OK to drill in side of Whirlpool side by side fridge?

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mferring

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Hi folks. Was hoping that one of you wise keg masters had some insight into whether there is any critical hardware on the side of a typical whirlpool side by side fridge that I might hit if I drill into it.

I am setting up my first keg situation after many years of bottling. I did get a full kit from the local beer place here in Houston (with a 5 lb CO2 bottle), but am now thinking about getting a larger bottle (say 20 or larger) to stage outside the fridge with the regulator and manifold. I would drill a hole in the side of the fridge to supply the CO2 for the kegs, but have a pressure line I could use external to the fridge to pressurize kegs that I am cleaning, etc.

Anyhoo, I have searched the web for info on what is in the side of my fridge to no avail. Also, looked to see whether there is any easy way to just take the side wall off to see what is there, but it was not obvious how to do so and I did not want to mess anything up.

Any words of wisdom here? I guess I could always drill a small hole in the front at the bottom of the door since it is in the garage and does not have to be pretty.
 
There's a chance you have cooling lines running through the side. Is your fridge set up to only cool the freezer and then blow cold air into the fridge part? To be safe, I'd say drill a small hole through the exterior sheet metal then use a nail or coat hanger or some other similar thing to 'probe around' in the general area you want to drill. If you hit anything harder than the expanded foam in the area, don't drill. I once ruined a keezer by mis-measuring an nicking the coolant line.
-Kevin
 
Yeah, I am worried about that. It is probably all on the freezer side as there is a vent blowing from there in the upper left side. However, to be on the safe side, I might just go thru the lower front door as I know I am good there. Again, since it is in the garage, I don't need it to look pretty.
 
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