Freezer to Refrigerator Conversion/Manufacturing Instructions

Safety Check

• Goggles

Tool Check

• drill
• stepped drill bit
• crimp tool
• wire cutter
• small blade screw driver
• phillips screw driver

Inventory Check

See BOM

Step by Step

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1. drill holes

• measure the diameter of the extension cord that will be used.

• using a stepped drill bit, cut two holes on opposite sides of the box.
  • centered about 1"inch below edge of box

• drill a 5/32 hole for the thermister signal wire

2. place and cut wires

• cut extension cord for desired lengths. in half is fine.

• run about 8 inches of cord into holes.

• tie cord in a knot. pull knot firmly against the side of the box.

• strip off shielding, leaving about half an inch past knot.

3. fit check

• place the wall wart, relay switch and microcontroller into box.

• confirm that the usb cable can reach the microcontroller.

• using double sided stick strip, attach relay in place

• wrap electrical tape around male pins out of bottom of arduino if necesaary

4. crimp connections

• study the wiring harness diagram

• start with the AC extension cord wires.
  • fit check the wires into place, then cut as needed.

• crimp ends as noted in diagram

• crimp green AC ground wires back togther

• cut thermister wire to length
  • insert through its box hole
  • tie knot inside box and pull tight against box wall

• crimp jumper wires as noted in diagram
  • wrap resistor and adjoining connections in electrical tape

• fold back ends of thermister lead wires
  • crimp each end into a fully insulated male connector
  • wrap both connectors together with electrical tape
  • wrap exposed lead wires from thermister leaving only the tip exposed

• crimp female connectors to thermister wire

5. install connections

• connect AC lines to relay screw terminals. look for the squigly line symbol (~).

• using a small blade screw driver, expand the yellow female connectors slightly

• slide yellow connectors on to the wall wart. polarity does not matter.

• connect the jumper wires with connector ends to the relay
  • green wire to (-). red wire to (+).

• solder female headers onto microcontroller if not pre-installed how to solder
• confirm that the arduino code has been uploaded how to upload
• review the microcontroller jumper connections on the wiring diagram
  • connect the usb cable
  • connect the jumper wires as seen in the diagram
  • then put the microcontroller in place in the box next to relay

6. test and finish

• connect an AC device to the plug (a wall clock is easy)

• plug into the wall

• confirm the microcontroller led is on

• confirm AC device is powered on

• place thermister into a freezer

• the AC power should turn off
  • this verifies basic function

• feel free to tweak arduino code trigger values as desired

• screw on the PVC box's lid.

• install on chest freezer, you now have a chest refrigerator