Keezer interior light wiring

tom_b · January 13, 2012, 7:18pm

Forgive what might be an obvious questions, but I am somewhat electrically impaired. (The stuff scares me.)

By using an external temperature controller, the interior light in the lid of my keezer will only work when the controller is sending current to the compressor, of course. The lid light is connected to the rest of the wiring by a convenient external wire harness that plugs into a plastic socket (Kenmore 8.8 cuft model).

I’m thinking about wiring that light to its own plug so it receives current independent of the freezer’s compressor so it will operate whether the controller is sending current to the compressor or not. Does anyone know if the interior light works on standard voltage, that is, can I just unplug the wire harness and splice it onto a standard plug and plug that into a wall socket?

stormybrew · January 13, 2012, 7:43pm

I have the same freezer but use one of those magnectic puck lights (LED) for light when the compressor is off. I think it was $2.99 at harborfreight. works well.

cheers

chester3 · January 13, 2012, 8:15pm

It might (should) say on the light bulb if it is 120VAC or not. If so, you should be able to do what you describe. Might say in your manual too. I wouldn’t think they’d add a transformer to convert to DC just for the light, but you never know. Judging by the wiring size on mine, I’d guess it’s AC.

bd1000 · January 18, 2012, 3:26am

You’d have to look at the wiring and I’m not familiar with that one. Is there a push button or mercury switch that turns on the light when you lift the top up? If so, you can splice into the main power line and not have to use a secondary plug for when you want it on. As far as the input voltage, you have to look at the light and wires to figure that out. Can you take pictures of the light and wiring?

nyakavt · January 18, 2012, 1:29pm

There should be a circuit diagram on the freezer somewhere, probably near where it is plugged in. That will tell you the bulb voltage and the power path. I’ve never seen one that wasn’t 110V light. If you disconnect the light buld from the main power circuit you can run a secondary power cord to it (hopefully the switch will still work). With the way you have it now, you will need a second power cord because the main fridge power is cycled by the controller.

Alternatively you could feed the compressor on/off to the controller instead of the main power, then your light would work like normal (fridge plugs into wall, compressor circuit is interrupted by controller). However most don’t do this because of the additional hassle, it’s much easier to just plug the fridge into the controller and the controller into the wall. The stick on lights sound like a good idea. I just have a bright overhead flourescent light in the garage that works great.

tom_b · January 20, 2012, 9:38pm

I have checked the wiring diagram and confirmed with my Dad (the authoratative source on DIY projects) that I can splice a cord onto the freezer light cord. I am checking on making a plug male sockets that can plug into the freezer wire harness directly. I will let you know how it turns out.