Resurrect dead keezer with a mini-fridge?

[irishvermin]

I know the most common answer to the question of what to do when a keezer dies is to get a new one because of how cheep they are, or how readily available a used one is on Craigslist. That said, I have a few reasons I'm seriously considering to try and repair, or resurrect the old gal in my basement.

It's massive, and getting it into the basement a few years ago basically threw my back out. I have no desire to now try and carry it up the basement stairs if I can somehow avoid it.

It's a beast, an old Kenmore 17 cu ft model, and can easily hold several kegs, plus room for crashing or lagering, and holding a case or two of bottles, plus ingredients, etc.

I've gotten use to the size and flexibility it offers, and to replace with one the same size is not really an option due to cost, and again, I don't particularly care to move it again if I can get creative and reuse it.

So with that in mind, I was wondering if it would be possible to use a medium sized mini-fridge to cool the keezer? I already have the fridge, and it's only occasionally used as an extra beer fridge.

My first idea was to cut a port into side of the freezer and basically insert the fridge, seal, then use a fan or two and temp controller, etc. I am worried about cutting into the lines and releasing any kind of toxic gas or refrigerant, or should this not be a concern as it typically leaks out over time anyway?

The second idea I had was less invasive, and was to place the fridge above the keezer (my setup has a table behind the keezer suitable for this purpose), and then by cutting holes in the doors of both fridge and freezer (where I don't have to worry about refrigerant lines) run an insulated conduit to carry cold air into the keezer and then another to return to fridge, use some fans to get good air circulation, etc.

The main question is, am I crazy here? Is there any chance a mini-fridge can cool 17 cu ft of space, plus the beer inside? My brew room in our basement basically stays between 55 and 75 year round. I also don't like my beer ice cold, and tend to prefer "cellar" temps anyway, so it doesn't have that huge of a temp difference to make. Or at the very least, could it work as a fermentation chamber? Thoughts on my ideas on how to attach the mini-fridge? I'm a keep it simple kind of guy, so it won't be anything fancy with automation of any sort, just want a cooled box. Thanks for any and all thoughts and suggestions!

 

[madscientist451]

Have you evaluated what's wrong with your freezer? Check you tube or other on line resources for DIY tips for repairs.

 

[Jorb]

Yeah. Can you repair the freezer?

 

[irishvermin]

Not sure exactly what's wrong with it. The compressor seems to be running fine, but on the other side of the freezer I hear gurgling in the walls, and it does not cool. Any ideas on what the trouble is?

 

[TX_Brewing]

Not sure exactly what's wrong with it. The compressor seems to be running fine, but on the other side of the freezer I hear gurgling in the walls, and it does not cool. Any ideas on what the trouble is?

Sounds like low refrigerant. You likely have a leak in the system. My old freezer died, so I dissected it and found that some of the cooking coils were steel, needless to say you get some moisture in there and the coils rust out.

 

[madscientist451]

Maybe it is toast then. Home Depot has an upright 3 cu/ft freezer for about $170.
Maybe cut a hole and attach the small freezer to to big one and add a small fan?
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Magic-Chef-3-0-cu-ft-Upright-Freezer-in-White-MCUF3W2/206205672

 

[irishvermin]

So randomly I put a gallon jug of block ice in the dead keezer a few nights back after I came home from Costco and ran out of room in our actual food chest freezer.

I typically keep 4 or 5 large block ice containers and a few small varieties in the freezer as they are much better for trips and tailgates etc at keeping a cooler cold for extended amounts of time than cubed ice. I'd been wondering if I could literally set up an "ice box" style frankenkeezer, but thought that it was unlikely that a block of ice could cool that much space and liquid.

So I had basically given up on the thought, but then when out of room for food in the freezer I removed a block of ice and figured what the hell, I'll put it in the keezer with 4 kegs and see what happens... and promptly forgot about it.

And then the next night I went down and not even remembering the ice, pulled a pint and was stunned that it was cold. I even tested the temp and it was 52 degrees.

I've since been switching out the block ice roughly every 24 hours and using towels to control the condensation. I'm going to eventually install a fan to also help out. I'm still stunned that it actually works as well as it does, but again, as my original post states, I prefer my beer not to be "ice" cold, so that probably helps.

Anyone else do anything like this (ice box keezer) for a long term solution?