Well some of you may remember that I asked about using a halogen light in my fermentation freezer. Well I used it and thought it was a 300W light turns out it was a 500W light. The temp controler is rated for 4.2amps. For those of you that dont know the formula for wattage and amps is P=I*E where P = watts, I = amps and E = voltage. To figure for I take 500w / 110 v and you get 4.5 even if the voltatge is 120 its right at 4.2a. Well the relay for the switch stuck leaving the 500w light on and the freezer on batteling each other. I know I left it for 3 days without checking on it. On day 3 my garage smelled a little odd. When I went to the fermentation fridge the temp controller said 213F, not good. So I attmepted to open the door it was sticking, had to get a knife and cut some plastic out of the way. Inside I found carboy still intact, interior of the fridge melted down. I will insert some pics of the fridge and the airlock. The good news is I brought the beer inside it was at 1.028 still a little high and im assuming all the yeast is dead now. I added some Safale US-56 I had saved for just such an occasion. In a week it brought it down to 1.024 And the beer is drinkable. Has a little sharp burnt flavor to it but drinkable, dont think I will be entering any comps with it though. So just thought I would post this as a warning to everyone.
Melted
Where the light was sitting
This door once had molded shelves
Airlock
