Keezer collar on freezer attachment question

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MadHopper

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Thanks to the tons of information on this forum, I am pretty much set to build my keezer: I am going with a simple 1x6 collar using regular pine on a 7 cu ft GE Freezer.

One question I have is about setting the collar on the freezer. I noticed most people use silicone, liquid nails or caulking to seal the collar to the body. Are there any pros/cons for each method?

Also I think I saw someone on this forum talking about using rope caulking to attach the collar to the body. The advantage of this seems to be that I can take off the collar anytime I want in future since this is not permanent. Also, the material is basically for weatherstripping, so it should keep the freezer cold.

I bought some of the rope caulking at HD and tried securing some pieces of wood to the freezer body - did not feel very sturdy to me. Of course, with the collar and shanks, taps and the lid, the weight will be more. But I was wondering if anyone else has used this method successfully? I am afraid of pushing the whole thing off by accident!!

Unfortunately, I can't seem to locate the original post where this was recommended, so can't PM the person (if you are reading this, please respond :)
 
I've been researching this too. I'm planning the double hinge route. I've seen some builds where there were no permanent changes made to the freezer. The top hinges hold the top to the collar, the lower hinges hold the collar to the freezer. Some weather stripping in between and you're good to go.
We'll see. That's my plan anyway. Then it can be converted back to a freezer if needed.

-Aaron
 
I was just posting on another thread about this same thing earlier today...LOL :)

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First, I glued the mitered edges of my collar sides together, then screwed them together with angle brackets. It is very strong. Then after a poly-coat, I put a 1/2" high density foam weather stripping material onto the top lip of the freezer. I put the finished collar onto the foam, and with a little pressure applied downwards, it closes up all gaps in the foam and fills in any imperfections in the freezer lip+wood collar. I drilled four tiny holes into the freezer lip- which are the only permanent changes that are made to the freezer itself. I fixed an angle bracket at each corner of the collar and used small sheet metal screws through the four holes I drilled.

Since the collar is tightly fixed to the freezer, it seals against the foam very well and feels sturdy. I just mounted the original freezer lid to the top of the collar, and it has worked out well so far. If the freezer ever craps out or if I ever wanted to turn it back into a freezer, I just remove the temperature controller (a plug-in type, no wiring needed), unscrew the four screws on the collar, then put the lid back on and boom- it's a freezer again.

...not that you would ever want to undo the keezer'ness of the machine :) , just that if you ever wanted to replace it with a newer unit or something, you could re-use the collar.

I'm very happy with it.
 
i don't have photos of mine, but my collar is made from clear grain fir 2x4's with 1x8 boards extending the collar down 3 inches around the outside of the freezer. the lid hinges are the only physical attachment, relocated to the upper holes on the freezer body with the upper hinge screwed to the wood. sealed to the freezer using 3/8" foam gasket weatherstripping, no silicone. other than the hinge screws, gravity keeps the collar in place and i haven't had any problems with it. i put the temp controller together from stuff i had laying around, i'm using an old watlow 965 pid in on/off mode switching an allen bradley relay to turn the freezer and circulation fan on and off, and an rtd as the temperature sensor. i tried using a j-thermocouple, but thay don't work very well at low temperatures....
 
Here is a link to how I did mine....http://waorgany.blog.com/
Pretty simple, made the collar out of 1x8 pine, used factory freezer gasket removed from lid, removed plastic sheeting on lid, added pine strips, used liquid nails to secure wood panel, luan, then attached collar to this with liquid nails, brackets, sued original freezer hinge to attache collar to freezer, and used a metal plate for framing from HD to further secure lid and collar, (probably over killer). Good luck.
 
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