Converting an old sears cold spot chest freezer

[Joseph Wilson]

Hey all,

I am wanting to know if anyone has any experience working on converting a sears cold spot chest freezer into a keezer. I’ve watched some videos on Northern Brewers site and it seems pretty straight forward but I have a couple of concerns.

1) I am planning on disconnecting the top to make a collar, however the hinges appear to be on the inside on the lid instead of the outside. Should I simply saw through the old hinges and buy new ones to attach to the outside or figure out how to get inside the freezer and disconnected them to reuse them on the collar.

2) my second idea is to scrap the collar idea altogether and just drill into the side of the fridge and install the tap handles that way. However, I can’t find plans online of the wiring, coolant lines etc. so I am afraid of hiting something with the drill and ruining the fridge all together.

Has anyone converted one of these models before and Which option makes the most sense? I appreciate any help!

Thanks

Joey
Ps here is a picture of the model I am talking about it’s a cold spot model 198 I think from sears

 

[ancientmariner52]

I love old things, but is it really a good idea to invest time and money in a nearly forty year old unit that presents unusual difficulties? My personal opinion is find another, much newer freezer. Good luck!

 

[mirthfuldragon]

If it still cools, then I would use it until it dies. If the hinges are difficult to detach, then the simplest solution I can think of would be to build a collar and then build a new top out of 3/4 or 1" plywood/MDF with some foam insulation underneath.

 

[JohnSand]

I'm with Mariner. It will use a lot of electricity I think. I've seen some conversions of really old round top fridges, or Coke fridges that had style. That one just seems beat.
If you do go with it, the hinges must be screwed or bolted on, right? If you can't remove them from the box, remove them from the lid. Then you can build your collar, without hinges if necessary.
Let us know what you do.

 

[HotRod9mm]

I kind of agree with AM52 and JS.
I share an old freezer with a friend and we use it as our fermentation chamber using the ITC-308(InkBird - forum sponsor) as the controller. Easily holds 3 carboys and works great with a $10 heater from Walmart(pic attached). If the cooling side fails we should be ok as we use it mostly as a fermenting box so very low energy use.

Plus it gives both of us a chance to build a couple keezers.