I did a bit of searching, but did not really find much on this.
I have arranged the purchase of a 10 year old fridge from Craigslist.
It is a GE Hotpoint CTX16HABJRWW, that seems to be immaculate.
I wanted something that looked half way decent in my family room (basement), and had other practical uses as well (like having extra freezer capacity to take advantage of grocery sales).
I also thought that a newer model (yea, I know 10 years old is not exactly new) would be a bit more efficient than some of these old tanks that I see pretty often (converted).
So I am having a few beers with the neighbor (who used to sell refrigerators for a living years ago) last night, and he told me that he had always heard that you can't use a frost free refrigerator for a kegerator.
He said that a frost free unit actually has heating coils in it that come on while in defrost mode, and he thought this might have something to do with it.
I don't really understand this. It seems to me that if it keeps food cold, it will also keep a keg cold.
Am I missing something here?
Even if this is true; couldn't I just bypass the defrost timer and (if it actually has them) disconnect the heater coils?
BTW: He was also offering his old tank from his basement. It appears to be pretty darn old and more than a bit beat up, but he plugged it in and MAN that thing got cold!
It has one of those little freezers with it's own spring loaded door inside the main cabinet. but it looks like that may have to come out in order to fit the keg.
Unless there really IS an issue with the frost free fridge, I think I'm just going to go through with the purchase of the $150 GE unit tonight.
Sorry for the long post.
Peace,
Dan
I have arranged the purchase of a 10 year old fridge from Craigslist.
It is a GE Hotpoint CTX16HABJRWW, that seems to be immaculate.
I wanted something that looked half way decent in my family room (basement), and had other practical uses as well (like having extra freezer capacity to take advantage of grocery sales).
I also thought that a newer model (yea, I know 10 years old is not exactly new) would be a bit more efficient than some of these old tanks that I see pretty often (converted).
So I am having a few beers with the neighbor (who used to sell refrigerators for a living years ago) last night, and he told me that he had always heard that you can't use a frost free refrigerator for a kegerator.
He said that a frost free unit actually has heating coils in it that come on while in defrost mode, and he thought this might have something to do with it.
I don't really understand this. It seems to me that if it keeps food cold, it will also keep a keg cold.
Am I missing something here?
Even if this is true; couldn't I just bypass the defrost timer and (if it actually has them) disconnect the heater coils?
BTW: He was also offering his old tank from his basement. It appears to be pretty darn old and more than a bit beat up, but he plugged it in and MAN that thing got cold!
It has one of those little freezers with it's own spring loaded door inside the main cabinet. but it looks like that may have to come out in order to fit the keg.
Unless there really IS an issue with the frost free fridge, I think I'm just going to go through with the purchase of the $150 GE unit tonight.
Sorry for the long post.
Peace,
Dan
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