Upright freezer with cooling shelves

[Lochem]

Ssoooo....
I'm guilty. I went ahead and jumped on a used upright freezer on eBay and brought it home and now I see that half of the shelves are pretty much non- removeable as they are part of the cooling unit of the freezer (see pics).

My question is, has anyone had any experience with these and is there anything I can do about removing one of the shelves? There is not enough height between any of those shelves to fit a standard 30 litre fermenter. You can see in the photos that these particular shelves are all connected through the body of the freezer.

Bugger.

 

[brzt6060]

If you are careful you can bend the shelfs...

 

[Lochem]

If you are careful you can bend the shelfs...

.

Yep that's what I'm thinking.... Just curious if anyone's had any experience with these and tried to do that. I'm wondering what might happen to the cooling mechanics if I were to try to cut one of them out...

 

[dblunn]

Maybe cut the fore/aft running bars at the rear to allow the shelves to be bent down and spread the twisting load across the entire length of the cooling pipe.
Dave

 

[Lochem]

Maybe cut the fore/aft running bars at the rear to allow the shelves to be bent down and spread the twisting load across the entire length of the cooling pipe.
Dave

Thanks Dave
I'll have to reread your suggestion a few times to fully understand it... I'll give it a go and see what happens

 

[doon]

I had one similar to this few years ago and couldn't give it away no one wanted it! Went to rubbish dump

 

[mofox1]

.

Yep that's what I'm thinking.... Just curious if anyone's had any experience with these and tried to do that. I'm wondering what might happen to the cooling mechanics if I were to try to cut one of them out...

If you cut them? Bit like what happens to fancy electronics when the magic smoke comes out: Hard rubbish.

You might get away with bending them, but I didn't.

I had a bar fridge I was planning on using as a ferm chamber, but the ice box (which was the cooling bit of the fridge) was in the way. I was able to bend it back, to get the fermenter in, but then I got stupid and tried to tidy it up some more. Heard a hiss, and it was game over.

 

[Lochem]

If you cut them? Bit like what happens to fancy electronics when the magic smoke comes out: Hard rubbish.

You might get away with bending them, but I didn't.

I had a bar fridge I was planning on using as a ferm chamber, but the ice box (which was the cooling bit of the fridge) was in the way. I was able to bend it back, to get the fermenter in, but then I got stupid and tried to tidy it up some more. Heard a hiss, and it was game over.

Gee. Doesn't sound promising...but thanks for the tips. This is why I asked on the forum!!
I'll try bending one of them tonight...

 

[n87]

It took me forever to find an upright freezer without refrigerated shelves for this specific reason... but i found one.

 

[AntonW]

Use fans and ducting to make it into a cooling source for a cool room. Otherwise use it as a freezer and consider it lesson learnt.

I also bought one without realising.

 

[dblunn]

Thanks Dave
I'll have to reread your suggestion a few times to fully understand it... I'll give it a go and see what happens

Yeh a little confusing wasn't it. What I meant was, the sold bars that form the shelf base and are bonded to the cooling tubes could be cut just before the rear most cooling tube (which has the refrigerant in it). That will allow the bending of the shelf to be turned into a twisting motion along the entire length of the rear cooling tube so it will be less likely to crush/kink and block the refrigerant flow.
Hope that is clearer, Dave

 

[TheWiggman]

I'd like to see someone who's actually bent a shelf in a freezer like this, that's a completely new concept for me and not something I would try. If you cut any shelf or cause it to crack when bending it, there goes all your refrigerant.
Maybe you might be ale to find a fridge mechanic who can deplete the gas for you, cut out a shelf then weld a pipe in place of the shelf. Then regas. Unless he's your best mate, that'll be many dollars and your time and money would be better invested in the right thing in the first place.

 

[BrosysBrews]

Could always ferment in cubes if that's what you are wanting the freezer for??

 

[slcmorro]

I have the same freezer. We use it for food. For fermenting... not so much.

 

[Mardoo]

Yep, me too. Hops and food storage. If you break the tubes while bending then they make good rat-proof grain stores.