Got a new to mini fridge

[bobeer]

My wife, being the awesome woman she is, snagged me a very slightly used mini fridge for $50. It was one of those first come first served things, and she knew i was in the market for one, so she bought it.

I was pretty stoked about the new fridge until nothing fit in it. No carboys, kegs, 2.5 gal carboys, nothing is fitting in this thing. I think its a Kenmore 4 ft or so mini fridge. I broke to news to the wife and suggested reselling it for a little profit but she thinks i should keep it.

I already have a full size fridge that i keep my kegs, yeast, hops and bottled beer in. What, if anything, can i use this mini fridge for? I'd like to have nitro tap at some point but I'm nervous about cutting through the lines trying to put a tower on top. Can anyone think of other uses for this fridge? I wanted it for a fermentation chamber... i guess i could take the door off the fridge and build an insulated box around the fridge... Thoughts?

 

[treacheroustexan]

$50 for a working mini fridge I feel like you can't go wrong. Maybe take some smaller stuff out of the bigger fridge and put it in the mini fridge and fit some bigger items in your bigger fridge? Or another way to look at it is, $50 isn't really a whole lot... be creative with it, try to put a tower on top or take the door off... What's the worst that could happen? The wife not be too happy but she is the one suggesting you keep it

 

[vincentAlpha]

Have you tried taking the shelves off the door? Apparently on a lot of the smaller units you won't be able to fit much of anything asides from bottles without taking that plastic off. Ought to be able to secure the gasket again once you take it off. And if the unit is too short cause of the freezer take a look at how the unit is cooling, you may be able to bend the chill-plate against the back of the fridge to let you get another few inches of height. All else fails build a (BIG) collar and make a ferm chamber out of it.

 

[Ike]

Post some pics for me! I'm a noob and I'm cruising Craigslist and just found a good source of used taller mini-fridges (somebody is remodeling an entire resort).

One thing: it seems a couple threads I've read on this so far are mentioning needing to yank the shelving off the door (screws are behind the door gasket) and bending the freezer section so the coolant will still flow but it's squished against the back and/or top of the fridge interior. Then, build a little shelf at the level of the compressor hump in the bottom of the fridge, so you have a level surface all the way front to back to work with. Again, threads here have some pics of it.

Think stuff will fit if you did either or both of those? I'm going to check out this local source and take an Ale Pail with me to make sure things will fit...

Later!

Ike

 

[Backslide]

I use a 4 cubic foot mini fridge as a ferm fridge with no issues at all. Like the comments above, you'll need to modify it a bit. I cut the plastic shelves off the door and re attached the seal. I also cut 2.5" off the compressor hump so it would fit my 7gal SS fermentor. I just re purposed a glass shelf and fit it over the top of the modified compressor hump in the back. I also carefully bent down the freezer section (cooling unit) so I could use the space that it was taking up. Over all time spent to do this 45min, cost of fridge $25.00 on Craigslist.

 

[bobeer]

Ill see if i can take off the door shelving. If all else fails I'll build a collar and use it as a fermentation chamber

Thanks for the ideas all!

 

[dbillingsby]

I had the same problem. I had a mini fridge from college and wanted to use it for fermenting and bottle conditioning. My bucket wouldn't fit, so I have to use a full size fridge for that. But the small fridge is great for holding beer, hops, yeast. So I wouldn't sell it.