Fridge Thermostat deactivate.

[Chris_S]

I’ve been sitting on my fridge fermentation project for several months.

I have a fridge, heater, and inkbird ready to go, just need a wizard who can help with deactivating the thermostat. I have included a photo of the housing with all its wires laid bare. Which ones need cutting/rejoining etc. Would like the light to stay operational if possible

 

[Buffers brewery]

Er, why d’you want to deactivate the thermostat? Common practice is to turn the thermostat on FULL, so it’s effectively ON all the time. Then plug the fridge into the Inkbird “Fridge” socket. The Inkbird will then turn the fridge ON and OFF as necessary.

 

[Chris_S]

Er, why d’you want to deactivate the thermostat? Common practice is to turn the thermostat on FULL, so it’s effectively ON all the time. Then plug the fridge into the Inkbird “Fridge” socket. The Inkbird will then turn the fridge ON and OFF as necessary.

Thinking about it now, you’re right. Got it maxed out at the moment, testing to see how low it will get.

So why am I seeing advice suggesting you need to.

 

[Buffers brewery]

Some times, if the fridge is on the narrow side, the light and thermostat need to be removed to get the fermentation bucket/vessel in to the fridge.

 

[Chris_S]

All my FV’s fit great, gonna screw housing back in place and just get making the lower shelf and fit the heater

 

[chillipickle]

I removed the thermostat on both my tall larder fridges, just for cold crashing 1>2 c
It is very straight forward.

 

[Buffers brewery]

I removed the thermostat on both my tall larder fridges, just for cold crashing 1>2 c
It is very straight forward.

Interesting. I cold crash at 4C for 3-4 days which works fine for me.

 

[Chris_S]

Like I mentioned previously, maxed out the thermostat, and I’m currently down to 2.5c without any mods. Gonna leave it a few more hours and see what it gets down to.

I recall that when the temp was turned down, the wife complained that food at the back was freezing, so it looks like it has good cooling abilities.

 

[RichardM]

If you are lagering then you want zero or one centigrade, you won't get that if the thermostat hasn't been bypassed.
From looking at that photo, you need to join the brown and white wires.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

From looking at that photo, you need to join the brown and white wires.

I agree - but, goes without saying, FFS be careful as the brown one is permanently live.

 

[RichardM]

I agree - but, goes without saying, FFS be careful as the brown one is permanently live.

Yes, I did think about putting a disclaimer in my post. Unplug the fridge before you start and get a qualified electrician to do it if you aren't confident.

 

[Chris_S]

None of the mods seem relevant or necessary. My temp is currently at -0.6c with the thermostat set to max cooling.

Not got anything to go in there yet, so will continue to monitor the temps.

 

[Rodcx500z]

If i turn mine up to max it will part freeze 23L

 

[Davegase]

I’ve been sitting on my fridge fermentation project for several months.

I have a fridge, heater, and inkbird ready to go, just need a wizard who can help with deactivating the thermostat. I have included a photo of the housing with all its wires laid bare. Which ones need cutting/rejoining etc. Would like the light to stay operational if possibleView attachment 49229

How cold will the fridge get when set to maximum cooling?
If it gets cold enough for your requirements there is no need to bypass the thermostat, just set it to maximum cooling all the time.
Some fridge thermostats don't give very good control !
The inkbird will give you all the control you need regarding temperature, but you will lose the light in the fridge when the cooling side is switched off by the inkbird. If you really need the light you would need to build your own temperature controller with a STC 1000 or STC 3008 or similar.
I was going to go down that route myself but opted for the inkbird in the end.

 

[Chris_S]

How cold will the fridge get when set to maximum cooling?

That’s what I’m trialing at the moment

 

[Davegase]

Thinking about it now, you’re right. Got it maxed out at the moment, testing to see how low it will get.

So why am I seeing advice suggesting you need to.

Because if the fridge thermostat doesn't allow getting cold enough for cold crashing ! Then bypassing it means the inkbird can force the fridge to work harder.

 

[Chris_S]

Because if the fridge thermostat doesn't allow getting cold enough for cold crashing !

My fridge manages to get down to those temps, saving me a bit of work

 

[mrhardware]

My Fridge only went down to 4 degrees so I had to bypass the thermostat.
Easy to do there are 3 wires one us green and yellow ad is attached to the body of the thermostat this is an earth. The other 2 that plug to the spade connectors just need connecting together. Just remember to isolate the fridge from power before starting

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

My Fridge only went down to 4 degrees so I had to bypass the thermostat.
Easy to do there are 3 wires one us green and yellow ad is attached to the body of the thermostat this is an earth. The other 2 that plug to the spade connectors just need connecting together. Just remember to isolate the fridge from power before starting

As an alternative for those that don't want to touch the wiring, could you just move the temperature sensor (on the other end of the little pipe) outside the fridge?

 

[Chris_S]

In the original post, I guess I was a little premature, I should have checked what temperature my fridge was capable of getting down to first, would have been a lot easier. But you learn from your mistakes. I just hope this discussion has provided some valuable information to other members.