Wine Cellar Electric Supply

Sounds more like you have one wine cellar that has a defective control system and needs repair. Doing anything externally can do anything from nothing to fixing this to destroying it. I'd call a repairman.

I like the binary joke....I've been told by the manufacturer that there is nothing they can do; they didn't even want me to send the unit back to them, so I suspect the control unit is defective, as you infer. I was trying to get it to work by bypassing that defect....

Can you specify the components that make up the wine cellar unit?

In answer to your question, you would have to put some sort of variable frequency drive on your power to prevent the compressor from burning up, or add a contactor to just shut it off. Then you would have to have a temp sensor (installed in the cooler) and some sort of input with software to detect the change in temperature and adjust you power accordingly. The installation cost of this would probably be prohibitive. In fact it might be cheaper to buy a new wine cooler or replace the rheostat with one that works.

Sounds like a common problem. A quick google search turned up a lot of similar issues. This to me looks and sounds like a common refrigeration thermostat issue.

My only advice is to seek someone who knows refrigerator repairs and see if they would be interested in tinkering with it. The fact that it cools to 42 deg F it sounds like it has a decent compressor and is capable of cooling. Must be the stat!

Good Luck!

thank you all for your prompt responses (I didn't expect so much so fast!). It sounds like an impractical project for now. I may post later on when I can get at the unit and partially disassemble it.....

I wholeheartedly agree that you should open the unit up to attempt a repair. It's likely that a simple failure is at the root of your problem. But many things made today are quickly (cheaply) assembled with no future repair ever planned for. So keep this in mind as you open this puzzle box. You may not be capable of getting to the failure point without further damage.