Quote:
Originally Posted by
mmeister 
After searching around this seems to be a common problem with this fridge. It looks cool but does not function as well as hoped. I did get it at a very good price but it needs some mods to make it work as well as it looks. I almost never impulse buy without researching. Lesson learned!
One solution I have found, and tell me if this makes sense to try- is to either A) take out the sensor toward the bottom of the fridge and insulate it with something like a paper towel to fool the fridge and make it run longer. B) add wiring to the sensor and extend the probe to the top inside of the fridge, again to fool it or C) somehow add a capacitor or something like that to make it run longer.
I think a 120mm computer fan also would help even out the cold air but I need help on this. Anyone have a step-by-step with pics to help? Vespaguy you had luck with this?
Yeah, the two mods I listed in my first post worked really well. I've discovered that most mini-fridges (and especially kegerators) don't get nearly as cold as you'd like them to. Check the Micromatic forums (see crunchyfrogs post above) for mods specific to your fridge.
I don't have pics of my mods, but I might be able to give you a better description of what I did.
First Mod:
Add a fan
If your fridge is like most small fridges, there's just a cold plate along the back and it has absolutely no circulation. Before adding a fan, try testing the temp* at two seperate locations in the fridge (top shelf/bottom shelf). You'll probably notice a huge difference between the temp at the bottom and the temp at the top. If you do notice a difference of more than a few degrees, then a fan will definately help to even - and possibly lower - the temperature.
(*for the most accurate temp, use a submergable thermometer in a cup of water)
Adding a fan is very easy. Simply buy a DC fan at Radio Shack, or pull one off of an old computer. Then use a basic DC cord. Many folks on the Micromatic website suggest using an old phone charger; cut off the end that would plug into the phone and just connect the two wires from the DC adapter to the two wires on the fan (if it doesn't work, just reverse the wires). Almost all PC fans are 12v so a simple phone charger will work fine. If you don't have a DC charger, you can pick one up cheap at Radio Shack.
Once you have a working fan, find an inconspicuous place to run the wire (you should be able to close the door on the wire without an issue), and mount the fan anywhere in the fridge. I have my fan on the top shelf, pointed down along the plate and it seems to circulate the cold air perfectly.
My fan stays on all the time and it works fine. It's very possible that this step alone will lower the temp enough for you.
Second Mod:
Tricking the fridge to run longer
My fridge's temp sensor was tucked away behind the cold plate. Moving away from the plate just tricked my fridge into staying on non-stop. No matter where I put the sensor, unless it was directly behind the cold plate, it never registered a cold enough temp to switch the fridge off. It was impossible to find a location that would keep the fridge at a consistant temp.
So, I ended up using an external temperature controller (
http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-...s-pid-E54.html) which was recommended by several forum members at Micromatic.
Basically, you move your sensor so that the fridge will run all the time. You then place a sensor from the brewers edge anywhere in the fridge (I have mine in a glass of water to get an accurate temp). Then you plug your power cord of the fridge into the temp controller. Now, the temp controller will turn the fridge on and off based on a limit that you program into it. It probably sounds more complicated than it is.
The controller is a bit expensive, but it works fantastic. It's a shame that these fridges don't work as expected right out of the box, but reading the Micromatic forums leads me to believe that these problems are fairly standard.
Good luck!
