300l Signature Brand Chest Freezer

[Sammus]

Hi Cliffo,
Congrats on your purchase, I was wondering how you intend regulating the temp? Thermostat or 24 hour timer. I have a 24 hour timer that cycles on for 30-45 mins every 4 hours & I find that keeps the temp at about 4C.

I imagine you'd have to adjust the timer depending on the ambient temp yeah?

 

[cliffo]

Well I went and bought 2 braces from Bunnings and attached one end to the freezer and the other to the top hinge mounting hole on the collar.

This has allowed to collar to sit firm in place without moving on the freezer but I think the main prolem is that I haven't been able to screw the bottom of the hinges into anything, meaning when the lid opens, the spring tries to break away from the collar.

I'm thinking moving to plan B - starting again, this time either with 3" tall pine which will allow me to use the top freezer hinge screw holes or 6" tall pine and screw the entire hinge into the collar and use the braces to fasten the collar to the freezer.

Does this sound like a plan or can anyone suggest a way to remedy my current prediciment?

cheers,
cliffo

 

[razz]

G'day Cliffo, I used 245 x 45mm F17 hardwood. Heavy as! The collar sits on some 45mm rubber tape to stop it slipping on the freezer.

 

[cliffo]

G'day Cliffo, I used 245 x 45mm F17 hardwood. Heavy as! The collar sits on some 45mm rubber tape to stop it slipping on the freezer.

Hey razz,

Will have a look if I end up having to start from scratch - just measured up and if I went that height then I'd have the option of anoher 2 kegs sitting ove the compressor should I wish to move up to eight kegs on tap in the future so that could be the way to go.

Do you have any pics of your setup?

cliffo

 

[warrenlw63]

Guys, I need some advice.

I've got the collar built out of pine (2" x 3.5") as this was the smallest Bunnings had. I wanted to go 2"x3" to use the existing hinge holes in the freezer to anchor it down but anyway here's what it looks like at the moment:

View attachment 16292

When the freezer lid is lifted the hinge moves the whole lid & collar around, which I gather is because the hinge is not secured to the freezer body.

Now, what would be the best way to secure this without drilling any additional holes in the freezer? I was thinking some sort of bracing strap, screwed into the bottom holes of the freezer to where I have it screwed into the collar - would this work??

Heeeeeelp!!!!!

Cliffo. I had the same problem with mine. Used 95 x 35mm pine offcuts to keep the profile as low as possible. I just resided myself to screwing the lid into the pine through the top two holes only.
I have my fingers crossed it won't come undone. I always open the lid "carefully". To brace the collar to the fridge I used some double-sided tape. Be careful with this stuff you have to line everything up spot on first time.

Then I caulked around the joint (inside the fridge) with some waterproof silicone. Seemed very firm after this. Just for assurance I cut a bit of slotted angle iron in half that I had laying around and screwed it into the old hole that held the lid.

Seems surprisingly sturdy at the moment. Fingers crossed.

Enjoy your new fridge. You won't be sorry.

Warren -

 

[cliffo]

Cliffo. I had the same problem with mine. Used 95 x 35mm pine offcuts to keep the profile as low as possible. I just resided myself to screwing the lid into the pine through the top two holes only.
I have my fingers crossed it won't come undone. I always open the lid "carefully". To brace the collar to the fridge I used some double-sided tape. Be careful with this stuff you have to line everything up spot on first time.

Then I caulked around the joint (inside the fridge) with some waterproof silicone. Seemed very firm after this. Just for assurance I cut a bit of slotted angle iron in half that I had laying around and screwed it into the old hole that held the lid.

Seems surprisingly sturdy at the moment. Fingers crossed.

Enjoy your new fridge. You won't be sorry.

Warren -

Warren, that looks similar to how mine is set up. When you go to close your lid, does it not sit back down straight?

Reason I ask is mine does not close square due to only have the top hinge holes screwed in. When I close my lid, I have to give it a shove backwards to knock the hinges back into there fully closed position.

If I can't solve that I'm gunna start again as I know it will annoy me very quickly, especially as I intend to store my glasses in there as well so will be opening it quite often.

cliffo

 

[warrenlw63]

Nah its fine Cliffo. You may want to check that your lid and collar are aligned properly. The hinges can push back slightly from "square" with the lid if that makes any sense. In other words screw the to two holes down and make sure the bottom of the hinge still sits flat with the collar.

Warren -

 

[cliffo]

Nah its fine Cliffo. You may want to check that your lid and collar are aligned properly. The hinges can push back slightly from "square" with the lid if that makes any sense. In other words screw the to two holes down and make sure the bottom of the hinge still sits flat with the collar.

Warren -

Both hinges lie flush with the collar until I open the lid then the bottom of the hinges kick out, away from the collar.

I'm thinking I'll have to start again which is a bugger because I've already drilled my 6 holes for the tap shafts and actually got them all level - major victory for me :lol:

Oh well...collar MKII should be all the better for the experience.

cliffo

 

[pokolbinguy]

Cliffo,

There is a bundle of pics of my setup in this thread here.

I found the rubber seal that i placed between the collar and the freezer to be a great way to go as this means you don't have to use silicon etc.

Hope this helps a little.

Cheers, Pok

EDIT.

Look predominantly at this post. here

 

[cliffo]

Cliffo,

There is a bundle of pics of my setup in this thread here.

I found the rubber seal that i placed between the collar and the freezer to be a great way to go as this means you don't have to use silicon etc.

Hope this helps a little.

Cheers, Pok

EDIT.

Look predominantly at this post. here

Cheers Pok - your thread was actually my inspiration & guide that I attempted to follow. If only I'd gone with a different height I'd have been right.

I went to Clarke Rubber today and ended up getting some 9.5mm neoprene with adhesive backing so once I sort out this collar, that will be going on the bottom.

What size timber did you use on yours?

From what I can figure, this Signature brand is the same freezer as the Centrex 300L number - they look pretty much identical and similar layout as the 200L as well.

 

[pokolbinguy]

Cheers Pok - your thread was actually my inspiration & guide that I attempted to follow. If only I'd gone with a different height I'd have been right.

I went to Clarke Rubber today and ended up getting some 9.5mm neoprene with adhesive backing so once I sort out this collar, that will be going on the bottom.

What size timber did you use on yours?

From what I can figure, this Signature brand is the same freezer as the Centrex 300L number - they look pretty much identical and similar layout as the 200L as well.

Yeh they look the same to me, would be a generic model sold under a number of different badges.

The timber I used is 90mm x 45mm pine that I just painted white. Gives the perfect height for the taps etc to fit to and also allowed me to mount a gas manifold to it on the inside.

Pok

 

[cliffo]

Yeh they look the same to me, would be a generic model sold under a number of different badges.

The timber I used is 90mm x 45mm pine that I just painted white. Gives the perfect height for the taps etc to fit to and also allowed me to mount a gas manifold to it on the inside.

Pok

Hmmm...thats the same size that I went with from Bunnings. Thought it would work but I guess not, pity because the 3 taps i threw in the collar to see what it would look like, look quite spiffy

Maybe the 200L has different (shorter??) hinges than this 300L one that I have.

Never mind, didn't take long to put the collar together so might be able to squeeze it in as a mid-week job so I can hopefully have it up and running by the weekend.

 

[recharge]

You could always measure the distance between hinge holes ane freezer holes then rip this much off your collar either on a table saw or with rip guide on a circular saw. This way you can get bottom hinge hole attached to the freezer. Thats what id be trying first.

Rich

 

[cliffo]

You could always measure the distance between hinge holes ane freezer holes then rip this much off your collar either on a table saw or with rip guide on a circular saw. This way you can get bottom hinge hole attached to the freezer. Thats what id be trying first.

Rich

Thanks for the idea recharge but I don't have the tools to do this.

 

[Goat]

(been a while since I viewed this thread)

Thanks for the contact details Cliffo - I'll chase that up, she looks like a bewdy !

 

[cliffo]

(been a while since I viewed this thread)

Thanks for the contact details Cliffo - I'll chase that up, she looks like a bewdy !

No worries mate. Still haven't got mine up and running

On the + side however, looking to have it set up by the end of the weekend. The new collar has been built and 6 holes for the taps drilled.

All currently assembled on the freezer and looking pretty good. The collar doesn't sit 100% square but should be more than good enough for me.

I went with 45x140mm pine for my second attempt and the hinges attached without any dramas.

A few coats of high gloss white paint on the weekend and I should be about there...finally

 

[cliffo]

Woo Hoo!!!

Finally got the chest freezer all together. :super:

Collar is a bit non-square, paint job is sub-par and my wiring skills on the fridgemate may very well burn the house down, however - its finished.

Ok, well not finished but it looks the part.

Its running and keeping my kegs cold, taps are in but I still have to run the gas line through the collar. Still contemplating the best place to run this in.

Will also have to get a manifold, more beer lines and disconnects and....damn its still quite some way from being finished

All in all I'm happy with the result. May have to tinker with the sealing between collar & freezer body as I can see a few gaps, most likely due to my dodgy "handy" work in screwing the collar together.

Meh, I can iron out any bugs as the arise. Now a couple of photos (only external shots at the moment - will add a shot of the inside at some point):

 

[cliffo]

...and a shot of the inside of the freezer:

 

[razz]

Top job Cliffo! The only person that will know it's out of square is you, from here it looks the duck's guts. The best thing I've done lately for my keg freezer is add in a 12v computer fan to even out the temp. It does wonders for the condition of the beer and cuts down on condensation, give it a go.

 

[NRB]

Top job, I want to make one the same - anyone know where in Melbourne one can purchase the famed Signature Brand 300L Chest Freezer?