Fridge conversion Questions

[bamachubby]

I know that a lot this is probably a redundent question on here...I did look back a ways and saw some of my questions being answered...but, not quite. I am making a fridge into a kegerator. I am going to come out the side of the fridge. Which brings up the 1st questions. Can I go right out the side without hitting any pipes...It is a Hotpoint 18.2 cu.ft from HD. The run outside of the fridge is only going to be 1-2 feet...is this too much of a run? I was thinking of getting flex pipe, put it inside PVC, run beer line in flex pipe...insulate all of that...do you guys think that this will do the trick???? I hope so...I don't want to really spend all the $$$$$ on the blower unit for such a small run...


Thanks for the help....

Chubby

[indianaroller]

I can not answer your question about drilling through the side of your fridge but you will need to buy a blower.

[Hophead]

I drillled through the side of my new Whirlpool Gladiator fridge but only after I looked very closely at how it was made and determined (to the best of my ability) that there weren't any lines running in the sides, just insulation. I have to admit, I was still a little nervous when I did it.

[brewski121]

from my experience,

I have never hit anything on the side of a fridge. Freezers have coils all around. Fridges only have the coils in the rear, or at least that is what I was told a few years back. Not getting a blower would be risky and I would not recommend it. You would always have atleast two warm foamy beers to start.

[gtpunch]

I drilled through the side of my fridge with no problems. I'd suggest looking up the spare parts diagram on the manufacturer's website- if there are no parts in the side, then there's nothing to worry about.

Is it not possible for you to mount the taps directly onto the fridge- solid mounting point solves the cooling problem completely (in fact your taps even stay nice and cool). I had to use the Micro Matic 6" shanks to make it through the thick insulation. I could have used shorter shanks if I'd drilled a bigger hole from the inside and cut into the insulation (stainless steel ramekins from the dollar store are perfect for this).

If you have a large turnover the 2 foot distance won't be a problem, but if you don't and don't use a blower then you'll have 2 feet of tubing with warm, stale beer sitting around at all times- nasty.

[bamachubby]

Got this back from GE today:

You cannot drill a hole through the wall of the refrigerator. This could puncture the refrigeration lines which are part of the sealed system. If that happens, the cost for this extensive repair is generally greater than the value of the appliance.

Not happy...don't know if I should just llok into getting a degerator or looking for a new fridge...

becoming more of a hassle than I originally thought

[gtpunch]

Hi,

I'd be surprised if any appliance manufacturer ever advised you to drill a hole in their product.

Do you have the model number- it would be hard to say if it's safe or not without seeing the fridge, and taking a look at the parts catalog (which is probably available online) would be the absolute best way to tell.

Most modern fridges have all the important stuff at the back. Fridge-freezers tend to have a cooling 'box' all the way around the freezer compartment, and upright non-fridge freezers tend to have the cooling pipes built into the shelves.

If it's an old fridge and you're nervous you could drill the holes very carefully- probing around in the expanded foam as you go to see if you're going to hit any coolant lines. That way the only thing that you'd risk would be putting an extra hole in your fridge that you'd have to fill if you find a coolant line- not the end of the world.

I drilled 6 holes in the side of this non-freezer fridge on friday night with no problems:
Frigidaire FRU17B2JW 16.7 Cu. Ft. Large Upright All Refrigerator with 5 Door Bins: 4 Wire Shelves

Here's the result (all Micro Matic parts other than the soda tap and the handles):



Only expanded foam between the inner and outer steel walls. This fridge is way better than a pre-built kegerator for me as I can fit 6 Cornelius 5-gallon (1/6 Bbl) kegs in it.

[bamachubby]

It is a new fridge from Home Depot...scared at what I may find...don't know if they are just telling me this so I don't void the warranty or to save their butts...

anyway...I guess I am going to have to find a new fridge or just go with the kegerator...as much as I would like to have 6 beers on tap it is just not fisable with me...

Thank for getting back so quickly...nice to hear....

[bamachubby]

[quote=gtpunch;5477]Hi,

I'd be surprised if any appliance manufacturer ever advised you to drill a hole in their product.

Do you have the model number- it would be hard to say if it's safe or not without seeing the fridge, and taking a look at the parts catalog (which is probably available online) would be the absolute best way to tell.



This is the Model Number:

Hotpoint
Hotpoint® 18.2 Cu. Ft. Top-Freezer Refrigerator

Model HTS18GBSWW

[gtpunch]

I'm pretty sure that drilling a hole in any appliance will void the warranty. If you're worried about that you could just serve the beer from a 'picnic tap' inside for a while until the warranty runs out.

You may need to remove the shelves frome the inside to make enough space inside the fridge too- I've found that the best way to do this is to leave the magnetic seal in place and just cut around the shelves- definately voids the warranty .

The HTS18GBSWW fridge freezer looks OK to me- so long as you don't drill near the freezer compartment. If you're really worried you could still go through the door, but the side of a fridge is stronger and your taps don't open when you open/close the fridge.

The steel that a fridge is made from is very soft- it's not like going through stainless steel where you have to put tons of force into it. As I said you can drill a small hole and poke around before drilling a bigger one, and then moving up to the holesaw.

[gtpunch]

One thing I didn't mention is that with the design of fridge that you have, the only actual cooling lines are in the freezer compartment. If you look at the insides of it and the design of the 'fridge' temperature control, I'm pretty sure that you'll find that the fridge is cooled by cold air from the freezer compartment.