Freebie Freezer, now what?

[Brewing Clamper]

Ok, so I got this upright freezer for free through CL that I plan on using as a fermentation chamber. However, in order to fit my fermenters in it I need to bend the coils to the back. Any suggestions before I start banging away at it? Would it be possible to cut some of those out, reseal the lines and recharge? What would you do?

 

[Catt22]

Do not attempt to cut the lines and recharge. A professional HVAC guy might be able to do that, but it's not a DIY thing and would likely ruin it. You can bend the shelves back out of the way, but this is also tricky to do without damaging the unit. If you crack a line, it likely won't be worth repairing. I've done it successfully once, but I was only able to make room for a single fermenter. With the one I had, the middle shelf was the only one I could bend up to make more room, then I used the lower shelf to support the fermenter. That leaves insufficient room above the top shelf for a second one. In retrospect, I think I should have built an extension on the front and left the shelves alone.

 

[elpresidente]

Ok, so I got this upright freezer for free through CL that I plan on using as a fermentation chamber. However, in order to fit my fermenters in it I need to bend the coils to the back. Any suggestions before I start banging away at it? Would it be possible to cut some of those out, reseal the lines and recharge? What would you do?

I am curious, were you successful in bending your coils? I too am in the same boat with a free freezer but it has coils in the shelves. If you pulled it off a couple pics would be awesome,thanks!

 

[wilserbrewer]

Bobby M did it...be very careful w/ the refrigerant lines, kink or break one and you are done.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/freezer-conversion-coils-shelves-136689/

 

[Waunabeer]

If you have room, build a small walk in and only use that as the cooling element and don't mess with it.

 

[kpr121]

If you have room, build a small walk in and only use that as the cooling element and don't mess with it.

+1! This is what I would do!

 

[DrawTap88]

+2. If one misstep will ruin it, you're better off not messing with it.

 

[elpresidente]

I am going for it LOL...it was free so I am not too worried about it. It is more motivation to get this thing turned into a ferm chamber. If I pull it off I will post some pics.

 

[DrawTap88]

Good luck. Look forward to hearing how it turns out.

 

[DrJerryrigger]

oh, I thought this was a different thread, I guess there are a lot of these out there for free!
Cutting and reconnecting coils is a big project, I would try to bend some out of the way first (if that fails, then try cutting stuff)
Before you start bending shelves, check to see which ones you really need to bend (don't forget about the height of your air-locks). If you can; remove the wire grate from the coils of the shelves to be moved. You will likely only need to bend them up a little to clear the shoulder of a carboy, so do it little by little until it fits.

 

[elpresidente]

I went ahead and did it, the coils are bent...here is a link to another thread I started right around the time I was posting on this thread:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/upright-freezer-ferm-chamber-noobie-needs-help-200358/

I decided to only bend the top two shelves to minimize risk. I can now fit 2 carboys on the shelf no problem and have room for bottles below.

I don't want to double post/take over this thread so I am going to be posting stuff back on the other thread.