I finally got a chance to get back to my dry curing chamber project today. I started off by using a hole saw to put a hole in this PVC junction box to match the hole I had already drilled in the lower part of the fridge.
The next hole for the low volume AC powered fan I had was not so easy. I wasn't going to buy a 4" hole saw for it so I made do with a plastic cut off wheel on my Dremel. It is ugly but it works. The purpose of the fan is to draw humidity out of the chamber.
I then worked on fitting the fan to the junction box cover.
After drilling my holes for the fan I cut out a piece of screen to keep bugs out.
I then put the bolts through the hole in the junction box cover and screen. I added a couple washers between the fan and screen to keep the screen away from the fan blades and bolted it all together.
It's ugly, but it works.
Then I wired up the fan.
From there I installed the junction box onto the fridge. A tip that will make it easier for you to line up the hole, use the hole saw bit with a bit protruding to hang the junction box off of. That allowed me to get it damn near perfect.
The ugliness of that hole is bugging the ever living **** out of me but it works. The dehumidifier fan installed.
Next I installed the humidity controller and hooked up the fan to it.
I installed the temp controller next. The fridge plugs into the temp controller and when the fridge hits the ideal temp the controller kills power to it.
I hung the probe in the middle of what used to be the freezer. My thought is that heat rises so the best place to put the probe is up top.
For independent verification of humidity and temp levels I went with this Honeywell wireless unit. It supports up to 3 different probes should I decide to expand my collection if dry curing chambers.
Time to test it out. Temp is set.
The humidify light is on!
And the fogger is producing humidity.
An hour later we have perfection.
Tomorrow I have to figure out how to clean up all the wiring, mount the fridge controls, get the hanging sticks installed, and put some screen on the top hole in the fridge. I will be placing an order with Butcher Packer tonight for starter culture and mold.