Drilling holes in my freezer

Ok master keggers I've got to drill down thru the top to mount my tower. Are there any coils in the top that will turn my freezer/kegerator into a boat anchor?

Also I have a Johnson Controls thermostat with the wire currently just going through the seal between the top and freezer part. I've seem them inserted into carefully drilled holes in the back of the bottom half. So additional advice on where to drill the back w/o hitting a coil and rendering my freezor inoperable. Or should I just leave it as is?

If it's a standad freezer there shouldn't be anything running through the lid. All the coils should be mounted on the back of the unit, so you'll be able to see where to drill.

look on youtube...alot of people mix corn starch anf isopropal alcohol and paint on the top of the freezer. The coils heat up and will cause the alcohol to evaporate faster, leavng a line of powder showing where the coolant/heating lines are. I personally havent used this method but i have seen it used. I chose to fabricate a collar to drill through so i could restore it to normal later

If by top you mean the door that opens and closes, there should be no lines running into it. If you have doubts, check at the hinges for tubing running between the base and the lid. No lines connecting the two, then no lines in the lid. Drill away.

It is a small 5.0 cu ft chest so I think the lid is coil free.

Displaced MassHole said:

If it's a standad freezer there shouldn't be anything running through the lid. All the coils should be mounted on the back of the unit, so you'll be able to see where to drill.

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Is a small chest and there are no coils on the outside. It has a small square hole on the bottom left in the rear where I see a compressor or something but the coils must be/are hidden by the rear cover. So to me it looks totally inclosed unlike an older upright freezer I have where the coils are clearly visible on the back outside and on the inside for that matter. I might be able to find a schematic on the web somewhere, haven't looked yet.

Standard freezers that I have seen don't have any lines in the top. The lines are around all the walls of the freezer though, that's one reason people put on collars if they are putting taps out the side.

Sorry, didn't see the part about wanting to go through the back for the temp control. Most have a back panel that is removable for servicing the freezer, whether it be coils, condenser, or whatever. It may be a tight squeeze to drill between the stuff in the back, but it easy to find the lines.

SchizoFilly said:

Sorry, didn't see the part about wanting to go through the back for the temp control. Most have a back panel that is removable for servicing the freezer, whether it be coils, condenser, or whatever. It may be a tight squeeze to drill between the stuff in the back, but it easy to find the lines.

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will look to see if rear cover will come off, thankx

kontreren said:

will look to see if rear cover will come off, thankx

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It doesn't come off, it is a sealed unit. I suspect it is so small that the labor costs to fix would warrant a new freezer. And I also suspect that if you can get into the unit then the entire cover comes off in one piece from the bottom although I don't know that to be true. My only hope is to find a schematic online or leave the Johnson Control temp probe hanging from the lid. It looks like it still seals good. My guesstimation is that the small indention in the seal will cost me an extra $0.00555 per year. I think it will cost me more to keep opening it and getting beer out until I get the tower mounted.

THANKS TO ALL FOR REPLIES

I drilled a small hole in the back lip of the lid and ran my temperature probe wiring through that and out of a hole in the plastic inside cover liner. Works well and no danger of hitting coils. If I want to take it out I only have a small hole to put a plastic plug into to cover it up. The probe rests inside a leftover liquid yeast tube that has water in it. While you are mounting the tower you will have the lid apart so this is easy to accomplish at the same time.


edit, as long as you are at it, run an extra wire inside the lid for a pc cooling fan for your tower if you need it at some point - I did and am pretty happy I pre-wired it.

samc said:

I drilled a small hole in the back lip of the lid and ran my temperature probe wiring through that and out of a hole in the plastic inside cover liner. Works well and no danger of hitting coils. If I want to take it out I only have a small hole to put a plastic plug into to cover it up. The probe rests inside a leftover liquid yeast tube that has water in it. While you are mounting the tower you will have the lid apart so this is easy to accomplish at the same time.


edit, as long as you are at it, run an extra wire inside the lid for a pc cooling fan for your tower if you need it at some point - I did and am pretty happy I pre-wired it.

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FIRST: That is awesome. I didn't think of that but it is the perfect solution.
SECOND: Why do you have the probe in water rather than just dangling in the cold air?
THIRD: Why do I have to have the lid "apart"? I don't know what you mean. I'm not very mechanically inclined so I was just going to find the center and drill.
FOURTH: I love the idea of a pc cooling fan for the tower. Not sure how I will power it properly. You do mean a cpu fan don't you?

kontreren,
I had occasion to cut into a freezer. See this thread:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/holiday-lch0701pw-freezer-122466/
What I did was to feel the outside skin while the compressor was running until I found where the skin was cool. It was the lower portion. I then took a pair of snips and cut the outside skin of the freezer. By clearing out the foam insulation with a small screwdriver, I was able to avoid any coils. perhaps you could do the same and make a hole for your temp. probe. Luck - Dwain

kontreren said:

FIRST: That is awesome. I didn't think of that but it is the perfect solution.
SECOND: Why do you have the probe in water rather than just dangling in the cold air?
THIRD: Why do I have to have the lid "apart"? I don't know what you mean. I'm not very mechanically inclined so I was just going to find the center and drill.
FOURTH: I love the idea of a pc cooling fan for the tower. Not sure how I will power it properly. You do mean a cpu fan don't you?

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You want to measure the temperature of a liquid to get a more accurate reading. Ideally it would be a larger jar, but it works well for me. The ambient temperature will fluctuate more than the vial of water (some use the liquid in cooler packs instead of water)

You take the lid apart so you can glue &/or screw in a piece of wood to give you support to screw your tower into the lid - otherwise it will flop around and eventually deform the top of the lid. I put some construction adhesive on the plywood, duct taped it in place and let it set up. Then I secured it with a few screws that will be hidden by the tower flange.

I powered my fan with a 5 volt wall transformer from an old cellphone or similar junked electric device. Radio shack is a good source for a fan if you don't have any lying around. I bought a bigger fan than a cpu fan for more air movement. It cools the beer in the tower lines a bit, not a wildly great solution but the cost for me was $10 out of pocket so worth the attempt.

samc said:

You want to measure the temperature of a liquid to get a more accurate reading. Ideally it would be a larger jar, but it works well for me. The ambient temperature will fluctuate more than the vial of water (some use the liquid in cooler packs instead of water)

Click to expand...

I don't have a Freezorator, but I do use a freezer for fermentation, couldn't you attach the probe near the bottom of one of the kegs? I attach my probe to the outside of the fermentors, tape some bubble wrap over it and let it sit.

OTOH the temp probe in a vial of liquid is probably easier in the long run, it will keep the compressor from turning on and off as much as just hanging in the air.