Fridge Thermostat bypass help

[pearson_56]

I am looking to Bypass the thermostat on my fridgemaster larder fridge to use it as a fermentation chamber.

Taking the thermostat apart I can see 4 wires , Red, black, brown and an earth.

I am unable to find a diagram so if anyone know which wire is which and if all on certain ones need to be joined together I would be most grateful.

 

[nickjdavis]

why do you need to bypass the fridge thermostat to use it as a fermentation chamber?

 

[AJA]

I am looking to Bypass the thermostat on my fridgemaster larder fridge to use it as a fermentation chamber.

Taking the thermostat apart I can see 4 wires , Red, black, brown and an earth.

I am unable to find a diagram so if anyone know which wire is which and if all on certain ones need to be joined together I would be most grateful.

View attachment 81402

Unplug the two going into the thermostat (one is black/red, the other brown), and connect these together.

@nickjdavis you do this so you can control the temp with an inkbird. Also, you can get the fridge down to temperatures that it wasn't intended to go.

 

[Sadfield]

Also, you can get the fridge down to temperatures that it wasn't intended to go.

Domestic fridges need to go to 3-5°C when full of food to be safe, and should be capable of lower. Setting the thermostat to max should be enough.

 

[nickjdavis]

Unplug the two going into the thermostat (one is black/red, the other brown), and connect these together.

@nickjdavis you do this so you can control the temp with an inkbird. Also, you can get the fridge down to temperatures that it wasn't intended to go.

I control my fridge with an inkbird....I've never disconnected the fridge thermostat and it can go down to 1 degree without issue....just set the fridge thermostat to max as noted above....will easily get the fridge down to low single digit temps.

There is no point unnecessarily overcomplicating things.

 

[pearson_56]

Domestic fridges need to go to 3-5°C when full of food to be safe, and should be capable of lower. Setting the thermostat to max should be enough.

What If I need you need to hold a temp about 7°C, surely without a STC the fridge thermostat will kick in and lower the temp?

 

[pearson_56]

Unplug the two going into the thermostat (one is black/red, the other brown), and connect these together.

@nickjdavis you do this so you can control the temp with an inkbird. Also, you can get the fridge down to temperatures that it wasn't intended to go.

The thermostat has three wires black, red and brown, does that mean all three need to be connected together or a combination of black and brown or red and brown?

 

[xozzx]

What If I need you need to hold a temp about 7°C, surely without a STC the fridge thermostat will kick in and lower the temp?

The STC controller will power on the fridge when temp goes above set point and turn on heater when it goes below. So long as the temp isnt below the minimum the fridge can go to with thermostat turned to max then it works exactly the same as bypassing the fridge thermostat.
I do this with inkbird controller and works perfectly.

 

[AJA]

I control my fridge with an inkbird....I've never disconnected the fridge thermostat and it can go down to 1 degree without issue....just set the fridge thermostat to max as noted above....will easily get the fridge down to low single digit temps.

I had to do it on mine because it was an old fridge I picked up for a couple of quid, and wouldn't get anywhere near 1 degree otherwise.
Agree, a newer fridge like the OP has might be better, and this step unnecessary.

 

[pearson_56]

I had to do it on mine because it was an old fridge I picked up for a couple of quid, and wouldn't get anywhere near 1 degree otherwise.
Agree, a newer fridge like the OP has might be better, and this step unnecessary.

this is the same reason I would like to bypass this as the fridge seems to max out at about 5°C

 

[Sadfield]

Struggling to see how a few °C below 5°C would provide a noticable benefit. Each to their own.

 

[RichardM]

Struggling to see how a few °C below 5°C would provide a noticable benefit. Each to their own.

Cold crashing or lagering

 

[RichardM]

I had to do it on mine because it was an old fridge I picked up for a couple of quid, and wouldn't get anywhere near 1 degree otherwise.
Agree, a newer fridge like the OP has might be better, and this step unnecessary.

Same here

 

[Sadfield]

Cold crashing or lagering

But...would you see a noticeable difference in quality by doing either at 2 or 5°C. I suspect not.

 

[RichardM]

But...would you see a noticeable difference in quality by doing either at 2 or 5°C. I suspect not.

You might not, but it's a five minute job to bypass the thermostat, so why not do it just in case it does make a difference?

 

[Sadfield]

You might not, but it's a five minute job to bypass the thermostat, so why not do it just in case it does make a difference?

Sure, if you know how to do it. And you don't want the added protection against freezing beer, if the STC, Inkbird etc fails.

 

[sifty]

But...would you see a noticeable difference in quality by doing either at 2 or 5°C. I suspect not.

Yep.
Noticeable difference between a 5 deg and 2 deg cold crash.
One of my fridges only gets to 4 while the other goes lower. Much more drops out at a lower temp...

 

[pearson_56]

You might not, but it's a five minute job to bypass the thermostat, so why not do it just in case it does make a difference?

Any help on what wire does what would be appreciated if it only take 5 mins

 

[AJA]

If you connect the two clips I mentioned ( so three wires) that will do it. Instead of the thermostat completing the circuit when the temperature gets too warm, instead it will be on 100% of the time.
It's 2 female connectors so you will need something male to join them. I used a prong from a car fuse.

 

[pearson_56]

If you connect the two clips I mentioned ( so three wires) that will do it. Instead of the thermostat completing the circuit when the temperature gets too warm, instead it will be on 100% of the time.
It's 2 female connectors so you will need something male to join them. I used a prong from a car fuse.

Thanks, I was just going to cut the connects and use a Twist On Wire Connector