Taking a fridge apart?

[X-tremist]

Hey guys,
I want to build a chiller, to achieve around -10 to -20 degrees (coolant temperature). Now assume that I was able to find me a fridge that would be possible of doing this, my problem is what do I do next? Take the fridge apart and submerge the evap in the liquid right? Well how do you take the fridge apart, just hack into it? All I need advice on is taking the fridge apart, because I'm totally lost!!!:confused:

[NipSo]

well I've just started working on mine too and yes, you just need to hack into it :hehe:

I used a knife, a crowbar, a hammer, ....
anything that's used to destruct things will do ...

remember keep the unit & the tubes intact

[Reflex1]

i hacked into mine and got all the parts out yesterday.

But not making it leak is pretty hard so be careful ...

[X-tremist]

what exactly would happen if it leaked? I read somewhere, frost bite.

Now a question, the compressor is all the way down the bottom and the evaporator is on the top on most fridges. What connects these to together, some copper tubbing? How would I go abouts shortening this tubbing?

Sorry about all the questions. :(

[Pandrone]

If you get a leak in the tubes or something similar.. It will hiss and nothing dangerous will happen. You just have to charge the unit again, and maybe change the oil.

[kayl]

depending on the fridge
some you can undo the top and slide the roof out
use an axe and cut a hole from the bottom of the fridge to the top following the line coming from the compressor to get the evap at the top of the fridge being carefully not to pierce the pipes or wires. with the evap roll it into a tight coil and submerge this in a res.
with the wires i found where they go into the fridge cut them and pull things out this way then solder them back together, following the wires can be a real pain in the but of you don’t cut them.
there should be two wires that go to the thermostat, just join these together, this will make removal easier, and it will cause the compressor to run constantly which is what we want. normally need a really large fridge, a fridge/freezer , chest freezer would be ideal though.
a fridge has a long pull down thought because of the large res required to put the evap in, stick a large object in there also to reduce the amount of liquid required to submerge the evap


good luck

[NipSo]

this might not be the right place to ask,
but what digital thermometer are you guys using?
brand & modelnumber and if possible price too :confused:

[Tonic]

Originally posted by X-tremist
what exactly would happen if it leaked? I read somewhere, frost bite.

It would cause head's pains, hallucination if you will breathe this..
in other words, be beware and if it will leak, push away and wait
until gas will flow to outside

[X-tremist]

thanks for the help everyone. kayl so the tubbing that goes from the compressor to the evap or whatever, you want me to wrap it around the evap?

[kayl]

x-tremist no that pipe is fine, you actually dont have to bend anything,
the pipe going to the evap just leave that be i was just suggesting that you roll the evap up to make it smaller in size, so it can fit in a smaller res

have you pulled it apart yet, got any pics

[X-tremist]

Ok, this is what I'm planning to do. Hack into the fridge somehow, get all the components, and just submerge the evap into the liquid. Anything wrong with that?

[kayl]

no have you got any pics of the fridge maybe back shot, a pic of the evaporator inside the fridge, some are just too hard to take out require a lot of work, others are a piece of cake

[WesM63]

Sorry to hijack your post, but same topic.

I have a mini fridge that will need a recharge, now I can see all of the stuff (compressor ect) on the back of it. Is this all i'm going to need? Is there more somewhere that i'm not seeing?

Depending on the compressor, can I expect sub-zero cooling?

[kayl]

you also need the evaporator this is inside the fridge,
a mini fridge will only be able to handle a very very small load
and not very good temps,
chest freeser or AC would be perfered