Ferm Chamber not getting cool enough

Hello!

So I based my ferm chamber off of this build:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/another-fermentation-chamber-build-253949/

I have a desk fan that kicks on with the mini fridge and I cannot get the temps lower than 75. I pulled out the freezer shelf and flattened it with the fan blowing air behind the shelf towards my carboys. Is there something that I am missing/doing wrong? My house temps are around 71 degrees. I would appreciate any help, thank you.

Are you venting the outside of the fridge so the heat can escape? Did you kink the freezer coils when you bent the shelf? Those are two possibilities.

rajun50 said:

Are you venting the outside of the fridge so the heat can escape? Did you kink the freezer coils when you bent the shelf? Those are two possibilities.

Click to expand...

There are three 15"x6" vents (it mimics the link's vents). One for the compressor, the other two for the sides and the shelf gets ice cold. I am thinking that I may need to increase side vents or just take off the side panels all together. I did not want to resort to this as the guy in the link I posted didn't have to. Just stumped on how his worked and mine is having trouble getting lower than 75

Well if its warmer in your chamber then outside, the fridge is definitely producing heat and getting trapped inside. You should be able to feel around inside and feel if there are any hotspots. Something is not venting right, it could be specific to your fridge vs the model your design was based off of. More pictures may help as well

I had trouble with my fermentation chamber and figured out that I needed to adjust the dial in the fridge so that when it was turned on by the STC-1000 it was on full blast (I turned the knob to 7). That helped get it down from the mid 70s to the mid 60s.

I do have a question to piggy back off of yours. For those content with the build, design, and efficiency of their fermentation chamber, how often does it cycle on/off? I have my STC-1000 set to turn on when the temperature rises to .5 degrees above what I set and it seems to turn on the fridge every 25-30 minutes. I live in Atlanta, GA where the temps in my garage are around 80-90 right now but I wasn't sure what I should expect.

So it is definitely the fridge not being able to "breathe". So my options are to increase vents or remove panels. I like the idea of having removable panels during fermentation with a quick latch, but I'm not sure to that would work.