Drill through Freezer / Fridge

[genesisb86]

Hi all,

I've tried finding an answer to this question on the forums, but haven't been successful. If there's a thread about this, I'd appreciate the link.

My husband and I would like to build a kegerator, but for space reasons we want to use an upright unit. I've noticed that a lot of people have to place their faucets lower when using a fridge / freezer combo because of the freezer door possibly hitting the taps especially when using custom ones.

My question - has anyone tried cutting or drilling holes through the fridge up into the freezer, and then running the lines through them so that the taps set higher in the unit (freezer door)?

Is this just a terrible idea in general? If so, why?

Thanks in advance!

 

[d3track]

Shouldn't be a problem, just make sure the freezer isn't set to freezing setting. The only thing I see is that would be really high for a model like mine.

 

[m1k3]

My question - has anyone tried cutting or drilling holes through the fridge up into the freezer

Your fridge may be different than mine but this is what I did:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/hole-freezer-fridge-section-483404/

 

[galvinize]

This was the modification I did to my fridge years ago. No real issues that I remember. Maybe the worst being some condensation on the taps. Just be sure to leave enough slack in the lines to get the door open. I used a piece of PVC in the hole to close it out and not leave the foam insulation exposed.
Good luck.

 

[CJ1]

Some units have coils between the fridge and freezer sections. I know for sure that mine does.

My intended solution is to put the taps at the top of the fridge door and to fasten the two doors together so that no one can open one without the other.

 

[genesisb86]

I had actually seen your post while researching my idea, m1k3. I just wasn't sure about putting the taps through the freezer door. Thanks for sharing!

Galvinize, your end product is exactly what I had in mind. What size is your fridge, and how many corny kegs can you fit on there? We want to do at least three taps to start with, so I'm just curious if there's room to expand past four with your kegerator.

 

[galvinize]

It's a Kenmore refrigerator. Since the time of the above pictures I've moved the CO2 tank to the outside and wouldn't you know the hole is right through the label so I couldn't tell you a model or size. However I can fit 2 short 1/4 barrel pony kegs on top of each other and 2 corny kegs to the side at the same time with use of a platform in the bottom. I suspect you could squeeze in 6 corny kegs but I can't remember trying that with only 4 taps.
I also remembered one other problem I had. One time after I cleaned out a line I had water remaining and it froze. Never had the issue with beer in the line but it took awhile to thaw out the frozen water.
All in all I've been happy with the arrangement and like the look a lot more than taps through the refrigerator door.

 

[Stealthcruiser]

Another "possible" option:
Drill through the top edge, of the bottom door, and the bottom edge of the top door.
Tie the doors together, so they open together, and route the houses through the holes.

 

[genesisb86]

We actually found a pretty great deal on a 6 tap kegerator ready to go. We're picking it up this weekend, but thank you all for your insight; I really appreciate it!