Beer fridge temperature control question

I use the baby Inkbird (and some Rancos) and it's okay to have a pretty decent differential. In my house (79 -80) I keep my keezer at 38 using a 6 differential. Outside (80-95) I use an 8 differential to keep my ferm fridge in the mid-60s. You've already broken the code though, it's how often the unit cycles that is critical. Two minutes if frightfully too quick . . . I find the sweet spot is to have the unit cycle every 60 to 90 minutes. That way the beer is never off by more than 3 or 4 degrees for only 45 minutes. My experience is no real deviation in beer temp after you nail this interval. Obviously in a cooler environ you would set a smaller differential. Ideally you're trying to mimic your kitchen fridge.

An easy way to confirm all of this is to place your thermo in a beer bottle full of water . . . I never see the temp move even one degree. Also, keeping the fridge full'er is an advantage.

 

yeah, if I may.

the temptation is to set the diff too narrow to dial into a the "best" temp. and burn out the compressor. the start/stop cycle causes much more wear than constant running. the riding a bike analogy applies. it takes a fair amount of effort to get the pedals moving from a dead stop. once the bicycle is rolling it takes only a bit of effort to keep moving. same for the electric motor on the compressor.

it could take some fiddling to get the temps wear you want. the temp probe is measuring air temp, but liquid temp fluctuates much slower. so you can let the air go up and down by 4 or 8 degrees and still have a steady beer temp.

40 degrees, 38 in fact, is the industry default for beer storage. True is a commercial brand and there is a reason you are getting a steady 40 degrees. clean the coils, remove all dirt. be sure you have good air flow. most of us want 38 dead nutz if possible.

one more thing, a mercury thermometer is good, but cheap-o dial thermometers and some lcd thermometers are junk. measure the actual liquid temp with a reliable thermometer.

Cheers.

 

Everyone with a side-by-side has this issue. You are trying to do something outside it's design parameters and it will always be tricky. I'm surprised you are getting as close to 40 as you are.

A couple of workarounds: If you move the unit indoors (more of a constant temp) you will likely have only one set of trail-and-error light bulb combinations (it's the change of ambient temp that's tripping you up). You can also "play" with the damper setting (freezer to cold food side) to accomplish the same thing. Your onboard thermostat is on the cold food side but all the cold air is produced in the freezer side. The damper meters the chilled air from freezer to cold side, usually some dorky settings like A - H. This would have the same effect as swapping out light bulbs . . . my guess is this may even be trickier but I've never tried it.

An external controller isn't really going to help you. Yes, it can switch heat and cold on/off but there is only one temp probe . . . so only one can be activated at a time. If you wanted to experiment it's possible to have two controllers (two probes) in play. Have one keep the ferm side in the mid-60s and the other keeping a small light bulb in the freezer to keep it near 40. This might set a record for "geekiness" . . . but remember, few believed in Orville.

 

Good for you.
Don't do that. If you knowledge to add, just say it.
Speaking for myself, I have better things to do than answer questions for people who already have the answer. Don't be a time waster.

Especially if you are walking into a conversation for the first time! Wow. You must be a lot of fun at parties.

 

Fair enough.
I didn't accuse you of wasting my time however and that is not academic.
We have a first time customer in a thread right around here asking for advice about kegerators. I think honesty worked out very well in fact.

Further, please don't advise about our collective exclusiveness or anything else. We are quite capable of knowing how internet democracy works and really don't need unsolicited advice. Though you are free to give any advice you think is beneficial. I am speaking for myself. I know a shit ton more about draft beer and temperature control than you do. This much I am sure of.

Good luck with your kickstarter campaign. In the mean time, if you ask for any ones advice it is best to be honest. That is what I learned in second grade.
Cheers.

 

I think the most glaring conundrum of such a product/idea is that at a certain point, the home hobbyist would just take it full monty and do the whole project. The depth of complexity is enough here that the casual kegerator enthusiast probably wouldn't go to all the trouble of re-wiring and soldering at all. The more knowledgeable hobbyist would likely just rather cobble together their own solution, relying on their interest and skill to solve a problem on their own terms.

Just my opinion though. I'm no expert and have a very basic keezer design, and thank my lucky stars everyday that I had this forum and users to help me figure out how to solve foaming.