Mini-Fridge in the shop

[aka Larry]

I have a mini-fridge (like the ones kids use in dorm rooms) the wife bought me for my b-day a few years back. I built a stand for it and placed inside the storage closet of my attached garage. In the summer it would never really keep anything cold, maybe "cool" at the best. I attributed it to being in that hot-*** room and maybe it was designed to be more "indoors"? Is it too close to the wall maybe?

Here's a pic:

Since it never really worked for it's intended purpose I just unplugged it and it's been sitting idle for a couple of years. I'd like to move it to my new detached shop, but I wonder if it will suffer the same fate since that structure only has roof insulation and gets pretty hot in the summer months.

Thoughts?

 

[fitz11]

Maybe take it inside and make sure it's actually working properly. I have one in my uninsulated and unconditioned garage and have never had a problem.

 

[JakeKohl]

You checked the thermostat setting on the inside - yeah?

 

[finn]

Don't know about your issue, but I accidentally bought one that says to not use at temperatures below 50 degrees. Not so useful for six months of the year

 

[01ss]

Mine stays outside year round, on, and full of beer. Never an issue. In the cooler months I would guess it can hold a low 30 degree internal temp, in the hot humid summer, likely low 40s. So outside temps does effect it.

 

[Chad Garrett]

I have the same one i had in college (over 20 years old) and it still keeps beer ice cold in 108 degree TX weather.

 

[kblazer87]

I would have it checked out. I have one that is over 25 years old and will freeze items sometimes, even in the hot summer months.

 

[HOTFR8]

I have one like that as well. We call them Bar Fridges. How often do you defrost it ?
I find a monthly defrost helps it. Takes about half a day to defrost in the warmer weather.
Mine was located in a hot place against a metal wall and I never had any issues.

 

[EOC_Jason]

I would check it out inside first, but yeah usually you need to give it some room on the back where the coils are so air can circulate naturally.

I've had a couple run outside here in the Texas heat and they always kept things nice and chilled.

 

[AndrewDouglasBird]

Let the freezer ice over. Helps a TON.

If it has ever been tipped on its side, good luck getting it to be cold again. I had one that would almost freeze a can of soda. After leaning it over to fix a loose door hinge, it would never get anywhere near that cold again.

 

[Highbeam]

I have one for beer kegs. Small 5 gallon kegs. I thought it didn't work very well until I figured out the the thermostat works backwards from what I expected. I had it set full cold and when I swung the dial the other way the dang thing works much better.

Worth checking anyway.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

I see those used in motel rooms and they never seem to be anything other than slightly cool.

Charles

 

[captain14]

Whenever you place a refrigerator or freezer on its side you got to let it sit upright for a day unplugged or running to let the freon settle in the bottom again. A guy I worked for years ago too me that. He had several rentals and had to deliver replacements in his trailer. He never had ine go bad using his method .

Makes sense to me.

Maybe a tech can verify that or say that's not true.

 

[wrench409]

Got that same mini in my garage. Tilted it over to swap the door swing direction and flipped around to add adjustable rubber feet to the bottom.

Never had an issue with it ever.

 

[er3456df]

Those "super minis" typically don't have a refrigeration system- they just use thermoelectric coolers. Those vents on the side suggest that yours is like that. TEC systems are not as powerful, I get lots of complaints on them that turn out to be "operating within mfg specs".

Does yours have a compressor?

 

[kenfath]

Treat yourself to a new mini refrigerator. They are in the $80-100 range. Money well spent. My experience is the small ones can't be economically repaired.

Simple way to defrost is to place a 2-liter bottle of hot water in the freezer compartment and a pan underneath. I used one of the disposable all-purpose disposable basins hospitals provide patients. Worked well, (almost)) no mess and done in under an hour.

 

[MEAKN]

I'm not an expert & agree with your original thought. It seems to me if you are operating it in a closet small enough to retain ambient heat & not much circulation, it could cut down on efficiency enough to not cool like you expect it to.

 

[Tdbo]

I have three of them:

1. A Sanyo from 1985. Will Freeze pop and water if set low enough.
2. A GE labeled one that is 5 years old. Will also freeze beverages.
3. A Danby that is 4 years old. Will also freeze beverages.

The key to it is to find one with a compressor. The thermoelectric jobs will barely chill the contents.

 

[41ratrod]

I got one under the work bench that haven't been plugged in over 10 years .
got some welding rods in it and a news paper for massing off windows before painting. Maybe I'll need to start drinking beer again. NOT. Beer made me do
stupid things and a wast of money. that's more money for shop stuff.
And I don't smoke . But I do pick my nose.

 

[millermartin]

Reviews about the Mini Fridges shows a positive trend. Their must be some problem with your mini fridge. Buying a new one is the better choice.

 

[Sneeze357]

You did make sure the coils are clean right? Fridges are more efficient if you fill any empty spaces with a jug of water.

 

[JimVonBaden]

I had a mini-fridge like that for a couple years. It worked great year round.

I recently replaced it with a new 10 cubic foot refrigerator freezer made for an apartment I god on sale for $200 at Best Buy.

Keeps things perfect, and gives some overflow room from the hour fridge.

 

[chipper]

Mine must be good if I turn it all the way up it will freeze anything you put in it.

 

[J Persons]

Whenever you place a refrigerator or freezer on its side you got to let it sit upright for a day unplugged or running to let the freon settle in the bottom again. A guy I worked for years ago too me that. He had several rentals and had to deliver replacements in his trailer. He never had ine go bad using his method .

Makes sense to me.

Maybe a tech can verify that or say that's not true.

It's not the Freon that needs to settle to the bottom, but the compressor oil. Most all refrigeration units need to sit unused and not plugged in for at least 24 hours, if they are turned on their side. This allows the oil to return to the compressor.

 

[DRP6833]

Back to the OP's question, if you have this in a hot environment it's not going to get cold. These things pump heat from a cool environment to a warm environment, and can only provide so much of a temperature drop. Say the maximum drop is 50 degrees. In a home environment (75) it will easily chill to 40. Put it in a garage that gets to 120 and you'll only be able to get to 70. This is why home heat pumps need an additional heat source when they're installed in cold climates, they can only provide so much of a temperature rise.

 

[dankicksass]

I keep a little can vendor in the garage. Found it at a yard sale $10. Does the job, keeps cans and sandwiches chilled.

 

[Rhinorancher]

I've had the fridge in the lower right corner under the counter for 10 years only 3 in the garage though no problems. I keep it full of beer an water, or at least as full as I can lol

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[nicksnothereman]

I have a mini-fridge (like the ones kids use in dorm rooms) the wife bought me for my b-day a few years back. I built a stand for it and placed inside the storage closet of my attached garage. In the summer it would never really keep anything cold, maybe "cool" at the best. I attributed it to being in that hot-*** room and maybe it was designed to be more "indoors"? Is it too close to the wall maybe?

Here's a pic:

Since it never really worked for it's intended purpose I just unplugged it and it's been sitting idle for a couple of years. I'd like to move it to my new detached shop, but I wonder if it will suffer the same fate since that structure only has roof insulation and gets pretty hot in the summer months.

Thoughts?

Bad compressor probably. I'm not an hvac guy though. They make a lot of these things on the cheap and they're not really supposed to last that long.

Growing up we had one of these in the basement (this type) and it never worked right so it ended up unplugged. It was right up against the wall on the floor in a built in location.

I wanted to get one of those wine coolers for beer but can't justify the cost, that might be a better option for you. Those seem pretty well built in my opinion.

 

[Mike Miller]

Does it even have a compressor or is it one like in a RV. The ones from RV's use ammonia and it is heated by either an electric element or a LP gas flame. The ammonia in these tends to cristalise at the top of the coils after a while and reduce their efficiency. The fix for this is to disconnect them and turn them upside down and let them sit a few days, tapping on the coils with a soft mallet will help with the more stubborn ones. I have the reefer and freezer from my old moter home in my office plugged in and it keeps every thing as cold as I want it on a medium setting, it is probably 40 years old and when it starts to act up or when I need to defrost it I just tip it over and let it sit, then good as new.

 

[mooseracing]

If it is one of the newer styles with the peltier like cooling setups they can't cool as well as a regular compressor setups. I can't think of the correct naming right now but they are common on minis and wine coolers.

 

[J Persons]

If it is one of the newer styles with the peltier like cooling setups they can't cool as well as a regular compressor setups. I can't think of the correct naming right now but they are common on minis and wine coolers.

Pelter chip modules are usually 12 to 15 volt DC, and are found in portable coolers and ice chests. I had a 12V model I used when I was a trucker. The cooler would last about a year or so before the fan would go out and it would stop cooling. I would give them to a friend who would remove the chips from the cooler and make CPU cooling modules for computers. A Pelter chip cooler will either cool or heat, depending on the flow of current.

 

[venturesomerite]

i have two of those in my shop, one for food, one for drinks. (didn't plan it that way, just the way it happened).

A few things you can do/check

-Pull it away from the wall for better circulation.
-pop the back cover off and blow out the coils and stuff. Lots of dust can accumulate there.
-Check the door seal, make sure it ACTUALLY closes and seals to the body
- check the thermostat setting on it, usually in the back, some stupid little know looking thing.

 

[dipper]

that NU COOL fridge does not have a compressor. It is the TEC (thermo-electric). Remove the back covers and vacuum it clean, as dirt and dust will effect it's efficiency. You will find that they don't do a very good job at keeping things cold. If you want your beer cold then you should look into getting a fridge with a compressor.

 

[NUTTSGT]

The mini-fridge is one of the best investments in my garage. After this thread, I believe I oughta move it out tomorrow and shop vac the back of it off.

 

[Falcon67]

Mine is like the OPs - been going now for two years. It never gets below 50 in the shop and over about 95. I had a bitty one in the old shop, it didn't last very long as I recall. Some of it's luck. What I REALLY want...

 

[junkman104]

Mounted mine on a Harbor Freight movers dolly, Makes it easy to sweep and defrost.

 

[Gaessairka]

I apologize for bump an old topic...
I have two old R12 fridges in an unheated garage and there is a noticeable difference in their operation, summer and winter. But it’s nothing I’m concerned about because they are full of beer; but the temperature fluctuations I can tolerate for a bottle of beer may not be suitable for food.
So, you pays your money and you takes your choice.
There’s nothing to stop you putting your fridge in an igloo, if you want to, but it may not work as well as it would in a nice heated kitchen where it was intended to go..
But here are two plausible reasons why a minimum temperature limit is suggested by manufacturers and may affect the operation.
The first will be familiar to split air conditioning engineers as over condensing.
If the condenser is too cold there is a possibility of the refrigerant gaining too much sub-cooling, reduced condenser pressure and reduced flow through the capillary tubes feeding the evaporator. In other words, there will be a reduction in the machine’s capability to do its work. This may result in damage, long term.
Hydrocarbons (R-600 and the like) obey the same laws of thermodynamics as everything else. Their transport properties are selected to be close to the conventional CFC and HFC refrigerants https://bestoutdooritems.com/best-outdoor-refrigerator/ I like to watch YouTube videos of a similar theme when I'm looking for information about the right product. I hope this helps someone in the future. Good luck!

 

[Pathfinders]

The compressor stopped working on mine also. $10.00 and 10 minutes it was working again. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DZUAPQG/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[n20junkie]

They can leak refrigerant. They make line pearcing fill valves to top them off. Saved my kegerator that way.

 

[lakelandcat]

My mini ices up the only problem is thats where my t-stat is which in turn tells the frig. its colder than it really is, still keep the beer cold. Something else is to make sure the seal on the door is clean and making good contact. Last option is to drink beer before it gets warm.