Where are the coils?

I would like to put a small hole in my chest freezer (soon to be kegerator) to run the wire for the thermostat. Then I would fill it with silicone caulk. I sure don't want to hit the cooling coils when I do it. Just my luck.

So the question is - where are the freezing coils usually located? I notice when in freezer mode it seems to get frost on the top six inches or so but I don't know if that means the coils are there or that is just where the moist air accumulates. Anyone taken one of these things apart and know?

Mix together rubbing alcohol and corn starch. Get it to the consistancy of thick paint and spread it over the area you're wanting to drill your hole. Wait about 5 minutes and look for dry spots in the mixure. If it's dry, it means there's a coil somewhere near it.

i ran my wire where the weather stripping is. no problems with it and no need to drill then

Be extra cautious when locating the coils and drilling through the walls of a chest freezer. Many of them have coils embedded in both the inside walls and the outside walls. One set are the evaporator coils (inside) and the other (outside) are the condenser coils. The rubbing alcohol trick may work well for the condenser coils, but not as well on the evaporator coils. The coils may not line up with each other, so if you locate one set, it's not a guarantee that the second set is in the same position. I'd drill through the lid before I would go through the walls. You could drill through the back edge of the lid and at an angle and penetrate the lid liner without noticeably affecting the appearance if that's a concern.

Ditto on the lid, as there is zero chance of any coils being there. Put it near one of the hinges and you won't have any problems.