Fermentation Fridge Thermostat bypass wiring

[Isambard]

Hi,

Hopefully this is the right place for this question.

I have a fridge I'd like to rewire to bypass the thermostat, which I'll remove and then control from a relay with an arduino. I've seen guide on this but my fridge had 5 wires going into the thermostat. I count one earth, one neutral, one to the compressor, and maybe one for the light. That still gives me one unidentified, plus besides the earth, I couldn't say which is which.

I've attached a picture, and the brand is zanussi if that helps. Could anyone advise me on what to hook to what so the compressor just runs all the time, or know a good source of fridge circuit diagrams?

 

[Dutto]

All I did was Google "Zanussi Fridge Wiring Diagram" and got 108,000 results ...

... so take your pick as to the Model and Year.

 

[Snoop]

Mine was done by joining black and brown and i think yours is too. But its mains electricity so don't take the word of someone on the internet. Check which 2 are wired to the compressor.

 

[Isambard]

All I did was Google "Zanussi Fridge Wiring Diagram" and got 108,000 results ...

... so take your pick as to the Model and Year.

Thanks. Its a Zanussi ZRA40400XA. I've also got a lot of hits on google but no actual diagram on the pages...

 

[Isambard]

Mine was done by joining black and brown and i think yours is too. But its mains electricity so don't take the word of someone on the internet. Check which 2 are wired to the compressor.

Cheers, brown and black has a 240v multi-meter reading which looks promising. I can't actually see which goes to the compressor as all the cables are in one sleeve that goes into a circuit box underneath. If all else fails I'll hook them up and see if it comes on.

Thanks

 

[Ghillie]

If you can remember where the wires went on the thermostat (I doubt it) then you could check with a multimeter.

Turn the thermostat up full chat and find which terminals are closed circuit. Turn the thermostat off and make sure the same terminals then become open circuit.

I would guess brown and black are the ones you want to terminate together. White is likely the switched live from the door switch for the light. Blue will be its neutral. Cut the spade crimps off both white and blue, insulate them individually (terminal block, heat shrink, etc) and leave them disconnected - you don't need them.

All my 3 fridges have been brown/brown or brown/black for configuring permanent run of the compressor.

 

[BeerCat]

I wired both mine according to this video. Did you take a photo before you took the wires off.