where is it safe to drill 4 holes in the back of my chest freezer?

[802VermontHomebrew]

I am dropping 4 beer lines from my tap towers and trying to run them through the back of my chest freezer... dont want to tap into anything important so if you guys know of any safe areas on the backside of the freezer please let me know. Look at my thread in DIY for pictures of my setup, thanks!

 

[TRainH2o]

I'm not sure what to tell you. Most folks drill through the top if they are installing towers or build a wooden collar to install taps on the front.

 

[802VermontHomebrew]

I tried google image searching kenmore chest freezer diagram/ manual and only thing I can think of that might be in the way is the "condensor" and that looks like a heat coil as I have heard it called before... and if that runs along the entire back of the chest freezer I'm screwed and chances are I will drill right into it.

 

[802VermontHomebrew]

I would hate to mess up my freezer ugh... hopefully somebody on here knows

 

[winvarin]

I built the wooden collar myself. It allowed me to run a gas line and a line for my temp controller in the back. Then I drilled 3 holes in the face of the collar to accomodate my taps. I secured it with silicone caulk and mounted the door back on top of the collar. This way, if I ever move to something larger, it's about a 30 min job to turn this back into a chest freezer again.

I used 2x6 boards for the collar so I added 6 inches of height to the inside of my freezer. It makes all the difference in the world when you're running beverage and gas lines back and forth.

If you're set on drilling into the freezer itself, best advice I can give is to look for your brand and model on the back of the freezer and take to the Internet to see if you can find a schematic drawing of your box. That should give you an idea of places to avoid.

Most of all, be CAREFUL. Most freezers have their coolant lines wrapped around the box. Hit one of those and you've just made your wife an economy size planter.

 

[802VermontHomebrew]

a collar doesnt help me with my tap towers though.

 

[802VermontHomebrew]

im just going to take my chances and driller towards the top near the lid, I am thinking since they drilled the hingdes through the back near the top I SHOULD be fine (fingers crossed). I will keep you all posted! wish me luuuuuuck

 

[802VermontHomebrew]

ugh i couldnt drill it I just got too nervous after seeing this image:
http://www.icetechspares.com/Diagram-of-Chest-Freezer-Component-Parts
its not mine but it was just a general picture.

 

[JNye]

i turned mine on and its gets really cold around the top rim...pretty obvious they have refridgerant lines there. You could try to turning it one, but IMO you are taking a big risk...why not build a 2" collar?

 

[Germelli1]

Would the cornstarch/vodka test work on a chest freezer or is that just minifridges?

 

[802VermontHomebrew]

i suppose I can run a collar and just run the lines out the back instead of drilling out the back of the freezer..

 

[802VermontHomebrew]

i figured when you guys mentioned collar to run taps out the front but i have towers..

 

[turtleboy3737]

drill through the top then?

a lot of guys with towers mount them on the top and just drill that since there are no cooling lines in the lid.

 

[802VermontHomebrew]

i was considering drilling through the top but when i go to lift the lid it would be a pita the towers would hit the bar etc... thanks for the idea but i think with the way my bar is set up the collar idea is my best option... im going to go downstairs after i have my coffee and start fabbing up a collar.

 

[802VermontHomebrew]

and when i put the front panel on my bar the lines will be covered in foam and hidden.

 

[artbrau]

In this post, short-sweet-keezer-build, you can see how I used condensation to identify where the coils are. YMMV, at your own risk, blah, blah, blah.

 

[Germelli1]

Would the cornstarch/vodka test work on a chest freezer or is that just minifridges?

In this post, short-sweet-keezer-build, you can see how I used condensation to identify where the coils are. YMMV, at your own risk, blah, blah, blah.

exactly what I was wondering!