Upright fridge with digital controller

ryangus · October 02, 2020, 08:04:23 AM

For some reason, despite most 12v chest fridges having a digital controller, it seems all the uprights have the old 'analogue' dial, that you can't key in an exact temperature. Anyone know why, or know of one with a digital controller (I can't find any)?

tryagain · October 02, 2020, 08:10:15 AM

The digital controllers are pretty cheap, you could add one to a fridge if you really wanted one. Most household fridges don't have a digital controller either, not sure why that is, maybe something to do with the bigger volume?

gronk · October 02, 2020, 09:13:49 AM

I added one to an upright Waeco a f see w yrs ago. Pretty easy install.

weeds · October 02, 2020, 06:05:34 PM

Come over and look at the conversion I did on an old engel......

Easy peasy

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Champin · October 02, 2020, 08:10:15 PM

I have an Evakool fridge/freezer which has a digital controller. Pretty happy with it too.

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GeoffA · October 02, 2020, 08:23:14 PM

Does a digital controller make the beer colder??

Champin · October 02, 2020, 08:24:42 PM

Bordering on ice

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GeoffA · October 02, 2020, 08:25:34 PM

What if I fit 2??...

If 1 is good....

Champin · October 02, 2020, 08:34:08 PM

Quote from: GeoffA on October 02, 2020, 08:25:34 PM
What if I fit 2??...

If 1 is good....

Straight through to the keeper

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tryagain · October 04, 2020, 05:10:30 PM

Quote from: GeoffA on October 02, 2020, 08:25:34 PM
What if I fit 2??...

If 1 is good....

Then you have redundancy!

gronk · October 04, 2020, 06:47:36 PM

Quote from: GeoffA on October 02, 2020, 08:23:14 PM
Does a digital controller make the beer colder??

Yes it can.....that's why I fitted one. In warm weather, the "old" style thermostat used to get the fridge down to 1deg ( perfect for beer ), but then would go to 7 deg before cutting back in...(no good for beer ).
A digital controller could be set to cut out at 1 deg and cut back in at 2 , 3 or 5 deg.

Fizzie · October 05, 2020, 06:59:03 AM

Quote from: gronk on October 04, 2020, 06:47:36 PM
Yes it can.....that's why I fitted one. In warm weather, the "old" style thermostat used to get the fridge down to 1deg ( perfect for beer ), but then would go to 7 deg before cutting back in...(no good for beer ).
A digital controller could be set to cut out at 1 deg and cut back in at 2 , 3 or 5 deg.

Did doing that make any noticeable difference to power consumption

gronk · October 05, 2020, 07:12:46 AM

Quote from: Fizzie on October 05, 2020, 06:59:03 AM
Did doing that make any noticeable difference to power consumption

No, not really. With the old setup, it would take longer to cut back in, but would then run longer to get back down.
With the controller, it would run more often, but in shorter bursts.

Fizzie · October 05, 2020, 09:38:35 AM

Thanks!

That's what I thought, but good to have it confirmed from actual experience

loanrangie · October 05, 2020, 06:11:35 PM

Look up STC1000 on ebay, they come in 12/24V or 220/240V versions. Like Gronk said you can adjust the temp and set the cut in/out variation by 1 or 2 degrees.

ryangus · November 15, 2020, 09:23:39 AM

Quote from: loanrangie on October 05, 2020, 06:11:35 PM
Look up STC1000

Weeds kindly gave me one of them, but it's a bit too big for where I want to mount it. I think I'll go with a 12V model of one of these instead https://www.ink-bird.com/products-PID-controller-itc100.html

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Upright fridge with digital controller