DIY Mini Fridge

by tq4real in Circuits > Gadgets

5769 Views, 60 Favorites, 0 Comments

DIY Mini Fridge

PicsArt_08-24-10.12.00.jpg

Intro!!

Refrigerators have become an inevitable part of our daily life. They revolutionized the food industry like no other machines. We can't even imagine a life without fridges. Even though they might look like complex machines, your own can make your mini-fridge for less than 30$

Tools & Materials

IMG-20210807-WA0013.jpg

Even though building a fridge might sound complicated you don't actually need any complex parts to build it the necessary tools and materials are listed below

  • multi wood(5mm)
  • peltier module(TEC-12710)
  • box cutter
  • glue gun
  • super glue
  • big heat sink and a big fan
  • small heat sink and a small fan
  • thermal paste
  • plexiglass
  • small hinges
  • 12V 15A power supply(i used computer power supply)
  • 6 cm long M3 bolt

The Template

PicsArt_07-31-04.31.56.jpg

Print the template and copy it into the multi wood and cut them out After cutting make sure you have all the parts as shown in the image The hole on the back piece needs to be made according to the size of the small heatsink you are using

Electronics

IMG-20210807-WA0008.jpg
PicsArt_08-17-09.01.07.jpg
PicsArt_08-18-11.41.31.jpg
Untitled.jpg

as I mentioned before the electronics are not at all complicated, just follow the steps given below

  • take the 2 heatsinks and the Peltier module place one heatsink on each side of the back piece the small heatsink can be inserted into the hole and the big heatsink can be fixed using the screws don't forget to place the Peltier module in between them such that the hot side faces the big heat sink and the cold side faces the cold side also add some thermal paste(image 2)
  • Screw the big fan on the big heat sink and the small fan on the small heat sink(image3), the fans should be placed on the heatsinks such that it blows air into it and not out of it
  • all the components need to be wired in parallel that is the positive wire of the 2 fans and the Peltier module is connected to the positive terminal of the power supply and the negative terminal of the three components is connected to the negative terminal of the power supply9image 4)

Gluing

PicsArt_07-31-04.29.48.jpg
PicsArt_08-18-11.52.35.jpg
PicsArt_08-24-09.55.30.jpg
PicsArt_08-24-09.52.17.jpg
  • take the 4 pieces shown in image 1 and glue them together using some glue and common sense so that you get a rectangular frame as shown in(image 1)
  • now take the back piece in which we have connected the electronics(previous step) and glue it to the rectangular frame such that the smaller heatsink is inside the box and the bigger heatsink is outside the box(image 2)
  • take the door piece and insert the plexiglass in it, apply hot glue on the edges to fill gaps
  • attach the door piece on the box with hinges and super glue(image3)

LOCK MECHANISM

  • for the lock mechanism, I used 2 tiny magnets that I salvaged from an old DVD glue one of them on the door and the other on the edge of the box using super glue don't forget to check the poles of the magnet before gluing(image 4)


Aesthitics

PicsArt_08-24-10.17.31.jpg

to make it look more like a fridge I added used some paint and added some detail, well this step is optional and you can customize it any way you want

That's All Folks

summer-blue-sky-cold-drinks-165280519 (1).jpg

Now that you have your own mini-fridge in your bedroom you can start chilling your stuff and you don't have to worry about sneaking into the kitchen at night since you have your own fridge in your room. even though the fridge cant make ice the temperature can get as low as 17 to 20 degrees

Plus drop your suggestion in the comments and if you like this project show your appreciation by adding this to your favourited