Refrigerator door question

I am going to use an old fridge with a thermostat controller for lagering. My question is I dissasembled the door panel to clean it and there would be alot more room in the fridge if I left it off...but the seal of the door is secured around the plastic door panel. Is there anyway to secure the door seal without having the plastic panel?

Cut around the door panel with a razor knife of sorts, removing the bulk of the door panel, however keeping the "frame" of it to which I assume you mean the seal is attached to. This is what I did for my kegerator conversion door on the fridge I used.

Another possibility is to just buy a new door gasket from HD. Attach it to the bare frame with appropriate adhesive.

Is there any harm in leaving the panel off, assuming I can secure the seal without it? It would just be the insulation showing on the door.

An 1/8" flat panel inserted in place of the shelf molded inner door yeilds gobs of room.

tipicreeper said:

An 1/8" flat panel inserted in place of the shelf molded inner door yeilds gobs of room.

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That's the way I did it. I then cut a piece of 1/2" foam insulation and glued it to the panel with spray adhesive to help improve the door insulation. Works just fine for me.

When you say 1/8" flat panel, what kind of material do you mean?

The stuff I used was some vinyl sheeting that I scrounged from a friend that had it lying around his shop. It was a protective sheet over some other stuff to prevent scratches in transport. I don't know where you could get the same material, but Home Depot should have something similar like the stuff they sell for shower walls. Some of that stuff looks like ceramic tile, but it's a single sheet of acrylic or fiberglass of some kind. You can find it in with the other paneling stuff.

When you say 1/8" flat panel, what kind of material do you mean?

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I used textured ABS from the local plastic supply house.


Cheers,
ClaudiusB

You should be able to use hard board. We used to call it Masonite. that's the manufacturer but the folks at HD or Lowes will know what you mean. It's an ugly brown, but it's cheap. - Dwain

The problem with Masonite is that it will disintegrate when it gets wet or exposed to damp conditions. It's similar to particle board in that respect. Might be able to waterproof it to some extent with a coat of varnish or paint though. My fermentation fridge gets quite humid at times. I would go with the ABS or plastic stuff for long term durability.

Yeah, I bet you're right at that. I used some for a shelf (layed over plywood) in a normal fridge and it was OK. But, my fermentation fridge gets humid also and it would definitely break down. NewBeerGuy, scratch the masonite. Good catch Cat - Dwain

I think I am going to have to go make a trip to some stores to see what I can find....thanks everyone for the suggestions.