help/advice requested for kegerator build

[Dontdropthebeer]

So I picked up an Avanti 40BRC/RW/RB and I cannot find anything other than this thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/keezer-coolant-lines-330199/

I pm'd the OP and also posted but no reply

I am now getting ready to drill and I've shaved down the tray holders and also cut through and shaved away the insulation all the way to the metal frame. Before I drill through, is it safe to assume there are no lines running through the metal? Would they be in the foam?

The pictures I posted - the top two are the side wall and the third is the top

I contacted Avanti and they provided me with the manual but would not tell me where the coolant lines were.

 

[reinstone]

If its a fridge and you are drilling the front door don't worry. They don't run refrigerant through the door. There would be no way to get refrigerant in a moving part like the door

 

[reinstone]

If you can take the door off.....there can t be a line.

 

[Dontdropthebeer]

yeah it is a fridge and i can take the door off. Worst case scenario i will drill through the door but I was looking to do a tower through the top. Thats where I shaved through the plastic/foam insulation through to the metal. I didn't encounter anything in the foam and it "seems" like theres nothing in the metal frame but is it possible the lines would be in the metal? Or would the lines be in the foam?

Thanks!

 

[dyqik]

If you can see the cold plate on the inside of the fridge, then any other coolant lines would be on the outside against the metal to cool the coolant. If you want to know where they are, turn the fridge on set to low, and see where it gets warm. You can use a cornflour paste on the outside to see specifically where the lines are - the paste will dry and set quickest where the lines are warmest. What this won't find is any electrical lines inside the foam. Most minifridges I've seen seem to have the coolant lines on the sides though.

Best bet is to a) check to see if the top gets warm, then if it doesn't b) drill through the top very slowly and carefully, removing just the metal skin first, followed by foam using a wire probe to check for wires, then carefully removing a little foam at a time. It sounds like you have done this already - assuming you were working from the outside inwards. If the cooling plate is a stand alone plate on the inside, then the inside top of the fridge will be clear of coolant lines. Looking at the link in your OP, this is almost certainly the case. No manufacturer is going to bother building a cheap minifridge with two sets of coolant lines on the inside...

 

[reinstone]

If you can see the cold plate on the inside of the fridge, then any other coolant lines would be on the outside against the metal to cool the coolant. If you want to know where they are, turn the fridge on set to low, and see where it gets warm. You can use a cornflour paste on the outside to see specifically where the lines are - the paste will dry and set quickest where the lines are warmest. What this won't find is any electrical lines inside the foam. Most minifridges I've seen seem to have the coolant lines on the sides though.

Best bet is to a) check to see if the top gets warm, then if it doesn't b) drill through the top very slowly and carefully, removing just the metal skin first, followed by foam using a wire probe to check for wires, then carefully removing a little foam at a time. It sounds like you have done this already - assuming you were working from the outside inwards. If the cooling plate is a stand alone plate on the inside, then the inside top of the fridge will be clear of coolant lines. Looking at the link in your OP, this is almost certainly the case. No manufacturer is going to bother building a cheap minifridge with two sets of coolant lines on the inside...

Ok agreed.

 

[Dontdropthebeer]

I had to improvise a couple times because I really didnt know what the hell I was doing but I think it's gonna be ok!