Cooling Unit Swap for Ideal 55?

[n747d]

I have a nice 55 box but I don't like original convection reefer setup.  Has anyone successfully retro-fitted another cooling unit?  The reefer from a Vendo 56 has been mentioned.  Thanks

[loman4ec]

I bet that would be really hard and would have to be done by a skilled professional like Eric at global compressors. The lines would all have to be redone but the amount of line used is critical so it would take someone who knows what they are doing to get it right. The easiest idea may be the cooling setup from a cornelius compact 50. Buy a donor machine and cut a round hole in the bottom of the liner and put the evaporator through it and seal it up with expansion foam or something like that. That would probably work since the sizes of the machines are about the same so it wouldn't be overworked. Also compact 50's are plentiful and cheap. I have bought several good ones for less than $25 in the past. I am anxious to see what others opinions are on this.

Why do you not like the current setup. If your getting ice on the walls then you just need a new gasket.

[Pat Pixley]

Yep !   I did it on my 7Up slider I used a vendo 63  or 90  had to do some work on it to get it to fit I think I have a few more pictures at home .

[n747d]

Thanks Pat, any pics would be appreciated at this point.  I want a reliable, temp controllable (is that a word?), easy to work on reefer unit for my 55.  I just don't think the original configuration provides that.  Am I wrong?

[Pat Pixley]

Here is a few more pictures that may help.
Now this is before I knew better and there would have been a few thing I would have done different
I shot the line right up through the bottom and had to put a lot of silcone  around the plumbing and wiring hole
What I should have done is had the line run up along the inside between the tank and the body
and then through the side.  One other thing that I did was I cut the sheet metal away on the devider
pan where the cold air would blow up then  I cut out some holes at the other end for alttle better air flow.

 The machine worked great .