To drill or not to drill

[acarlotto]

Hi,
First time post and a somewhat newbie to the homebrew. I have been reading this board for a few months and got the itch. I have been bottling my first 4 batches but I found a great deal on this fridge used. http://www.summitappliance.com/catalog/model/SCR1400W (Sorry cant post an image yet for it but that is the link for it). Well one thing lead to another and I bought a 2 tap conversion fridge. Now the question would you drill the sides for the taps or try to rig something so the taps inside? I don't have the schematics but did email the company. The guy said he would not recommend it seeing there are some coils in the sides. I am tempted to cut a small peek on the inside. What do you think?

 

[BrewinHooligan]

I drilled through the door of my fridge for my kegorator conversion, that is what most of us do here as there are no lines running through the door.

 

[Travestian]

You will likely not be able to fit a shank on the side of the fridge because of cooling coils. They are typically only about a half inch apart which is a half inch too little. I wouldn't even try to cut a small hole to peek. Refrigerant lines are thin and are easily damaged by a slip of the drill. Bust one and you're done. Best bet is to use picnic taps inside the fridge, or come up with some kind of tap mount inside.

 

[Travestian]

I drilled through the door of my fridge for my kegorator conversion, that is what most of us do here as there are no lines running through the door.

The door of the fridge the OP linked is glass. Not really to easy to do. At least not without risk and/or expensive tools.

 

[njs170]

wow nice fridge! I would find someone in the local fire company and see if they have a thermal imaging camera. Turn on the fridge and let it get cold. Use the camera on the sides to see where the coils are so you don't drill into one. Good Luck!

 

[Newsman]

wow nice fridge! I would find someone in the local fire company and see if they have a thermal imaging camera. Turn on the fridge and let it get cold. Use the camera on the sides to see where the coils are so you don't drill into one. Good Luck!

Or, use the alcohol and flour/cornstarch method to find the coils.

 

[acarlotto]

Yeah the coils being that close together I would hate to drill a line and ruin the fridge. Has anyone every seen or actually done some sort of a tap set up inside a glass front fridge? Any Ideas would help. If worse came to worse I could use picnic taps. Thanks for the advise everyone!!

 

[+HopSpunge+]

You can drill holes through the front glass with diamond tipped hole cylinder bit. Then put a piece of wood for backing where the shanks go for more support. But if you screw up drilling your out a fridge door

 

[BrewinHooligan]

The door of the fridge the OP linked is glass. Not really to easy to do. At least not without risk and/or expensive tools.

My bad, I failed to check the fridge... As stated above, it is possible to drill through the glass, but I would probably just use picnic taps or find a way to mount a tap inside the door myself.

 

[Onkel_Udo]

You can drill holes through the front glass with diamond tipped hole cylinder bit. Then put a piece of wood for backing where the shanks go for more support. But if you screw up drilling your out a fridge door

You sure about that? I have never seen tempered glass (which I assume this is) drilled, cut or manipulated in any way once set...now they occasionally make beautiful patterns of cracks when you try and fail.

I am not saying it is impossible because I sure there is a way, I just have never seen it done successfully.

 

[acarlotto]

Yeah drilling through the glass would scare the crap out of me. I am almost positive it is tempered glass.

 

[Dan]

Unless I could be certain where the cooling lines are located and and there is room to spare, I wouldn't consider drilling in the side of it. As far as the drilling the glass goes I have zero experience with that.

You probably don't want to hear this but find a regular fridge and drill through the door with no worries. The one you have there looks like it would make an awesome fermentation chamber with the addition of a temp controller.

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

When I drilled the side if my fridge for shanks I drilled a small 1/8"-1/16" hole from the inside just through the plastic lining then, with a firm wire, probed around inside the hole feeling for any obstruction when I didn't encounter any I used a hole saw to again cut just through the inner lining then removed the insulation where I wanted my shank and ensured no cooling line. Then I drilled all the way through with the appropriate sized bit. So it is possible with a bit of care/caution to mount shanks through the side. I certainly wouldn't just drill and hope for the best.

 

[TallDan]

I'm in the camp with using this fridge for something else, it would be awesome for bottle storage. If it's in good condition, I'd hate to drill a hole in it anywhere. Plus, kegs aren't much to look at, and that glass front begs to be used to display things while keeping them cold.

You could build your taps onto a panel on the inside of the fridge, and put a panel in front of the kegs as well so that you don't lose as much cool air when the door is opened, but IMHO, it would be a pain to open the door to pull a pint.

 

[acarlotto]

Unless I could be certain where the cooling lines are located and and there is room to spare, I wouldn't consider drilling in the side of it. As far as the drilling the glass goes I have zero experience with that.

You probably don't want to hear this but find a regular fridge and drill through the door with no worries. The one you have there looks like it would make an awesome fermentation chamber with the addition of a temp controller.

I might just use the top half and stock it with a crap ton of bottled brew and use the bottom half with a few kegs and just use a few picnic taps. With all the shelves in this thing could hold about 225+ beers.

My other issue with it is the compressor will not turn off. I changed the board with the thermostat on it but no luck. I may just hook a external temp. controller to the compressor and leave everything else alone so I all the fans and lights still work. I need to see if that will even work.

 

[Arrheinous]

You sure about that? I have never seen tempered glass (which I assume this is) drilled, cut or manipulated in any way once set...now they occasionally make beautiful patterns of cracks when you try and fail.

I am not saying it is impossible because I sure there is a way, I just have never seen it done successfully.

And with a temperature difference of <40F on one side and room temperature or higher during the summer I'd question its longterm stability.

But if it works this looks like a beautiful setup.

 

[novafire]

You could replace the glass with lexan (or some other plastic) or build a new door.

 

[Cider123]

Hmmm,
Well I would look at that thing and say to myself "why the hell would I buy a big ol fancy fridge just to store some damn bottles?" Hell, you could put bottled beer in any old thing. You get something that big and you want to draw pints off it. And picnic taps suck IMO.

Just me but, I would venture into the sides with a small drill and just go through the sheet metal, then fish around with a nail or thick wire to see if there are fridge lines there. If so, I would keep probing until I found a good place to put the shanks in. I'm curious why one guy said that there are lines running close together through the sides of this thing. Maybe he could clarify? If these units are designed that way, as opposed to the home units where the lines generally run in the back, then I would pass on it. Maybe it comes with a schematic?

Seems like it would only be worth it if you could do what you really want, which seems to be running taps out the side. Anything else would be settling. In that case, find a old home fridge on craigslist for $50-100.

 

[Newsman]

Something I saw on here awhile back -- make a slurry of corn starch or flour and rubbing alcohol and paint it on the sides. The places where the lines are will stand out as it dries, due to the subtle temperature differences.

 

[Conan]

Could you put a wood collar between the door and fridge body, like a vertical keezer? You could then stack the taps up the collar. Kyle

 

[TallDan]

Could you put a wood collar between the door and fridge body, like a vertical keezer? You could then stack the taps up the collar. Kyle

I briefly considered that with my upright keezer until i realized that it would be very difficult to provide the structural rigidity needed for the door hinge. I then considered a wedge shaped collar to use the existing hinge, but it seemed like it would be very difficult to do and keep a good seal.

 

[acarlotto]

Well after a few beers I decided to drill. It come out perfect!!

 

[Newsman]

Well after a few beers I decided to drill. It come out perfect!!

Hmm... looks a bit awkward, but whatever works for you.

 

[acarlotto]

Hmm... looks a bit awkward, but whatever works for you.

If you are referring to the way the door opens I did it that way because the door to the house is to the left and there is no room on the left side of the fridge. I also did not want the taps showing when the garage doors (to the left) are open. I could see the neighbors making it a free for all. :

 

[Newsman]

If you are referring to the way the door opens I did it that way because the door to the house is to the left and there is no room on the left side of the fridge. I also did not want the taps showing when the garage doors (to the left) are open. I could see the neighbors making it a free for all. :

Actually I was thinking about the stuff to the right of the keezer/kegerator in the photo... looks like it's kinda crowded there.

 

[acarlotto]

Actually I was thinking about the stuff to the right of the keezer/kegerator in the photo... looks like it's kinda crowded there.

Haha gotcha. If only I could talk my kids into getting all of their toys out of the garage. I will have to build some sort of guard to keep the faucets out of the kids way.

 

[Newsman]

Haha gotcha. If only I could talk my kids into getting all of their toys out of the garage. I will have to build some sort of guard to keep the faucets out of the kids way.

Nahh... just let 'em have a taste of that liquid goodness... or not. If they like the taste, you might have to lock the taps up, and then you'd have to spend time unlocking 'em whenever you wanted to pour a cold one... Hmm... yeah, definitely build a guard to keep the kids away from the faucets.

 

[NewJersey]

glad you went through with it! i love seeing naysayers put down!
that said i ruined a fridge drilling through the side before i drilled another fridge with no problems. yours is much nicer than mine with that door/shelves, but im happy. mine is a small freezer on top. (which i store hops in, so at least thats convenient)
i fit three cornies and the C02 easily and could fit a forth if i wanted, but no room for bottles
nice work!

 

[kewlceo]

Good job! Glad you didn't mess with the glass, because once glass is tempered it cannot be cut or drilled without crumbling into a thousand pieces.

 

[acarlotto]

glad you went through with it! i love seeing naysayers put down!
that said i ruined a fridge drilling through the side before i drilled another fridge with no problems. yours is much nicer than mine with that door/shelves, but im happy. mine is a small freezer on top. (which i store hops in, so at least thats convenient)
i fit three cornies and the C02 easily and could fit a forth if i wanted, but no room for bottles
nice work!

Yeah when the tech from the manufacturing insisted that it could not be drilled and refused to help I had to prove him wrong. There are some coils in the side but not near the doors. No way I was drilling the glass. I should be able to fit 3 cornies and the gas or 4 with the gas outside. now the problem is keeping it stocked.