Freezing Fridge Fun!

[FlowerPower]

Hey guys!

I've only ever used my fridge on hook up and its a beeeatch to control the temp...either freezing or not working.

Problem is, one of my hounds has recently been diagnosed as diabetic. And this means that when we go away again next I'll have to keep his insulin at between +3 to +8 degress C. If it goes outside of this range the insulin gets damaged.

Does it make any difference to the fridge temp whether I use it on hook-up, battery or gas? Come to think of it, that might be a silly question.

Can you guys recommend an alternative way of keeping the insulin at a stable temp for a few days at a time?

[Nicola&Tony]

Sorry to hear about your dog's diabetes. You could maybe try running the fridge on gas for a couple of days, as an experiment well before you're planning on going away next. If it's possible to get better temperature control when it's running on gas then perhaps it's the thermostat that adjusts the temp when running from 240V that is at fault?

Have you tried the search facility on this forum (top of the page) because there's been some good advice about fridge problems given in previous postings?

Tony

[irish.david]

I can think of a way to do this but it is a royal pain in the a$$. The other problem is that it'll only work on mains hookup.

I'm assuming that the fridge you're using is a absorption type fridge with the large metal heat exchanger at the back. If it is then your best bet is to mount a thermostat internally and use that to control the operation of the 220v heating element.

First you'll need to buy a thermostat. Farnell do some suitable ones. Try searching the farnell site for parts no's 179868 or 645850.

Next you'll need to drill a hole through the back of your fridge. Sounds nasty but you'll need the thermostat inside the fridge to control the heating element outside it (while you've a hole in the back of the fridge i'd recommend fitting some of the fans i mentioned in the post labelled "Poor fridge performance!!" That way you'll get a better distribution of the cooling through the fridge).

Next wire the thermostat in series with the 220v heating element making sure you use wiring designed to carry mains voltages. The thermostat should be mounted at the same height in the fridge that you keep the insulin. When all the wiring is done and the thermostat is mounted the hole you drilled can be filled with bathroom sealant. After this it's ready to test. Just remember to have the cooling set to max on hookup so the thermostat you mounted inside is doing all the controlling.

As the temperature control is so critical i'd also invest in a min/max thermometer and try the fridge out of the van connected to the mains so you can find the perfect setting on the thermostat. I've no idea how fast these fridges heat up or cool down when the 220v is supplied or removed so some trial and error will be needed.

I imagine that this is not the answer you wanted to hear and hopefully someone else can come up with a better idea but for the moment it's all i can think of.

The things we do for our pets eh?

Dave

[FlowerPower]

Thanks guys.

The problem is, I need to be able to control the temp on gas and leisure as well as hook up.

Does anyone know of a small cool box maybe, that I could connect permanently to the battery. The insulin bottle is tiny, so the smaller the better.