First kegerator!

[nhenson22]

I've been posting various questions about co2 regulators which you guys have been kind enough to answer.

Now I'm ready to start turning this fridge into a kegerator. It is a Hotpoint RLAV21, can't find any info online about where coolant lines lie but, I put it on its side to have a look at the hump above the compressor. There is a pre made hole in outer case going through to the insulation. See pic. Do you think this is a great place for the gas line or could there still be something between insulation and inner plastic? Seems unlikely?

 

[HoppyTommy]

I've avoided the back of my fridge altogether with a drill as I was advised that was where all the action is coolant wise. I've drilled the side now in total 7 times for various setups and not come across a coolant line yet.

I drill a small pilot hole from the inside (as it's much softer than the metal shell) then have poke round through the insulation with something blunt like an allen key then continue to drill through if I can't feel anything hard.

Good luck

 

[nhenson22]

Well, I gently used a skewer to see if anything was in that hole, only found insulation, however the hole just leads to the insulation that is behind the internal back wall of fridge!

Went with the very slow drill from inside just on top of the hump until I met insulation, then used the skewer again to slowly push through insulation until I met outer casing. Drilled through, no lines hit!

 

[-Bezza-]

I think with fridges the coolant pipes mostly run up the back and the rest is just an insulated plastic box, maybe with a small wire running in it for the light and the light switch. Very different with freezers mind. Just follow the pipes in and out of the compressor and see if there's anything that disappears into the fridge itself.

You'll tend to find that there is a drainage hole at the back of the fridge which allows excess moisture to drain through and drop onto the top of the compressor. The compressor is hot so the water evaporates quickly. Making that a bit wider and running cables and tubes through is fairly standard practice.