make a cooler box using fridge parts?

Ok im tired of looking to see if this has been done..
Has anyone here made an under bar cooler from wood insulated and such yada yada ,and used the cooling mechanisms from a fridge to cool it?
Basically i want to build a bar to have a tap tower, but dont want to buy a mini freezer to keezer it. I figure i can build my own custom size cooler and take the parts from my old refriderator and install them to work there..
Possible?
I did see a kind of example where a person built the cooler box and strapped a mini freezer that opened from the side to it..i believe it was a bar basement for a bachelor party?..Joe

Certainly, people have done this. But if you damage anything and the refrigerant leaks out ...

I have seen people use the old fridges that had the built in freezer in the top, kind of a metal pan that was the freezer and also cooled the refridgerator section.

These look easy to remove and then reuse.

I'm doing it currently. There is zero risk of leaking any refridgerant. As all I am doing (and you would be doing) is removing the fridge door. The fridge is effectively one of the 4 walls of my cooling chamber. I insulated the piss out of chamber, and spray foamed all around the fridge to make sure it was tight. I'm going home to attach the door in a few minutes, on my lunch break, I'll be happy to take some pics for you and answer any questions you might have.


*edit*

Sorry I misread your post. I am not using the components from a fridge, but instead an entire mini fridge. Which is what I would reccommend.

Post the Pics anyway!

I saw a post here a while ago where some guy pulled the guts out of a fridge and integrated it into a box he built... Just can't remember his name...

My friends and I thought about doing just that when we first started on our cold box. We found a freezer that we were just going to cut off the back wall of the freezer and bolt it to a larger volume box that we constructed.

However after much thought, especially wasted vertical space that would have cooled we decided to go the glycol chiller route and a lower self constructed box.

I attached a link to the blog if you would like some ideas for the cold box structure. More pics will come about the insulation and chiller.

Good luck, let me know if you have any questions.

Homebrew Project

brrman said:

I saw a post here a while ago where some guy pulled the guts out of a fridge and integrated it into a box he built... Just can't remember his name...

Click to expand...

Was it me?

If not, I apologize, but the link goes to mine.... Here is another thread with a newer picture...


Let us know how it pans out...

we should have a sticky for frankenstein projects..you all have touched on what i am thinking...FrankenFridge!

ultimately i admit, i have a 78 vw bus, and i want to make a keg cooler for it so i can have a tap on the outside of my bus so i can be the life of the campout.
yeah i think im cool

Sorry for the delay in posting the photos!

Here's my keg box on my bar



and

Duckfoot said:

Was it me?

If not, I apologize, but the link goes to mine.... Here is another thread with a newer picture...


Let us know how it pans out...

Click to expand...

How is that working out for you Duckfoot? Still in the garage?

I picked up a couple of dehumidifiers up off of CL for $10 each last weekend and would like to be able to move my fermenters out to the garage. Is 2" enough in a hot climate?

Here is a good link for builds using fridge guts.

Ferm chamber with fridge guts

Boerderij_Kabouter said:

Here is a good link for builds using fridge guts.

Ferm chamber with fridge guts

Click to expand...

Of course, I clicked the link ...

good burn

cabot said:

Sorry for the delay in posting the photos!

Here's my keg box on my bar

and

Click to expand...

How are you sealing the doors?

yes thats the idea i did see..but you just got the freezer parked up against the box...hows the temp hold?

MMW said:

How is that working out for you Duckfoot? Still in the garage?

I picked up a couple of dehumidifiers up off of CL for $10 each last weekend and would like to be able to move my fermenters out to the garage. Is 2" enough in a hot climate?

Click to expand...

So far so good... Holding 64* at the moment... I plan on getting some better weatherstripping and sealing it up a little better and getting some of the plastic wall sheeting (like in restaurants) and cleaning up the inside...

The door on mine fits very tight, and ontop of that I placed rubber weather stripping on the inside of the door creating a gasket. Mine holds 38 degrees with the fridge on the #3 setting.

78kombi said:

ultimately i admit, i have a 78 vw bus, and i want to make a keg cooler for it so i can have a tap on the outside of my bus so i can be the life of the campout.
yeah i think im cool

Click to expand...

Pics please

when it happens, there will certainly be pics!!!

I totally tore apart a brand new mini-fridge and installed the parts into a new fermentation chamber that doubles as a serving cart for our pig roast. There are a series of photos of the process in my gallery.