Upright Keezer Help - Tried All The Tricks for Finding Coils, No Luck

I received a Kenmore 253 upright freezer for free. Immediate reactions was "KEEZER". My dreams were immediately dashed when I opened the door and saw the coils in the shelves.

I did some research on this site and saw it was possible to slowly bend the shelves, which I did. I now have room to fit two kegs and maybe a third if I can store my CO2 tank outside.

My next challenge is drilling holes into the freezer. I wanted to run the temperature probe, two CO2 lines, and a power cord for a fan through the side of the freezer. I have tried the cornstarch in the freezer with doors open trick as well as the vodka/cornstarch on the sides trick. Neither one showed any results. I concluded there was nothing on the side, but when I touched either side, it was very warm. I therefore believe there is something on the sides.

I have three questions:
1) Any other suggestions on how I can find whatever is causing the heat?
2) Can I run everything through the door (which has no cables running to it) provided I leave enough slack for the door to open?
3) What about going through the top, especially for the power supply and probe?

Thanks

You should be able to run everything through the door if you want to. I've never seen a fridge or freezer than had any cooling or electrical stuff in the door itself.

The only other thing I can suggest is maybe gently cut away a small section of the plastic on the inside of the freezer with a dremel or something and poke around to see where the cooling lines are within the walls. Then make your holes through the side after you find a clear spot. Not pretty (from the inside), but maybe your best chance for getting holes through the side without hitting the lines and killing the thing.

Look at the back of the freezer. There should be condenser coils mounted there. If not, then the condenser coils are in the freezer walls and possibly the top too. There usually nothing in the door and if there were, you would see lines or wires running from the freezer to the door in the vicinity of the hinges. This would be very, very unusual, so I doubt that the door has anything in it at all.

The coil panel on the back of the freezer should feel significantly warm to the touch when the compressor is running if the freezer is operating properly.

I believe the Kenmore 253 is made by Gibson (Frigidaire). I'm almost certain the coils are underneath in that model. You should easily see them by pulling off the cleaning access panel, if so, you can feel free to drill at will, missing any obvious electrical systems. Disclaimer: I'm not buying you a new freezer if you take any of my advice and it's wrong

Ricand said:

I believe the Kenmore 253 is made by Gibson (Frigidaire). I'm almost certain the coils are underneath in that model. You should easily see them by pulling off the cleaning access panel, if so, you can feel free to drill at will, missing any obvious electrical systems. Disclaimer: I'm not buying you a new freezer if you take any of my advice and it's wrong

Click to expand...

Possibly... but if the walls of the thing got warm on it, then it would seem to be that there are absolutely lines within the walls of it.

Walker said:

Possibly... but if the walls of the thing got warm on it, then it would seem to be that there are absolutely lines within the walls of it.

Click to expand...

Good point and it's possible the 253 is simply the manufacturer code that can be associated with lots of models. Eljefe is there a model number that goes like 253.XXXXXXXX on the freezer sn plate? It would help us to determine what exact model you have.

Here is the full number on the freezer:
253.9282010

It does get very warm on the sides, but not so much on top. I found a manual which was not much help. I will try Walkers suggestion of cutting off some of the plastic. I would prefer to drill into the sides as opposed through the door but not at the risk of drilling through a coil.

My research also unfortunately revealed that this is not a reliable series of freezers from Kenmore so this all may be short lived. Oh well!

Thanks for your help

eljefe said:

Here is the full number on the freezer:
253.9282010

It does get very warm on the sides, but not so much on top. I found a manual which was not much help. I will try Walkers suggestion of cutting off some of the plastic. I would prefer to drill into the sides as opposed through the door but not at the risk of drilling through a coil.
My research also unfortunately revealed that this is not a reliable series of freezers from Kenmore so this all may be short lived. Oh well!
Thanks for your help

Click to expand...

In the picture from the Sears Parts Department it shows the condenser coils to be on the back and a replaceable item. If yours has coils like the ones shown on the back, then if you stay away from the front edges you should be good. Sometimes they will run a line around the front edge to keep frost from building up. I couldn't get the link to work directly, but at the site above, put in your model number for the diagram. Good luck!

Walker said:

You should be able to run everything through the door if you want to. I've never seen a fridge or freezer than had any cooling or electrical stuff in the door itself.

The only other thing I can suggest is maybe gently cut away a small section of the plastic on the inside of the freezer with a dremel or something and poke around to see where the cooling lines are within the walls. Then make your holes through the side after you find a clear spot. Not pretty (from the inside), but maybe your best chance for getting holes through the side without hitting the lines and killing the thing.

Click to expand...

+1 to using the door