Old School Chest Freezer Lid Removal

I know there are a lot of threads about making chest freezers into kegerators. I used to have a chest freezer that I put a tower on....looked sweet, but every time i needed to open it i had to slide it away from the wall...what a pain!

this go around i'm gonna go with the collar system eventually. I picked up this slick deal on CL for an older 12 cu ft. chest freezer that just has great dimensions! i can fit 4 kegs easily, with room for a carboy or maybe even a 5th or 6th corny. i didn't pay too much attention to the hinges until i got home. they are not the traditional hinges! also, there is a cord that runs from the lid but i'm positive it is only there to run the light that is inside the lid.

any ideas on how to utilize the traditional "collar method" of installing taps?? I'm debating whether there might be a way to use those metal hinge things (which would leave the light still functioning!) or maybe i can just install newer hinges to the lid and then to the collar.

for the mean time..looks like i might use the old picnic taps!!

Any thoughts!!

(also sorry for the pic quality! used my ipad to take the pics!)

That's the same lid and hinge system on my 24 cu ft keezer.

There are torsion rods in the lid, so be careful when removing it.

I unbolted the hinges at the back and removed the whole lid. Next, I gutted the lid and all the nasty fiberglass insulation. That's when I removed the posts that act as a hinge and the torsion rods.

I reinsulated the lid with 2 layers of the 1" thick board I used to insulate my 1" thick collar.

As for attaching the collar, I used 1" x 1" L brackets. I set my collar in place and used some liquid nails to kinda hold it in place and proved a touch of insulation. Next, I placed the brackets underneath the lip of the freezer about 1' apart. I then attached the L brackets to the collar. When they were all tightened down, it locked my collar in place.

From there, I just used standard hinges to attach the lid to the collar.

If you have any questions, I may be able to provide pics, but I'm not entirely certain how the build pics turned out.

I actually just checked the surface temps of everything. The walls in my garage were 82*. The lid of my keezer was 81*. The Collar was 80.5*. Not too bad of a loss, as far as I am concerned.

interesting. i didn't consider gutting the lid. did yours actually bolt on though? mine just has posts that slot directly in. there are no exposed bolt or screws that can be undone.

i take that back....looks like there are bolts each side that may have something to do with those posts. i'm wondering in i undo those bolts if i can just drill a hole vertically into the collar and mount the lid onto the collar the same way it attaches to the collar.

I'd thought of that, but I decided to remove it, anyway. the two bolts are pretty much just lock the posts in...

so i'm still up in the air on how i'm gonna attach the collar (original internal hinges vs new outer hinges). but i'm unsure of the best way to mock up my collar. I'm no pro carpenter!!

when making a collar..is it better to measure the "insulation" that lines the lid? or measure the edges of the actual freezer?

also...is it necessary to fashion a thin base board to fill the inner dip on the edge of the freezer???

thanks in advance!!!

could i use hinges like these??

http://www.repairclinic.com/PartDetail/Hinge/MCCF5-7WBX-7/1206831

http://www.repairclinic.com/PartDetail/Hinge/297313200/1564896


:rockin::rockin::rockin:

I had a chest freezer like that, and could not find any way of removing the hinges. I took an angle grinder to them, built my collar, and then just attached regular hinges. The lid weighs about a billion pounds, so I wish I had found a way of keeping the original hinges, but I didn't.

xtant...do you have any pics of your build? or your finished kegerator?

I'll look for some pics. I didn't really take that many. Not sure if I have any that really show what I did with the collar and removing the torsion bar spring mechanism, but I'll see what I have...

welp...i measured carefully and drilled holes for the existing hinges to slide in to. its not dead on, but its close enough! once i put on the 1/2 pine "face boards" that i'm going to stain...it will be hard to tell that its not dead center!

PHEW!

I know this is an old thread, but can someone tell me how to get the lid off the freezer?
Do I need to take the "plate ?" covering the lid off?
Thanks in advance!