What's new
  • Happy Birthday ICMag! Been 20 years since Gypsy Nirvana created the forum! We are celebrating with a 4/20 Giveaway and by launching a new Patreon tier called "420club". You can read more here.
  • Important notice: ICMag's T.O.U. has been updated. Please review it here. For your convenience, it is also available in the main forum menu, under 'Quick Links"!

Fridgidaire mini fridge demo and construction

B

Black Sheep

Member
Hi all. I was in Lowes checking out some things for a NGB style cab, that i was getting ready to start building, and seen this min fridge/freezer combo by fridgidaire.


As soon as i seen it i knew i had to get it. The fridge will be used for flowering and iv decided to use the freezer for a mother/clone room instead of a utilities room. I think that i will use the doors for the utilities in each seperate cab or i may buy a micro wave to set on top. Theres still alot of work to do before i get to that, so any advice or opinions feel free and let me know.

Heres some shots of the demo that i started lastnite.

freezer before freezer after
heres some of the top and back
its alot of work but the space gained will b worth the effort. I will remove all of the exspanding foam and then all of the inards. Then i will use 1/2" mdf board for top, back, and sides so that i can set up the inside the way i like.

Im still trying to figure the best ventilation/ exhaust for this build. I cant decide if i should have an intake for each room and exhaust out one, or if each should have its own intake and exhaust. I do know that i will be useing darkroom vents for the intakes and at least two 115v 41cfm axial fans for exhaust with homemade scrubbers.

Lighting will be a 200w cfl in the flowering room and a 12" round flouro in the mother clone room.

Well there it is. The construction will be slow due to lack of free time but i will be posting pics of the progress. I want to do a profesional looking build and would like to use all the proper materials. I am new to growing and this kind of building so any advice and opinions are very welcome.
 
P

phr3d0m2gr0

I'll try to stop in as often as possible to see how your doing. I wanna see this build come out clean!

First question: You removed the top and back panel to remove the foam, correct? Are you going to replace these same panels? It would probably be best for stealth if you can replace the stock panels, rather than putting in MDF or other boarding that won't match.

-Phr3
 
B

BrickHaus

New member
Depending on your noise requirements, it may be more beneficial to leave the foam, I'm sure it is a great sound insulator, just my 2 pennies.
 
B

Black Sheep

Member
phr3d0m: yes i removed them to get to the foam. the back panel was just cheap corregated plastic and wont be seen anyways. the top however will be put back into place so that it retains the factory look. on the back of the mdf board i may put a layer of fiberglass resin and sand it smooth then paint it black to match the cab. thanx for catching that i hadnt thought of it.


BrickHaus: yes i definitely agree that the foam would serve as a great sound insulator but the foam takes up quiet a bit of area. luckily my noise requirements arent that big of an issue so i think that its well worth the trade off. thanx for raiseing the qustion tho. and welcome to icmag.

anyone have any heating and refridgeration experience? im just about to the point of removeing freon lines and what im guesing is the condensor. it seems to be a closed loop system. i cant find any places to drain the freon and i have NO experience with this so im a lil worried about just cutting into the line.
 
DiscoBiscuit

DiscoBiscuit

weed fiend
Veteran
The thing I'd do is take out those inside door shelves. That'll get you more growing space. You can use MDF panels to finish the job. Since the MDF won't be structural, I'd use 1/4" instead of 1/2". Squeeze out every sqaure inch of grow space you can.

Getting rid of the foam was a good idea. It's there to keep cold air inside and would work in the same way with a hot bulb, containing some of the heat you want to expel. Not sure if you're system is closed. Have you checked out the compressor? That would be the place to look, IMO. It's probably a 2 way valve on the housing. They have to have a valve to fill the tank after it's manufactured.

I've thought about this for a long time so I'm gonna ask. Have you considered leaving the refrigerator system intact and running? (not the freezer) With the heat of the bulb and the fridge on the warmest setting, the thermostat might maintain a decent temp for growing. Obviously the freezer wouldn't work for this scenario but maybe you could run the fridge only? The 12" cfl won't generate any heat anyway.

For airflow, I'd consider two exhausts. Pulling flower air into the veg area might be too hot for young plants. Pulling veg air into the flower area would be the way to go if you want only one exhaust. The problem with this is heat likes to rise. If your intake is higher than the exhaust, your intake might suck in already heated air. Hope this helps.
 
B

Black Sheep

Member
yup its going to be killer when im done. i seen it and had to get it. it should be cheaper than a NGB build hopefully. i tend to go overboard at times.
 
B

Black Sheep

Member
yes i was definitely going to take out the door shelves but i had thought of useing that space for the utilities. il hafta see just how much extra room that creates to see if that will even work. about the 1/4" mdf the Lowes i shop at has 1/2 and 3/4 where would i be able to find the 1/4"? that would definitely be the route to go it would create more space and make it a lil bit lighter.

as far as leaveing the refridgeration i tact its kinda too late for that iv already cut all the wireing. but good idea i hadnt thought of that.

hmm. good point on the ventilation il have to some thinking about that. thanx for the input it definitely helped. like i said earlier im 100% amatuer so keep all the questons and info comeing. i like obstacles and challenges.
 
P

phr3d0m2gr0

I thought of something else. Are you going to try to contain all vents and wiring to the back panel of the fridge so it can't be seen by anyone? I think this might be best, try to leave the front, sides, and top all uncut to keep it looking as factory as possible. Could you give the overall dimensions of the unit, plus the interior dimensions of the both the fridge and freezer?

Thanks,

Phr3
 
DiscoBiscuit

DiscoBiscuit

weed fiend
Veteran
Come to think of it, 1/4" MDF may be hard or impossible to find. 1/4" Masonite would work, you can get it thinner if you want.

As for the utilities inside the door, you won't gain from remote systems. Like phr3d0m said, the back panel would be cherry as long as it's not too bulky. You'll want to be able to push it against the wall to get all that shit out of plain view.
 
B

Black Sheep

Member
awsome thanx for all this feedback iv already changed my mind a couple times now. the back panel is where i plan on putting the darkroom vent. i had planned on maybe useing the door panels for the utilities but after your and discos post im rethinking that. i may use two panels on the back and leave a small space between the two to run wireing. and since the doors are out for the utilities i think i may put a microwave on the top of the fridge. whats your opinions on the microwave? i plan on keeping it black also. i was looking at one today at Target and its the same width.

the outside dimensions are: 19 1/8" wide x 21" deep x 49" tall
inside freezer dimensions are: 13 1/2" wide x 12" deep x 13" tall
inside fridge dimmensions are: 15 1/2"wide x 17" deep x 27" tall

my goals for the inside dimensions after i totally gut it are:
freezer: 18" wide x 18 1/2" deep x 16" tall
fridge: 18" wide x 18 1/2" deep x 29" tall
 
P

phr3d0m2gr0

What utilities are you needing to place? You'll be running CFL's so you have no ballast. If your running axial fans then you won't need to place anything for those. So what do you have?
 
B

Black Sheep

Member
lol i hadnt actual thought of that. your rite. oh ya i do have a 50 cfm panisonic whisper fan that i cud use. i could use the microwave idea i would have to cut a hole n the top of the freezer and bottom of the microwave and have plenty of surface area for the scrubber. in your opinion which fan set up would be the better? honestly iv beeen flipping back and fourth on the idea since i first seen the fridge.
 
G

grasspass

How much more money did it cost compared to a cabinet? I wonder if anyone is using a refrigerator with coolant intact, set on low to help keep temps down.
 
DiscoBiscuit

DiscoBiscuit

weed fiend
Veteran
Those whisper fans are the shiz. The only thing about it in your setup is the fan/scrubber size and relative complexity of your microwave application. Cutting the sheet metal skin is harder than it looks. If you're a metal worker, please excuse my caution.

Axial fans are good for cooling but some don't have the lungs to suck a scrubber. Also, some micro scrubbers don't have enough carbon to snuff a real stinker.

Freezerboy is one of the resident refrigerator gurus. He has tested several different fan types and knows a lot about air flow efficiency and noise. He may visit your thread and lend his expertise. When you get 50 posts (I think it's 50) you can shoot him a pm and ask a question. Hope this helps.
 
B

Black Sheep

Member
grasspass: i caught the minifrdige on sale and it was juszt under 240 with tax. the whisper fan was right at $100 with tax and s&h. the alternate fans that im looking at are the dayton 115v 41 cfm theyre 3 1/8" instead of the 4 3/4" which, if i use them, will help save on space. even if the cost is more ,imo, its better to have a minifridge sitting around instead of a medium sized box made of MDF.

DiscoBiscut: lol no problem always side with caution. iv worked alot with cutting metal so that part wont be too bad.

il hope Freezerboy stops in and takes a peek i would like his opinion on the two ventilation set ups. he made it easy for me to chose DWC style of growing, which thats what i plan on doing with this minifridge. not exactly sure how il be growing the mom yet since the space will be a lil tight.
 
ZEROorDIE

ZEROorDIE

Member
Black Sheep said:
il hope Freezerboy stops in and takes a peek i would like his opinion on the two ventilation set ups. he made it easy for me to chose DWC style of growing, which thats what i plan on doing with this minifridge. not exactly sure how il be growing the mom yet since the space will be a lil tight.
Click to expand...

have you considered a drip system in coco or hydroton for the mom. this would allowyou to use a shallower resivour for the root but could be as wide as you can fit.

then you could just lst her to keep her low and branchy
 
B

Black Sheep

Member
no i havent thought of that. iv only got one grow under my belt and it was in miracle grow a few years ago. il definitely do some research on drip sysytems. thanx for the input ZEROorDIE.
 
B

Black Sheep

Member
well i checked out the drip system route. im not too sure about that set up. the problem that i see is needing a res and where would i put it? would it b possible to use the DWC res and pump the nutes up? and would i need to instal a drain that allows the run off to drain back into the DWC res? im definitely need to do alot more research. any ideas or opinions out there?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Latest posts

Top