mini fridge kegerator with freezer compartment

I just got my first corny keg as a birthday present and also re-inherited my old mini-fridge from my parents so that I can make a kegerator. However, after looking at the fridge I found it's one with a freezer compartment that looks like it doubles as the cooling coil. To complicate things, the pipe feeding into the freezer tray comes in from the side and not the back so just bending it against the back wall probably won't work.

I'll have to get creative to figure out what to do here.

What's the best way to bend these things? Is there a good way to heat up the metal pipe to make it more pliable without ruining the plastic of the fridge?

Anyone ever heard of there being some kind of shut off valve on these things to keep freon from leaking out while I do this?

Final question, if I kink the pipe, can I just snip the freezer compartment off, find someone to weld some refrigerant tubing onto the end of the exposed tubing, and get it recharged with coolant or will it just be a waste at that point?

I wouldn't try to mess with that cooling line. What model fridge is it? Maybe I can help you out.

It's an older franklin chef model, looked about 4.5 or 5 cu.ft. The corny needed another inch or so vertical clearance to make it in. I'll grab a model number later today when I go pick it up.

I would suggest making either a collar or a cold box so you don't have to risk breaking it. Do some searching and you will come up with a few good build threads.

I'm not going to be able to build a collar easily. I don't have alot of tools, and I'm trying to do this without spending any money that isn't necessary. I also don't have a ton of room, I'm in an apartment so space is a concern as well as portability because I'm eventually going to have to move this thing.

Pictures now that it's been liberated:




My current thought is to carefully relax the coiled piece in the second picture to the point that the freezer can be pushed against the back wall. I'm going to find something to strip the white coating off a portion of the rising tube and see if it will shed any light of what type of metal it could possibly be. I'm guessing copper since that's what's running from the compressor to that spot but not sure since it's so straight and rigid.

so far so good, after taking the freezer compartment off the mount tabs in the back I let it sag for a few mins just to see what it's tendency was. It wants to go vertical and I obliged it. Letting it sit a little longer before going further with it.



I want the tube towards the top of the picture to move behind the corner of the freezer. Once this happens I'm fairly certain I can get it to comfortably rest on the very top lip of the hump.

I'll probably also find a way to shear off the rear mounts from the original position. Is there an epoxy that works on plastic in cold settings well so that I can reattach them to the back wall?

well? did it work?