Hi,

I have been struggling with building my own wine cooler at home. It is fairly large 128 bottles. About 5 feet tall, 3 feet wide and 1 feet deep.
From the beginning I attempted with Peltier TEC coolers, heatsinks, fans, 12V transformers etc.
This finally resulted in a solution which managed to keep the wine cooler a few degrees below ambient, but not nearly cool enough in the summer.

A neibourgh threw out a fridge a couple of months ago and I salvaged the cooling components from said fridge.

Yesterday I finally test-installed these in my wine cooler.
Good news, it is definitely powerful enough. I reached my target temp in half an hour and it didn't seem to slow down much after that. I am aiming for 13 degrees celcius or about 55 degrees farenheit.

In addition to the thermostat from the fridge itself (which I apperently broke when I cut the probe filled with gas) I have a second thermostat which can be set to turn on and off at specific temperatures reached within the wine cooler.

On the originial thermostat I found a lever which turns the fridge on when it is pressed. (Simulating pressure from the hot gas expanding within the probe/tube I guess).

So, the problem is that the compressor is too loud. There are no fans so the noise should come from the compressor and that is sure where it seems to come.

I have read that I should check that it is level (though it should be almost level at least), it stands on rubber feet, though is not bolted down.

Would it be possible to put a resistor in line with the fridge thermostat to make it run on less current, there by making it less effective but also less loud?

Any other suggestions?

Or would the only real option be to go out and by a new fridge-compressor?

I remember the compressor as being less loud when I tried it outside before installing it. That was at maybe a couple of degrees above freezing so might have to do with it?

Thank you!

Mike