Question on temperature control and busted temp guages in fridge

Hard to say. If by gauges you mean the knob that adjusts the temp at which it cycles on and off, then as long as that does not affect the cycling on and off then you should be fine. The temp controller will take over the responsibility of reading and responding to temp changes by cycling on/off.

 

Depends. If it's Busted as in doesn't send a signal to the compressor you are out of luck. If Busted as in inaccurate settings it may work if it will drive the temp low enough (typically ferm 50-70s, keezer in high 30s). If it's cool as he describes, it sounds like it may be a good Bust.

Typically a ferm fridge or keezer is set near the lowest possible temp and is plugged into a controller. All the controller does is switch the fridge on/off based on its temp probe and your settings. You could do the same thing by standing there and plugging/unplugging the unit. Or, if you could hot-wire the compressor to always on and plug it in the controller you would get the same results.

Brewer's Creed is to never bypass a free fridge . . .

 

This refrigerator situation sounds like what happened with the old fridge that I use. The thermostat stuck in the 'on' position and froze everything in the fridge because it allows the fridge to continuously run. So my Johnson controller essentially is the new 'working' thermostat as long the one in the fridge continues to stay in the 'on' position. I keep it set at 50° for my cellared beers and when fermenting lagers, and drop it down temporarily to around 32°-34° when I'm lagering the beer, or when we need additional food storage space for leftovers, like at Thanksgiving.

 

Depends on what you want to serve at. For my setup, lengths of hose, and experience with my setup, mine stays around 40. If I'm bottling from keg, I drop it to 32-34.

 

I keep my kegs right around 33 F. To be honest I prefer COLD beer (I know this is not PC). If I do decide to drink it warmer, I let it warm up after pouring.