I finally installed an electronic temperature controller for my Vitrifrigo C85i.
I haven't found anything really detailed out there, so I thought I would post it here.
I just finished doing it this weekend, and looked at it cycle a few dozen times, and at the moment I can say that it's pretty darn accurate and responsive.
I also wanted to add fans inside the fridge in order to even out the air temperature throughout.
So here are the items I purchased:
2 ( 1 + 1 spare) temperature Controls on Amazon.com
Bayite digital temperature controller
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011VGAPOC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
And also 2 fans (that I installed inside the fridge, connected in parallel to the condenser fan, but I find them too noisy, so I installed an external switch to turn them off at night):
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B071WMHNG5/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I also bought 2 of these other fans (that I haven't installed, but they seem quieter although bigger):
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B072HJ38PS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
So basically, I passed the wires through the hole in the back of the fridge that is already there for the coolant line.
Connected 2 small fans, 1 blowing up in the back of the evaporator and 1 blowing down, in order to get a good swirl of air going on. I had tested the fans in the house prior to installing, but after everything was done, the noisiest part of the system (compressor and all) are these 2 little fans. So I ended up installing a cut-off switch for these fans so I can turn them off at night. I made sure the fans would not interfere with the drip pan and the wire rack in the highest position I use it at.
The fans are connected in parallel with the condenser fans that are installed in the rear of the fridge. I had already replaced this fan (and added a second one) with a less noisy and lower consumption fan, so adding these small fans do not trigger the over amp fault for the condenser fan.
Pretty straight forward to do, very cheap. Took me about 4 hours, but I was really laid back doing this.
On the temp controller diagram, there were 3 choices for wiring which had me confused. I ended up using the 3rd choice which was named "not recommended", which is only a dry contact. This is actually what you want because the mechanical thermostat that is there originally is only sending an "open/closed" signal that is not powered.
I also saw that there is a resistor on the T terminal to change the compressor speed (some of these have a resistor and some don't). On mine it was a 265 Ohms resistor, which makes the compressor speed increase to 2,500rpm instead of the stock 2,000rpm
I can't wait to see how this is going to work in the summer heat, but I would put money on the fact that it will perform better. I would have crazy variations this summer while just trying to fine tune the old mechanical clicker box. The termocouple reacts so fast that you can't beat that.
Thanks for reading!