of heating element too?
I just ordered one myself. Looks like it solves a ton of issues.

 

[McMullan]

So you can use any kind of heating element too?
I just ordered one myself. Looks like it solves a ton of issues.

Pretty much, yes. Cold crashing can create a little condensation. So anything rated for that really. I use a 50W reptile heat cable. Works a treat.

 

[JapanBrew]

I have a very small, extremely well insulated room.... Wondering if I could remove the fridge doors then put a miny space heater next to it, then set the STC to 18 degrees and make the perfect fermenting room!?!

 

[McMullan]

I have a very small, extremely well insulated room.... Wondering if I could remove the fridge doors then put a miny space heater next to it, then set the STC to 18 degrees and make the perfect fermenting room!?!

That might well work for fermentation temps. Keep the door wide open and give it a test run. Does the fridge have a built in fan? If not a PC fan would help mix the air in the room.

 

[JapanBrew]

Well, at least right now, it's getting chilly in Japan so cooling won't matter. But yea, PC fan or some quiet, low watt fan would do the trick.

 

[Twostage]

I have a very small, extremely well insulated room.... Wondering if I could remove the fridge doors then put a miny space heater next to it, then set the STC to 18 degrees and make the perfect fermenting room!?!

Erm, no.

A fridge with its door open will actually heat the room up unless you can put the back of the fridge (where the heat exchange coils are) in a different room.

Think of an air conditioner, most of the gubbins are on the outside of the building so the warmth it extracts from inside can be released outside.

 

[McMullan]

Erm, no.

A fridge with its door open will actually heat the room up unless you can put the back of the fridge (where the heat exchange coils are) in a different room.

Think of an air conditioner, most of the gubbins are on the outside of the building so the warmth it extracts from inside can be released outside.

Of course

JapanBrew, you need to get one of these http://www.norcool.co.uk/produkter/kjoleaggregat/

Not cheap, but I've seen them for sale used for very reasonable prices.

 

[aterroba]

Hi guys, thank you very much for all the advice. As I had reached a point of no return, and after doing a bit of some research, I decided to go ahead and try to connect the cables. For future reference, in my case, the brown cable was live, the light grey cable goes to the light switch and the white cable goes to the compressor. So, I connected the earth cable to the earth pin and then the other 3 cables together (brown, light grey and white) and it all worked fine (phew).
Again, thanks for all the answers and advice (I probably wouldn't do it again).

 

[JapanBrew]

Twostage, I didn't think of that!!! Hmm... Back to the drawing board.

 

[marinali29]

a temperature controller will helps. There's uk socket thermostat sold in amazon, no need to wire yourself,just plug and use.