Warning - How To Kill Your Fridge.

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Snow

Beer me up, Scotty!
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Well I got a nice big fridge for FREE from a friend - big enough to fit 4 kegs, 2 CC containers, all my yeast and some bottles of HB. Perfect! B) So I go to drill the holes for the beer and gas lines (3 beer 1 gas). I drilled them through the wall of the fridge, towards the front, so I avoid stuffing up the shelf holders. Started with a small bit, to scout around for any fridge gas lines, couldn't find any so got out the big bit and drilled away. Got the four holes in no problem - no hissing gas - I'm ready to rock! So I install all the lines, disconnects, t-pieces, clamps etc - tedious work but the end is in sight! Finally finished! Plug it all in, switch on the power and POP! Holyshitewhatwasthat!?! Black smoke streaming from fridge motor, house without power, Snow on knees weeping like a schoolgirl. :(

On closer inspection it seems I've drilled through the wires that connect the thermostat to the motor - not good. Spent half an hour on phone to fridge mechanics to determine whether it's worth the call-out fee to get someone to look at it. Was finally convinced by one bloke who said he was "pretty sure" he knew what I'd done and that the motor "should" be ok and that he "should" be able to rewire the thermostat. So I grit my teeth and say ok come on over. When the fridgie came, it took him 10 minutes to rewire the thermostat and the fridge worked perfectly. Snow wept again - all was right with the world! So for a $70 call out fee, I learned a valuable lesson which I hope all you would-be keggers heed well! :)

Cheers - Snow
 
good warning... but I have a funny little story about defrosting a small bar fridge...

you know the story, after a few years the old ice builds up to a point that all you can fit into the freezer is one zooper dooper.. so I unplugged the sucker, waited a while and got bored, so I grabbed a chisel and hammer and started to excavate.. my wife hanging over my shoulder, don't hit the gas lines, don't hit the gas lines, of course I would not hit the gas lines..... well, I did, 5 minutes of hissing later, it was all gone... when defrosting a fridge, just turn the thing off and walk away, or just dont hit the gas lines....

as for drilling my beer fridge, no problems there, the thing is that old that no wires or tubes go through the walls, the drill bit just get clogged with what looks like yellow ceiling insulator :blink:
 
i need to remove the ice in mine semi often (not a de-frost fridge) and t ahair dryer does the trick

i never use anything sharp etc as i know i will end up killing the fridge.

fridges and drinking beer dont mix
 
i tried to remove the freezer compartment out of my fridge, cut what i thought was the electrical line...... It was the gas line. dammit.

learnt my lesson after that.
 
warb said:
So I unplugged the sucker, waited a while and got bored, so I grabbed a chisel and hammer and started to excavate.. my wife hanging over my shoulder, don't hit the gas lines, don't hit the gas lines, of course I would not hit the gas lines..... well, I did, 5 minutes of hissing later, it was all gone...
That type of fridge is known in the trade as the Knife, Screwdriver (insert sharp object here) assisted defrost model, It works extremely well but for some reason only once !!!!!!

If the ice has built up in large sheets then gentle tapping with the HANDLE end of a large screwdriver is often useful in breaking the chunks of ice away. Alternately put a big tray of boiling water in the freezer section and shut the door, then keep replacing the tray every so often, or if you are really in a hurry and the fridge is outside and you aren't going to zap yourself a spray of water.

Hopefully you might be able to get someone to epoxy it back up and get it going again, but don't count on it lasting forever

Cheers

Ausdb
 

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