Removing Freezer From Fridge

[facter]

Next week my lager will be finished and I'll have an opportunity for a day to actually attack my fridge and try to remove the freezer component from it ... that said, im no electrician, and it worries me a little to be taking out the top part of the fridge.

has anyone done this and can give me some advice? are there actualy electrical parts that need to be removed or is it all piping etc?

Im sure its a bit of a hard question if you havnt seen the fridge .. but by doing this I will probably be able to get two fermenters into it instead of just the one!

 

[dicko]

Hi Facter,
Most fridges with a freezer included rely on the freezer to provide "cool" for the fridge section.
I would get some serious advice from a fridgee before hacking it up.
Cheers

 

[kook]

Are you sure the gas doesn't go into the freezer? Mine doesn't have any electricals attached, but it actually provides the cooling for the fridge through coils that are a part of it.

 

[Sammus]

I had a bar fridge in which all the cooling was done by the freezer "element". It was a big metal plate bent into a U sitting up the top (if you get me..) I just unbent the metal bit and it kinda hangs out at the top of the bar fridge, giving enough headspace to fit in 2 kegs and keep them hold on the lowest (ie highest temperature) thermostat setting.

Point is, maybe u dont want to remove the freezer part, just redesign it

 

[andrewl]

I actually asked this same question to a fridgie I know last week sometime... I was hoping to turn a little bar fridge I have into a fermenting fridge. He said it can't be done due to the fact that the freezer element is what keeps eveything cool... Take out the freezer and you just have a big box.

Cheers,
Andrew

 

[Vlad the Pale Aler]

Big Al has done this, search his posts for more info.

 

[facter]

damn. i guess it may be harder than i thought ... its a real massive shame, as its the only spare fridge i have, it just cant fit two fermenters. ... maybe i need to look at different sized fermenters instead of the regular tall skinny ones with the screw on taps ... does anyone know if anyone sells more flattish fermenters than those?


you might be right with the element thing though, mine looks like that kind of fridge ...

 

[Fents]

The Coopers fermenters are not as tall as the other ones they are a bit rounder and fatter instead of tall.

 

[Darren]

How about one of those "cubes" some guys are using for no-chill?

They are relatively flat. Just dont use an airlock but loosen the lid.

cheers

Darren

 

[J.T]

Facter, I thought you might be interested in a slightly more technical view.
I was a fridgy in a past life.

Pretty much confirming what most of the guys have said.

In the newer fan forced fridges, the fan blows the cold air into the fridge via a duct. Removing the freezer will give you a big esky. As Andrew said.

In the older cyclic defrost fridges, the refrigeration coil runs through the freezer first and then into the fridge section. To remove the freezer on an older fridge you would have to know a lot about what you are doing. To cut and re-weld the pipes would mean firstly removing all the gas, weld it and then recharging it with a smaller weight of gas that the fridge specifies (as you would be reducing the size of the refrigeration coil) this creates all sorts of problems that i wont bother going into.

Cheers
JT