mini fridge with freezer

[BeerMan23]

i have a mini fridge with a metal freezer in the to of it. i unlached the freezer from the top of the fridge to find out that it was also atached to the freeon supply. i just (without pinching the brass pipes) moved it out of the way against the back of the fridge will this affect anything with the kegerator?

[bnice]

Your fridge sounds exactly like mine and I have the same question.

I see no one as responded to your post but have you figured anything out?

I want to know how to safely remove the freezer part all together. The 5 gallon kegs that I'll be storing in the fridge leave enough room at the top of the fridge for an extra shelf.

-B

[Tiger]

The freon line is attached to the freezer unit and that is how the fridge gets it's coldness.....well in my case and it sounds exactly like your fridge. I modified one last month. Unlatched the freezer and all the plastic around it. Had to disconnect the temp control and then reconnect to get all the plastic freezer parts out. Bent the bottom freezer pan to the back and attached it to the fridge with stainless screws and did the same for the top and attached to the top of the fridge. I had no problems. My 1/4 fit great and I have a constant 37 deg liq temp. However I don't have a tower just a front door faucet to keep to beer cold in the line.

Good luck and be careful with the freon. That cracks your out of luck.

[bnice]

Thanks, here's a close up of what I'm talking about...

[Tiger]

thanks for the pic. Mine was a U shape however the other way. I can't think of a way that you could remove the freezer all together. Do you have room left to right for the Keg? Have you tried to slowly bend the freezer at all...Mine was easy to bend of course I had it unplugged and at room temp when I tried this.

I'll take a closer look and do some more research.

Sorry I couldn't help more.

[garretbentham]

I have been seriously thinking about making one of these myself. did you guys find a solution?

[bnice]

When I unattached the freezer section from the fridge ceiling it seem that it could be easily (& carefully!) bent backwards toward the rear of the fridge. I was thinking of mounting the freezer to the back of the fridge with those brackets you use to hold up mirrors on walls. (something like this Plastic Mirror Holder / Metal Mirror Holder(06) - U-CAN-DO Hardware Corporation)

And using some kind of rubber washer/space to place between it and the rear wall of the fridge.

Does this sound like a good/bad idea?

I'm getting antsy, I really wanna mod this thing!

Thanks,
-B

[garretbentham]

Bnice-

can you take a pick of what you currently have done?

thanks!

[bnice]

All I've done is disconnect the top freezer to test and then reconnected it. When I get further with the project I'll def post some photos.
-B

[mark_ksz]

Hey Guys,

I have never done anything like this with a mini fridge (I have a chest freezer conversion) But I was thinking what if you took a pair of good tin snips or something of the sort and just cut the bottom of the freezer compartment off giving you plenty of room above the keg? Just a thought.

[bnice]

Originally Posted by mark_ksz

Hey Guys,

I have never done anything like this with a mini fridge (I have a chest freezer conversion) But I was thinking what if you took a pair of good tin snips or something of the sort and just cut the bottom of the freezer compartment off giving you plenty of room above the keg? Just a thought.

Unfortunately the freezer compartment is what's cooling the entire fridge. Cutting it would be bad.

-B

[Tiger]

bnice, It would be a good idea if it works. Make sure you defrost and it's at room temperature. Try not to bend the freon line that much if it kinks your temp will flucuate. Measure everything first because you don't want to bend this that much. If it breaks you have bigger problems.

[garretbentham]

I wish that would work, but as stated above, the freezer itself cools the entire fridge. I am just worried about bending the damn thing. any other tips and pics would be greatly appreciated. thanks again for all your help guys.

[bnice]

So I searched around on other forums and found a guy who has successfully converted one of these Kenmore mini fridges w/ the freezer inside. Yes, it does involve carefully bending the freezer down and toward the back of the fridge. If done carefully the tubing will not break/bend and the fridge will operate normally.

Here's is his email to me after i asjed him about his conversion:

"Actually, it was more of a bend *down* then up, based on the way the
tubing was routed over to the freezer tray -- but either way... I
didn't bother attaching it. The tubing is rigid enough that it'll
hold the tray in place wherever you leave it (just make sure you bend
it slowly). I kinda just positioned mine along the back/bottom, and
bent open the sides a little bit more (not totally necessary though,
so my keg/c02 would fit a little better. The only issue i've run into
so far is that if you don't pay attention to where your beverage line
sits in there, it could end up a little too close to that freezer
plate - thus cloging you're lines up with icy beer chunks
(unintentional eisenbeer) - easy to fix by just moving the lines around.

If you haven't already drilled the top of the fridge, I'd recommend
mixing up some rubbing alchohol & cornstarch and spraying bottleing
it onto the outside top of the fridge to see where all the lines are. I did this and came to find that where i originally was going to drill a hole would have
ruined the fridge.

Good luck with it."

[garretbentham]

thanks for the info. i really appreciate it! did you get the job finished? if so, take some pics and post! thanks again.

[bnice]

I have a couple projects around the house i have to finish up and will prob start the conversion soon after. (before year is over) I'll def post some pics!
-B