best way to make one side of a freezer collar removable?

worldzfree · Mar 21, 2011

I have a small freezer that I use as a fermentation chamber. I am building a collar for it so I can get two carboys in it. I want to make it so the front side of the collar can come on and off easily via some type of latch so I can work with the fermentors when I need to rack and move. I was thinking of using a couple of door hinges but I don't much about them to find a kind that allows for easy insertion and removal of the pin. Have any of you done this and what type of "latch" did you use?

Scut_Monkey · Mar 22, 2011

That's not a bad idea. Kind of like opening a car door so you don't have to climb through the window every time you want to go for a ride. Those damn Duke boys must have been dumb.

Why not a hinge on one side and a latch on the other. Maybe a magnetic latch or a simple one like below. This way you don't have to worry about taking the pin out of a hinge every time. Simply swing the front out of the way rather than removing it all together.

Bobby_M · Mar 22, 2011

That's why I attached my collar to the lid instead of the other way around.

worldzfree · Mar 22, 2011

Bobby, I have seen your setup on the YouTube. It's impressive but I'm looking to do something more on the lazy side.

Grimm · Mar 22, 2011

i would be worried about having a good seal on the under side of the hinged piece, or the removable piece. use will make that seal wear out.
if you don't use it as a kezzer then you could just make it so you can lift the whole collar off. I designed my kezzer in this way, I put foam sealant strips on the bottom of the collar, and it just sits on top of the freezer. There is a small lip on the inside of the collar so it doesn't slide off the freezer, I then attached the lid to the collar.

brewmonk · Mar 22, 2011

do you really need the whole side to come off?

what if one side of the keg collar had a big hole in the middle of it (or 2)?
with a 'cover' (or 2) that were hinged to the collar, you could just flip up your 'porthole' covers, and go to work.

i think the collar would be a lot stronger if you could reinforce all 4 corners.
(just a woodworking guess, i don't have a fregerator)