Taking care of condensation in DIY Wine Cooler

Hey Guys,

I posted a thread like 6 months ago: http://www.refrigeration-engineer.co...ie)&highlight=

The project kind of got off track.
I ordered a small compressor and finally got the "sound proofing" to be sufficient so that I can run the fridge without being bothered by its noise.

For you that do not want to read through the old tread...
I have a small O-shaped evaporator at the top of my DIY wine cooler which is built into a "hole in the wall" with one brick wall, the front is glass and all other sides are wooden. On the bottom of the fridge is a fan vented box which holds the compressor and condenser.

I have a fair amount of condensation build-up on the evaporator and as the design is right now I have nothing to take care of it so it would just drip on the wine and eventually floor of the fridge (which is wooden).

I now realize I will need some kind of tray to pick up the dripping water and then lead this out of the fridge (I guess). As I see it I have two options right now.
1) Lead the water down to the compressor and use an evaporation-tray on top of the compressor. The water would evaporate and exit the fridge by forceventilation.
2) Lead the water down to the box on the side of the compressor where the heat blows by so that I would get a fan that blows (hot) air over the tray where the water ends up.

Solution 2 would be easier to implement.

Would either or both of these ways be effective? Is it a no-brainer that all water will be evaporated and blown out of the box or do I need to be afraid of the tray over-filling, which would be kind of catastrophic... I am thinking of having both the evaporation tray and then something that give like a warning that the water is overflowing. Like one of those they use for self-watering-pots... Could of course have some kind of alarm going off as well, but might get complicated...

Thanks,
Mike

option 2 but coil a bit of pipe so the discharge line off the compressor goes through a coil to evaporate the condensate then into the condenser- top tip is to dip the coil in radiator paint first to protect it from corrosion/oxidisation

Quote:

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Originally Posted by install monkey

option 2 but coil a bit of pipe so the discharge line off the compressor goes through a coil to evaporate the condensate then into the condenser- top tip is to dip the coil in radiator paint first to protect it from corrosion/oxidisation

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That sounds like a perfect idea.
To minimize the risk of corrosion I could easily put the coil 1/2 an inch above the bottom of the tray/container so that it would normally (or maybe always) evaporate before it reaches the coil pipe.


Also, one more question.
After running the fridge for several hours, where the compressor is constantly on as it struggles to get the wine fridge down to target temperature, the noise seems to get worse from the compressor. It sounds like it changes pitch of the noise, like it is slowing down and at the same time gets a bit louder.

I am guessing this is caused by the compressor combating heavy loads.

Is there anyway to minimize this?
I would still like to keep the evaporator above 0 degrees Celsius so that I don't get ice on the evaporator. The compressor is a BD35f and should work up to 10 degrees while in its slowest mode 2000 rpm where I am running it.

Would cooling the condenser more effectively do the trick?
Any other ways to make life easier for the compressor.

Mike

My wine comes in a cardboard box. I just keep it in the fridge. If I run out I drink spiced rum with ice & make a mental note to buy some more carboard boxes with wine in..

:p

pictures of the cooler? =) im curious how it looks like.