Help butchering fridge, please

[Old Speckled Ben]

Hi everyone

Just picked up a second hand fridge to make a kegerator YIPPEEEEE!

I was also going to use it to make some lager for SWMBO for "letting" me order a corny keg

I've taken a few photos of it , as I was hoping for a bit of advice, please

Firstly, so I can bring the stc1000 temp controller in play, I was hoping to bypass the thermostat in the fridge so it's just on all the time and I'll have the fridge plugged in to a socket controlled by the stc to sort out the on/off

Here's an excellent photo of the innards....and ides?



The live neutral and earth wires going in to the plug on the right are just direct out of the wall of the fridge

Thanks very much
Ben

[GrowlingDogBeer]

You don't have to bypass the fridges thermostat. I haven't on any of mine. With the fridge thermostat set to its lowest it will run all the time the fridge has power and the temp in the fridge is above about 1or 2c which should be cold enough.

[Old Speckled Ben]

Thanks very much

Just to be pedantic, by "lowest" do you mean coldest, or the lowest setting on the thermostat? Presumably the coldest lol


Also, the fridge has a sort of freezer compartment that seems to just be a folded piece of metal:



I'd ideally like to remove it, but it seems to be being fed by a metal pipe at the back:



I'm guessing if I damage this pipe in any way, then I'll have killed the fridge?

Cheers
Ben

[Fil]

Some folk have bent that sort of metal sheet freezer compartment out of the way but just as many screw up and bust a pipe as succeed iirc.. so its a punt..

as its fed by pipes its a safe bet that the metal shelf is the cold radiator for the cooling of the fridge..

If your cornies and FV for lagering sit in without moving the freezer compatment perhaps use it to house a tube heater AND fan/s to run 24/7 and move both the heat and cold around for a much more effective heat exchange..


as for the wiring on the 2 fridges ive modded the black wire has been the live return from the fridge thermostat, a test would be Once you have established the fridge works would be to disconnect it and isolate the metal crimp on end (insulating tape) and turn back on the mains if the door light works but the compressor fails to run bingo..

[irv]

Thanks very much

Just to be pedantic, by "lowest" do you mean coldest, or the lowest setting on the thermostat? Presumably the coldest lol


I'm guessing if I damage this pipe in any way, then I'll have killed the fridge?

Cheers
Ben

lowest means the coldest the fridge can be
and
the folded metal you want to remove is the bit that makes the fridge a fridge rather than a cupboard, so dont break it.

[Old Speckled Ben]

Thanks Fil and Irv

Wise council

I'll not bugger about with the metal bit, then, as I don't need just an ordinary cupboard lol

I'll try the test with the wires and see how I get on

Many thanks
Ben

[Jonnyconga]

I got a free fridge to butcher from a neighbour. I agree with the above that the only way to convert the fridge if the kegs don't fit in as is is to bend the plate. It worked for me - going very slowly!! I left the top of the plate intact and bent down the plate on the bottom and screwed it to the wall. I'd strongly recommend getting some sort of fan as I found it was a lot colder closer to the plate - esp at the bottom. I also had to remove a lot of the foam insulation moulding on the inside of the door as I couldn't close the fridge with 2 kegs inside.
The fridge is now at my folks for parties and I have a chest freezer I converted which works so much better.