Converting a Wine Cooler to an Incubator

[mxrider42]

I read somewhere that in some wine coolers you can change the settings to make it heat rather than cool? Has anyone else heard or now anything about it?
Thanks
Trey

[FL0OD]

no but there are several people here that have converted wine coolers to incubators.

[mxrider42]

I know how to heat it with flexwatt. I just remember someone posting that you could reverse the compressor to make the refrigerator a heater instead.

[West Coast Jungle]

I know how to heat it with flexwatt. I just remember someone posting that you could reverse the compressor to make the refrigerator a heater instead.

I never heard of anything like that?

[lord jackel]

I know how to heat it with flexwatt. I just remember someone posting that you could reverse the compressor to make the refrigerator a heater instead.

I have heard of this too...you have to resolder something but I am not sure what...I will see if I can find out.

Also, I never heard how accurate it was.

[Gloryhound]

A refrigeration system is a simplified heat pump, but it is designed to work in one direction. If you ever noticed while it is running the coils on the back get warm. You have to figure out how to reverse this process. The heating and cooling tubes are determined through High and low pressure points. You will likely have to replumb the whole thing. Then I'm not sure if you could get it to produce enough heat without the cooling coils frosting up. A lot of work for something that may work. If it is a working wine cooler you may be better off selling it and putting the money towards a quality incubator.

[Subzero]

Its impossible to do by switching a wire or something, you would have to redesign the whole thing, It would be much simpler to heat with flexwatt.

[mxrider42]

Thanks for all the info. I guess I will install some flexwatt.
Thanks
Trey

[PythonWallace]

Its impossible to do by switching a wire or something, you would have to redesign the whole thing, It would be much simpler to heat with flexwatt.

You can do it by cutting two wires and switching them, as long as the wine cooler uses a thermo electric cooling unit. The only thing is that the thermo unit doesn't run on 120v so you have to use a Ranco or Johnson thermostat. A proportional thermostat won't work.

All you have to do once you have this kind of cooler is remove the back cover and find the thermoelectric unit. There are two wires going from the circuit board to the unit. Mine were red and black. Clip those two wires and re-connect them the wrong way and the thermo unit will heat up instead of cool. Plug it into an On/Off thermostat and you're good. I tried it and got the cooler up over 100 degrees.

[mxrider42]

How do you tell if you have a thermo electric cooling unit?