drilling holes in fridge for a 4-way manifold

[zodiak3000]

going to attach a 4-way manifold in my fridge for kegs. just wondering if its typically ok to drill anywhere (since im not drilling completely through the fridge) to attach this?

 

[grathan]

It's just foam insulation in the sides between the sheet metal.

 

[zodiak3000]

what about the back? im prob only going in about an inch. i tried it earlier with a tack and i hit foam.

 

[Supergrump]

Just a warning... I've killed two keezers that way. Two times I have mounted a gas manifold to the inside of a freezer and found that they have stopped cooling about 18 months later. I'm a slow learner...after doing it twice I figured out what I'm doing wrong. Unless you know exactly where the gas line is you should be safe and not drill.

I haven't tried it yet, but how about gluing (epoxy or contact cement) a small piece of wood where you want the manifold and mount the manifold to that?

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Seriously just JBWeld the stupid thing on, or even better just go buy some high strength velcro sheets and and just velcro the stupid thing in.

Drilling in to a freezer anywhere but the lid or door is asking for it.

 

[grathan]

Once you pierce the metal you could dig the foam out by hand to be cautious. Could go all the way through and use a long bolt.

 

[Lgaddy44]

I did the same for my fridge. I've read that in many cases, the cooling/gas components are on the back wall, so I opted to drill into the side. I marked out a spot and drilled one small hole just large enough for my line to fit through. I did go through some insulation, which has already been mentioned, just pull or poke that out with your finger (be careful of the sharp edges).

My line fit snug in the hole so I didn't intially foam or seal around it. After a couple days, I noticed the fridge wasnt getting as cool as I hoped, so I got a can of that foam insulation spray, and sealed the (barely visible) gap around the line. PRESTO! Everything worked fine. I've had it up and running with no issues, for a couple years now.

 

[beernut70]

I used curtain tension rods. No drilling. Other wise the side is probably safer spot to drill.

 

[Stealthcruiser]

As mentioned by others, secure it some way other than drilling, if you don't know the EXACT location of the lines.

The glued in wood or "sleeper", ( so sayeth day_trippr), works well, and that is what I did in my keezer.
Velcro is good too.
The curtain rod deal is neat, that's a new on on me!

 

[zodiak3000]

thanks all good advice, guess i wont drill. hopefully that little tack hole i made wont have an impact on the fridge!

 

[Spartan1979]

If it's a fridge, it's probably safe to drill into the sides. A freezer, probably not.

 

[day_trippr]

If it's a fridge, it's probably safe to drill into the sides. A freezer, probably not.

The latter is assuredly true, though there are those who will succeed in cheating the Devil (corn starch, alcohol, a bit of time, a good eye and a steady hand )

The former is usually true as well. About the only time there's any plumbing running in the side panels is on a fancy fridge that has perimeter anti-condensation heating where the door meets the chassis. On those units they run a loop from the condenser side from rear to front (ie: through the side panel) then up and around the door "jamb" before returning to the rear.

I plumbed gas, temperature probe and power into a pair of 17cf top-freezer units by using the model numbers to look up the exploded view parts diagrams on line and rationalize what would run where. I didn't want to hit the cold air manifolds or the refrigerant loops but I did want to go through the back. Even though one unit had a passive external condenser in the back and the other had a fan-cooled coil under the floor, it turned out the top-left corner of the fridge sections on both models was a safe spot. The manifolds were attached with double-sided tape and coarse thread stainless screws to the liner. I brought the gas in through one of these...

Cheers!