rusty

#3dDesign #FreeCAD #3dPrint project

I need a minifridge. No, not a small fridge like you see in a hotel room. An honest to diety micro-fridg. that fits in a space 11.5" or 280 cm x 280 cm x 280 cm. And I'd like to do this without using Peltiers. Mostly because of their power requirements. That said, I don't know of any inexpensive minifridges (Say under $150 USD) in this size. I imagine that there are a lot of these in the lab equipment space, but those are probably outside of my price range.\

Nov 19 at 8:28amWeb
Show threadrusty3d ago
First 'Why?' I take a variety of medications daily, a couple of which really should be refrigerated. My personal pharmacy, i.e. where I keep my medications, happens to be my bedroom, except for the medications that need to be refrigerated. Those are _mostly_ stored in a drawer of the kitchen refrigerator. That means I'm mostly taking medications in 2 different locations in the house, and it's all too easy to 'forget' or get distracted at the one location.\
Show threadrusty3d ago

So, I'd like to change that to a single location.

Unfortunately I am not happy with the idea of using my old Dorm fridge. Yes I have one of those. 16" square front, and about 20" deep. It fits in the room, but it's not going to fit in the cubes unit I have at my bed.

On the other hand, I do have a 3d printer, and I'm working on my design skills. So, a mini-fridge that fits in one of the cube spaces in a cube shelf.\

Show threadrusty3d ago

Ok, initially it's not going to be a fridge. And I may go ahead and build it as a peltier based system, but I'd kind of like to not do that. So, let's start with what amounts to an ice box. In fact I'll use "Blue Ice' packs most of the time. At least initially.

For now I've designed up a 'box' 250x250x270. The depth, front to back can be changed.

For the moment, I have 4 walls, joints for them, a back with preparations for pass-throughs, a front door frame, and door with a doorknob. \

Show threadrusty3d ago
I haven't figured out hinges yet, I'll get there. likewise a latch, though that may simply be a set of magnetic closures. The seems for the walls include a 'joint' that connects two sides together, and I expect that will get a fill of silicone caulk. The front and back (so far) just slip on, again I expect to seal with silicone. The box is about 30mm smaller than the space both vertically and horizontally, but a decent fit depth wise.\
Show threadrusty3d ago
To put the cold pack in I expect to have a grid/frame to hold it near the top. That space will most likely get a radiator of some sort, and I'll use something like a set of tubes, copper or silicone to transfer the heat/cold between internal radiators, and external radiators, with a set of peltiers doing the chilling. Again, I'd really rather use a refrigerant compressor/evaporator/condensor system, but getting one of those to fit in a 30 mm x 280x280 space seems unlikely. On my budget. \
Show threadrusty3d ago
I do have the peltiers already, tubing, and a lot of the other components I need to manage the temperature, etc. Including those nice aluminum radiators sized to fit on the peltiers. I will need thermal blocks to do the temperature exchange, fans to help that along, and I think a small water pump to help the water move along. And I have the arduino a few temperature sensors, and mosfets to control the voltage to the peltiers. I even hae a bog standard power supply that should work. We'll see. \
Show threadrusty3d ago
But for now an ice-box. And we'll see how that works out.
Show threadSomē3d ago
@rusty a 280cmx280cmx280cm fridge sounds huge! Did you mean mm?