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Ok hardware is on ,,, Today I have cut up the fridge . there are 2 refrigerant lines that run through the sides and surrond the freezer door ... Ask me how I know? because I cut them .. Its just as well . since the system is open I can change all the lines I need ,to reduced the size of the unit....... Some oak takes stain better than others ,so I will re -coat the left doors to try and darken the color up

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Ok here we go ,I used a metal shear for outside and a wood saw for the inside

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I had to locate the wiring to remove to cut across the inside compartment , you can see they taped the refrigerant lines to the side of the case ,no way to cut without hitting them
 
And here's what your left with ,will be nice and compacted , compressor,evap coil & fan , condenser coil.... ohhh and the wiring harness with light & switch & temp control

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Thanks for taking all the pictures. Beautiful work, too. Hell, anyone's SWMBO would let that hang out in the house.
 
setting compressor compartment ,and installing back wall insulation so I can plan the best layout

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vinper said:
And here's what your left with ,will be nice and compacted , compressor,evap coil & fan , condenser coil.... ohhh and the wiring harness with light & switch & temp control

This is about the part where my wife would freak out. Great build idea!
 
vinper,
This is an awesome build! My hat is off to you, you are one handy and talented SOB! I love how you stated in one of your first posts, "I can build from a picture", well you sure can!
 
Didnt get to work much this weekend , but I had to figure out door the insulation and seals. before I can finish insulating the rest. So I got the doors done

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this is taking longer than I thought , I got the refridge lines layed out and the wiring, I am going to mount the controlller inside ,dont want to cut opening in the oak, so i will install it in the fridge control box which also has the door light and switch when you open door , nice fit

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Also mounted the inside door frames and worked on the insulation , had to get the coil location finalized ,so i can finish insulating , using 2 layers of 3/4" ... I should be able to weld the system back together for a test run this weekend.

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there will be 2 door seals . 1st one 3/8" weather strip around the door ,when door closes it will seal up against the face of the fridge . it makes latching the door hard ,until it gets compred for a while . The 2nd will be inside, thats why the 1.5 " deep wood around the inside of opening. Will be some type of P shaped gasket ..like this

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I plan on soldering the components back together this weekend, then vacumn and charge and test . before I finish all the insulation. I dont want something not working and have to rip out some insulation, at 14.00 sheet it took 4 sheets to do a double layer
 
Well got it all welded back together and charged with freon . It was about 97 degrees out there ... still trying to find the right charge pressure, I could only get it down to 45 degrees which took half the day .. But some of the walls still have no insulation and the doors arent sealed . I wanted to make sure it all would work before i finish sealing it up ...I might have to add a shrader valve on the Low side to charge it properly . But Im glad I atleast got it to work

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I got it down to 34 degrees , Also it fits 3 carboys on this side no problem

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Finished up the insulation and installed the controller then did some testing , this is with outside temps in the 90's ,put in tap water carboy water temp was 82 degrees . heres how long it took . I turned unit off over night and inside temp was at 60 this morning... having chilled stuff inside will really help keep even temps..

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Put your tools down ... buttoned up the back . came out nice . Gonna start a lager in there this week

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That. Is. Amazing.

Very nice piece of furniture you built there. I don't think ANYONE'S SWMBO would object to that in the house, unless she were just a total b!tch...
 
Only problem the entire back wall of our house is glass , so it limits interior wall space . we dont have a place to put it . its big and sticks out far 29" .. At the time I didnt think she want it the house otherwise I would have built it to fit... I have a 24x40 shop so thats were its at.
 
Doing a little Lagering , working fine . takes temp. down to 50 then rises to 57 before compressor kicks back on .. I need to figure out how to monitor how long its running to see how efficient it is , maybe some type of temp. recorder

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Do you want to monitor temps or power consumption? For power consumption, try the Kill-A-Watt and let it run for a day, then play with your set point temperatures and test again.
 
I would like to know how long compressor is running and how many times per day
 
One trick is get an old motor driven clock and connect to the circuit such that it runs when the compressor runs. You might also find a mechanical counter that clicks off each time the circuit is activated.

Old school - but sometimes that stuff still works well (and cheap).
 
Any Updates on how well this thing is working?

I'm doing this same thing except mine will be a kegerator with a tower.

couple of questions for you.
Anything you would have changed if you could?
How bad was rewelding those vac lines?
How did you get that detail on the front corners? [router?]

I'm sure I can think of hundred more questions but seeing as how im ordering wood next week thats all I can come up with on short notice.
 
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