Deer hanging cooler
General Topic
Thanks Timex, that looks pretty straightforward. My inkbird should be in on Tuesday and I'll get it hooked right up. My cooler is 5 x 5 x 6.5' high (163cf). I tried putting an external thermostat spliced into the power to the bulb, but it would only drop to 56.5*. Once the cooler is working, I only have to plumb the sink with a pump up to my septic. Then my basement meat room will be complete.
Nice use of that electrical building, perfect size.
Also, I see that your AC is digital, will that matter? Mine is analog.
Here’s the Redneck mobile version.
How long does the AC unit last with it running so far out of design specs? Serious question as I've considered doing this myself.
According to most of the YouTube videos I've seen, they run for years without any problems. Deer coolers, veggie coolers, wine coolers, and even aquariums. In our case, 5 or 6 days at a time. Not 24/7/365. I've yet to hear about an AC failing with the controller.
I love it Timex,, question? Couldn't you eliminate the light bulb all together if you just snipped the thermocouple off and wire nutted the ends together. It would accomplish a closed circuit which is what the ac unit wants to keep running.
This is neat! I was thinking, why not just connect the thermo to a thermostat and set it at 35 degrees? The same way we run thermostats to electric baseboard heaters?
"the on temp is set at 38 degrees & off is set at 28 degrees"
I thought meats are hung at a continuous 45 degrees???
"I thought meats are hung at a continuous 45 degrees???"
I think it's 35... but I don't age my meats. I get it in the freezer asap.
Inkbird came in today, don't know if it's me or the AC, but it's not working. Still shutting the compressor off. It gets to a lower temp on the controller ~ 51.7, but still well short of 35*. And only drops the cooler temp to 58. Would there be another sensor inside the AC? It's not making sense. I'll keep tinkering and see if it will change anything.
I think a gun safe dehumidifier rod ($15- $20 @ Amazon) would work well to heat the thermocouple. They don't get very warm but would be warm enough.
Or a reptile heat pad would work fine also... Amazon again ;)
Timex, do you turn the unit on after you kill a deer or do you get it cooled off as soon as you decide to start hunting? I guess I'm asking how long does it take to cool down the room?
Timex, yes the thermocouple is moved away from fins, small light bulb wrapped in foil. It wouldn't work with light plugged into controller so I put it straight to outlet. That keeps the light on. I found a temp calibration setting which goes from -15 - +15. I dropped that to -15. It seems to be working now, with my base setting now on 33*, the controller turns on at 36 and off at 33.
Standing in the cooler watching it cycle through, it's working. I checked after 45 minutes when base setting was 35* , the alarm was on...at 45*. I'll keep tuning and watching.
Right now the interior and exterior thermometers are both reading 58*, which concerns me a bit. Good to know about 24hr period for walls, etc. If the cycling continues as is, temp should come down and be good to go.
Let’s see some pics. This is doable.
I’m going to try and talk Cecil into this. He’s got a better place to build. lol.
I thought the bulb went through the controller too, but when it didn't work, I realized I had to just plug in to outlet. Screwing with the calibration was desperation, lol. I thought just like you, to fine tune to actual temp. But, it worked to get the temp on controller to drop. I will put it back to zero and see if everything still runs.
I'm not mechanically inclined. Can't do electric, plumbing, very little carpentry. I catch animals. The bulb in my cooler may be brighter than me, lol. Thanks.
Well, I'm no genius, but this is just not working.
Controller is plugged into outlet.
AC is plugged into Controller.
Controller sensor is mounted to front of fins.
AC sensor is below and wrapped around small light bulb, with foil.
Light bulb is plugged into outlet and constantly on.
Target temp is set to 35*. Variance is set at 3* above and 3* below. So, should run between 38 - 32*.
Current Temp display stops at 56+/- and goes back up to 62. The fins on the AC aren't even getting cold, never mind freezing up. The thermometer on wall will read anywhere between 58-62.
What am I missing??
"Controller sensor is mounted to front of fins."
This may be your problem.. Suggest controller sensor be mounted in area you want to cool.
Of course, that makes sense. I don't recall anyone placing sensor anywhere but in front of AC. I'll try that.
Frustrated, I turned the whole thing off while I tried to research troubleshooting. I went back down and taped up all my wires to take pics. Turned the cooler on and the temp dropped to 49.2. Progress. But, then that's where the compressor shut off. I'll see if moving the sensor away from directly against fins will work.
Moving it will work. Think about it, by the fins it's tripping way early
Moved it and stayed inside cooler to watch. Compressor on at 61.3 and off at 51.2. I'll let it run for a bit and check again, but not too enthusiastic.
There's got to be an additional thermostat tripping to prevent freeze up. IDK.
IDK either... let us know what you find.
Yep. Brand and model ac unit Brian would be helpful. I don’t know how to fix it. I just wanna make sure I use a different one. lol
Interesting thread and I have no first hand knowledge, but to Brian M.: Coolbot website has trouble shooting videos and talks about how to handle a/c that has secondary temp sensors. May give you some useful information to your problem.
Possible compressor is kicking off on thermal overload... low freon is most common cause. This would be independent of thermostat.. Wouldn't be worth fixing if the case. IDK for sure.
Lol WV M, it's a frigidaire ffra051wae0. 5k btu. Analog. Don't know how old, it was given to me.
If it was me I'd just buy a new cheap unit and be done with it. They don't cost too much. Just basic unit is what's needed.
If I don't understand why it doesn't work, I won't know if a new one will either.
Maybe a digital is needed? I've also seen them controlled with two units, but don't know the reason for that either.
Ac bud of mine says some older Frigidares do in fact have a secondary sensor, usually the larger ones he thinks though. Need a schematic to find it pretty much. You could try cleaning off the compressor if its dirty, slight chance it'd help. Pretty much has to be the ac it seems... it doesn't have a "econ" mode does it? if so turn that sucker off. I'm just pizzin in the wind. ;)
The date on it is 10/20, so not old. My wife worked in an appliance store for 26 years, and she can't find a schematic on it. And it doesn't have an "econ" switch. Glad I have plenty of time to figure it out.
Well, I'm going to take the 5k out and open it up. See if I can find the other sensor. If not, my daughter has an extra 10k digital that I will use. I'll just have to cut a bigger hole in cooler, which I was trying to avoid.
Couldn't figure out the 5k, so got the 10k set up temporarily. Seemed to be working OK, but when I checked on it after an hour, the inkbird was at the correct numbers, but thermometer was at 60*. Ugh, WTH?
The fins were freezing up, so I knew the AC was getting cold enough. Then I remembered what bluedog said. The sensor was touching the fins. I moved it away about a 1/4", the current temp shot up to 55+* and AC kicked on. I watched the temp drop about 3* while still inside cooler. I'll check in half hour. If it's good to go, I'll enlarge the hole tomorrow and put it in permanently.
Kinda hard to follow the whole conversation here, but it seems to me you still don’t have a good grasp of where to put the temperature sensor for the controller (inkbird or whatever).
It should not be anywhere near the fins on the a/c unit. That sensor is what controls the temperature in the room, it really has nothing to do with the a/c unit itself. Put the sensor away from the a/c unit and out of the direct path of the cold air blowing. You want it to sense the average air in the room (cooler), not what the unit is blowing or the temperature of the fins or any of that.
All the controller (inkbird) is doing is turning on the 110v to the a/c unit when it get above X temperature and turning it off when it gets to Y temp. So by putting it on the fins or in the airstream you are basically telling it to turn off way premature because that is the absolute coldest area in the whole system. You need that sensor in the most average area of the cooler. If that makes sense.
Sorry if I am misunderstanding your issue, or adding to your confusion, just trying to be helpful.
—Jim
Jim explained it clearly.
Regarding icing up.... ac can either cool or remove humidity. Once you have it installed and shed all sealed up once it had humidity down wouldn't think you'd have icing problem. In meantime make sure ac fan is on high, that'll help. Picture sensor as your thermostat in your house for heating and cooling... away from furnace and ac. In a room.
I appreciate any help I can get. What you say makes sense.
I just can't make sense of what is happening. When the sensor was touching the fins, the controller was cycling at the correct numbers 32-38, and there wasn't any frost build up, but the wall thermometer was still at 60.
When I moved the sensor off of the fins a bit, everything frosted up thick, and it didn't get down to 35 where the ac would shut off. So it seems the sensor also has to tell the controller when to shut down so it won't frost. With so much frost, it blocked air flow and wasn't blowing any air, so again temp was 60*. Perhaps IT IS a humidity issue. I turned everything off so it defrosts. Will try again tomorrow with the sensor as far away as I can put it.
Every video I see has the control sensor mounted to fins where the factory sensor was previously located (except when two controllers were used in tandem). The AC works and the controller works, just not in sync....yet.
Thanks Timex. I've been doing more research this morning. I noticed one video that was using an additional thermostat, which I tried before with no luck. I just realized that in the video, the guy had the sensor from the additional thermostat against the fins, and the controller sensor away from the AC. So, I hooked that back up. The additional thermostat should cut the power to the light at just above freezing, allowing the AC to thaw for a few minutes before kicking back in.
But, I look forward to your pics. ;)
Thanks again Timex. It froze up with the extra thermostat so took that back off. I hung the inkbird sensor 8" in front of blower and it got down to 42.7, but crept back up to 43.6. Moved it in another inch and it settled at 43.4 with no freeze up.
Now I've read your response, I'll go set it at your recommendation. Making progress, woohoo.
The rolling rack adds a nice touch. Cooler is to the right, my left
Nice setup Charlie. My basement isn't that high, but I'll make do.
OK, just spent the last 2 hrs enlarging the window, took 3 tries to cut it right. It's in and running. Will check in a few hours. I have the compressor on a 3 minute cycle. Not sure if I should have went any longer to start.
Yeah Charlie, nice setup...
When you guys hang skinned deer in a locker with a controlled environment and temperature, does the outer membrane of the meat turn dark or black as it would if hanging from a tree after a couple days or so?
I've learned not to skin deer if they are going to hang in a tree a couple days...
Yes, I had the inkbird set so the once the compressor shuts off, it will be off for a minimum of 3 minutes. When it was set to zero, it frosted up because compressor didn't shut off. I can't seem to set it to run for a certain amount of time, like 10 on, 5 off. It did run longer to start before the 3 off.
Yesterday I started at 39* with on/off at 44/34. Every 3 hrs I dropped temp 2*.
I had it set for 31* at 11pm, on at 35, off at 26. The AC actually shuts off at the set temp, drops a degree or so, then temp will rise until it hits the start temp or 3 minutes. It didn't freeze up overnight, so dropped the set temp to 29* this morning.
Temp on thermometer is 46* right now (lowest it's been, but I expected lower by morning). Once I find out at what point it will start to freeze up, then I will adjust the compressor time up and down to find the sweet spot. Does this sound right or would you do differently?
At least progress is being made. The hardest part is not running down every 5 minutes to see if it's frosting up.
I'm hoping that is what the inkbird will do too. I'm not TRYING to run a timed cycle, but want there to be a down time so the coils can thaw IF it freezes. If I move with small increments, I'm hoping I can understand the functionality of it. The most important thing learned so far is you telling me where to put the sensor. That was the big difference. Thanks, I'll update later.
OK, quick update/question. I set the compressor off time back to zero and temp off time to 27*. I stayed inside the cooler for a few cycles, AC goes off at 27 and starts again at 32. The fan runs for a minute or two, and ambient temp climbs to 43, when the compressor kicks in and cycles back down to 27. Just before it hits 27, I can see frost starting, but it melts off within seconds of turning off. So I think 27 is the lowest I can go. So now it's only running on temp.
This AC has an "econ" setting and I'm pretty sure it automatically kicked on. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? It still cycles with the current settings.
Yeah, yeah, you're late to the party Highlife, lol. No one was more confused than me for a supposedly plug and play device. It's all good and working splendidly. Current temp inside the cooler is 39*. I can see my breath. A friend shot a buck on his crop damage permit yesterday, so he brought it to hang this morning. First one in the cooler in its current location. Just in time. Thanks again Timex, much appreciated.
