Keezer lid seal and collar

[underdog378]

Hey guys, quick question here. Searched a bunch on this and didn't find much. Just built a keezer with a 1x4 MDF collar on my 7.2 cubic foot chest freezer that I picked up on craigslist. MDF wasn't the best choice for this project, but its what I had on hand and will build a nicer one later on down the road.

The problem I'm having is getting the lid to seal properly on the collar. With the latches removed, it seems to seal fine all the way around. As soon as I screw the hinges back on, the front corners lift up a very small amount, but enough to let light out when I put a light inside and close the lid.

What are my options for sealing this properly? I suppose I could install latches to pull it down. My other idea was to put down weather stripping on the collar side, so that its seal to seal mating surfaces instead of seal to collar, but I'm not sure if I won't still have the same sealing issue. Any other ideas?

 

[ozman0104]

Can you add some pictures. It will help to determine if you need to add something like weather stripping or maybe just a different approach to attaching the lid.

 

[Bean]

look at the seal in the back by the hinges. If it seems really compressed you might have mounted the hinges to low on the collar, thus pulling the front end up. If this is the case you could try re-securing the hinges to the collar or not securing at all.

 

[USMCYoder]

I have seen people do weather stripping to add to the seal. I just did the collar myself for a keeper build, but didn't have the problem, but also added an extra seal to prevent leaking. I feel Bean has a good point. As long as it was sitting flush on the freezer originally, there has to be something pulling the from up. Is the collar level???

 

[underdog378]

I think my collar isn't perfectly level. It seals great except for the front corners and a little in the front middle. I've tried raising the hinges slightly, but then I'm getting a gap in the rear. Almost like the boards that I used are a little fatter in the middle. The gap in the corners is small, like less than 1mm, but still a gap. Eventually I'm going to build a nicer collar, but would like to try and get this current one sealed up.

I'll go to home depot tomorrow and see what I can find weather stripping wise. I'm hoping I can find something that is low enough density to conform to my imperfections and still seal well.

 

[Hoodweisen]

If you ripped the MDF with a circular saw you may have gotten wobbly.
Not trying to insult you as you may be a master carpenter. Just a thought.

 

[Bean]

I think my collar isn't perfectly level. It seals great except for the front corners and a little in the front middle. I've tried raising the hinges slightly, but then I'm getting a gap in the rear. Almost like the boards that I used are a little fatter in the middle. The gap in the corners is small, like less than 1mm, but still a gap. Eventually I'm going to build a nicer collar, but would like to try and get this current one sealed up.

I'll go to home depot tomorrow and see what I can find weather stripping wise. I'm hoping I can find something that is low enough density to conform to my imperfections and still seal well.

You could try hitting it with a surface planner to see if that helps. You might want to think about building the new collar you spoke about in your OP. Why waste your time and money trying band-aid this?

 

[corkybstewart]

You could try hitting it with a surface planner to see if that helps. You might want to think about building the new collar you spoke about in your OP. Why waste your time and money trying band-aid this?

+1
2X4 or 2X6 lumber is pretty cheap,

 

[MooMooBrew]

+1
2X4 or 2X6 lumber is pretty cheap,

Just go big in v2.0, that or you'll start looking at jester clones and want a new freezer altogether...