Can I rip the freezer section out of this?

[Nizmoose]

Hi guys I'm looking at a bar fridge for a ferm chamber and would love if someone could tell me whether it's possible and how easy it would be to remove the freezer section from this fridge? I need the height! Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[razz]

You need to look at where the cooling coils are in the freezer section. If they are only on one side then maybe you can bend them out of the way without damaging them.

 

[crowmanz]

this type of bar fridge usually has a the cooling coils in the metal bit around the freezer, rip those plastic bits off and check. you can unscrew and bend it around when it is warm, just dont bend too far.

i have one that ive bent, fits a 25-30L plastic fermenter good but had to put a shelf in. It doesnt fit my brewbucket too well though.

 

[GibboQLD]

this type of bar fridge usually has a the cooling coils in the metal bit around the freezer, rip those plastic bits off and check. you can unscrew and bend it around when it is warm, just dont bend too far.

Yep, mine looks like this inside:

Have been told by a fridgie mate that the copper piping / cooling coil can be bent to a certain point, but the risk of fracturing the pipe and leaking gas gets greater the more you move it around.

 

[fletcher]

i use a similar fridge, i just use a jerry can to ferment in, and it sits snuggly with the freezer still attached like yours. attach an STC and you're good to go. i wouldn't fart around with bending coils.

 

[Nizmoose]

Have had a look at a couple and I reckon she'll fit! Thanks for all the help guys, after two years I figured that I shall not spend another summer swapping ice bottles in a foam box it's time to get a fridge, the parents will be wrapped to have a third fridge I'm sure

 

[nosco]

My fridge is the same as that. I bent the coil bit down so it it sits at the back of the fridge. Just do it very slowly and carefully so you dont kink the pipe. If you want to use a regular say 25-30lt fermenter then you will have to rip off the shelves on the inside of the door. One step further is to take the door off and put a colar around the door frame to re attach the door onto.

 

[siege]

the parents will be wrapped to have a third fridge I'm sure

This exact project was my first fermentation fridge. By the time winter comes around you'll be tinkering to get it set up for heating too.
Anyway for the parents it's just a matter of convincing them it's not like a normal fridge. Because it runs at 18-22 instead of 3-5 it uses a miniscule fraction of the power, right?

haha if I'm honest my old man's complaints only really went away when I started brewing him beer too.

 

[H0U5ECAT]

Nope.

The metal part is the condenser. If you remove or crack the pipes running through it you'll end up with a mouth of R22 gas.
Then all you'll have is a fridge looking cabinet.

 

[Nizmoose]

This exact project was my first fermentation fridge. By the time winter comes around you'll be tinkering to get it set up for heating too.
Anyway for the parents it's just a matter of convincing them it's not like a normal fridge. Because it runs at 18-22 instead of 3-5 it uses a miniscule fraction of the power, right?

haha if I'm honest my old man's complaints only really went away when I started brewing him beer too.

Haha yeah they're pretty awesome to be fair, we have a big shed with a fridge and chest freezer as well as the fridge in the house. Half the time the fridge in the shed has a fermenter cold crashing in it so between minuscule power usage and freeing up the spare fridge they'll be fine with it

 

[GibboQLD]

the parents will be wrapped to have a third fridge I'm sure

for the parents it's just a matter of convincing them it's not like a normal fridge. Because it runs at 18-22 instead of 3-5 it uses a miniscule fraction of the power, right?

My fridge looks to be a similar vintage and costs around 7-8c a day to run, using a temp range of 18-20° with ambient temps between 24-32°.

Depending on your tariff (and assuming a nominal 91 day quarter), yours shouldn't add more than $8-9 to the quarterly power bill.

 

[Nizmoose]

Okay so a complication I wasn't banking on, completely forgot about the compressor housing at the bottom of these fridges robbing you of depth at the bottom rendering the two fridges im looking at unusable. Anyone know of specific models or sizes that are going to work for a normal 30L fermenter?

 

[keifer33]

I use a similar small bar fridge for my fermenting (Almost looks identical to the first picture you posted prior to modification - Westinghouse 140). I found the hump isn't so much of an issue if you can raise the fermenter slightly and towards the door more. I hacked a section off the the door and tested the fermenter on a few blocks to make sure the height was good and the door would close. Then made a small stand.

The tap has to face away from the door and the fermenter central. It also accepts the 30L white fermenters just when using glad wrap. No way you would fit an airlock in.

 

[Nizmoose]

Hmm looks like I'm a bit back to the drawing board. It seems most fridges are either just too small or inconveniently big. Really after something that will fit a 30L with airlock ( I use both glad wrap and airlock depending on the fermenter) without much if any modification. I'm asking a fair bit but shall search till I find it!

 

[perko8]

That looks similar to mine - i have moved the "freezer" tray to the bottom of the fridge, and have a shelf above it that a coopers fermenter fits on fairly easy.
The tube that feeds the gas in was doubled over on itself in behind, and straightened out quite easily.
I think its made like that so it can be fitted easily in the factory, soldered up or whatever and then fitted and and the spare pipe just tucks in and is bent in half kind of thing.

I'll get some picks in the morning

 

[MastersBrewery]

I have 2 of these as ferment fridges 120L and a Westinghouse 140L as a kegger. Simply removed all the plastic faf about the freezer and bent the cold plate back to the rear wall. Easy fits 30L fermenter and 30L olive oil drum, also may possibly fit the 50L oil drum but I need to double check dimensions again.

 

[real_beer]

Hmm looks like I'm a bit back to the drawing board. It seems most fridges are either just too small or inconveniently big. Really after something that will fit a 30L with airlock ( I use both glad wrap and airlock depending on the fermenter) without much if any modification. I'm asking a fair bit but shall search till I find it!

If your after something with a small footprint I've used one of these successfully with a 30lt fermenter. I picked mine up for $30 or $50 at the local recycle tip, the pics shown here are from a Gumtree ad. You have to make a collar that extends the height to go over the top of the fermenter, I used styrafoam. When I first tested it I used a giant beach towel wrapped around the exposed part of fermenter and it worked a fine.

Plug one into a temperature controller and away you go, and being on castors you can move it around quite easily. If you can pick one up cheaply it might be an option worth looking into. Take note though a 30lt fermenter fits well but a 25lt wont due to being shorter and wider.

 

[Nizmoose]

Yep, mine looks like this inside:

Have been told by a fridgie mate that the copper piping / cooling coil can be bent to a certain point, but the risk of fracturing the pipe and leaking gas gets greater the more you move it around.

Only just saw this picture what model fridge is that? The lack of step at the bottom is perfect

 

[Nizmoose]

I have 2 of these as ferment fridges 120L and a Westinghouse 140L as a kegger. Simply removed all the plastic faf about the freezer and bent the cold plate back to the rear wall. Easy fits 30L fermenter and 30L olive oil drum, also may possibly fit the 50L oil drum but I need to double check dimensions again.

How easy was it to bend back? So it's not attached at the sides just at the back?

 

[MastersBrewery]

They both took a little muscling but probably 15 mins each, and I have a fairly significant hump in both so had to be done. But I'm known as the family fridge guy we have 6 and an upright freezer. Just another addiction. :blink: Just be sure to go gently and be careful with the pipes in the cold plate. It'll work trust me. On the kegger I actually had to bend the cold plate itself a good bit, I was a little bit nervous but 2 days later it had frozen the kegs set on medium so it sits on minimum now and beer is perfect. You might find in some models they have screwed through the plate to the walls, once all free it will just be attached by the in coming and out going coolant lines (these bend easily so be careful) then just move into position.