Hello esteemed refrigeration engineers,

I have an interesting MacGyver-style problem
relating to refrigeration and air condtioning,
and would like to dip into this incredible pool
of theoretical and practical knowledge to
see if it can...somehow...be made to work.

BUT WAIT...READ ON BEFORE YOU RESPOND...

In order to avoid triggering certain
understandable and very reasonable instincts
that you have, I need to set the scene first...

Imagine for a moment that you are suddenly
transported from your modern, highly professional
world of precise measurements, refined,
specifically optimized-for-purpose design,
unbelievably thorough and conservative safety
analysis, and high expectations for performance
and efficiency, into a third world backwater where
even the most basic resources such as refrigerators,
aircon units, refrigerant, and spare parts are scarce
luxuries.

Picture yourself in a world where a 7000 BTU
window aircon unit costs 6 months of a family's
wages and is therefore unthinkable for them.

In this world, everywhere you look, the locals
have devised fiendishly clever means of keeping
their old equipment working, and adapting old
equipment to effectively do things no engineer ever
imagined it to do. In this world, there are NO
inspectors, NO liability lawsuits, and
absolutely NO expectation that any technology
will work for any significant length of time; instead,
there is enormous gratitude any time any technology
can be adapted to help people for any period
of time.

I live in a place like this in a backwater of
rural Northern Thailand.

My observation here is that aircon units in
the 7000 BTU range which eat 600W of power
cost upwards of $500, while used (but working)
small 80-200 W fridges regularly cost $25.
I have not seen any cheaper aircon solutions.
I have not seen any evaporative/swamp
coolers at all (presumably because they don't
work at all in the humid climate).

Many locals seek a way to cool one small room.

My question is:

If you only had access to small fridges and wanted
to cool your room, how would you go about it?

How can one rip apart a fridge and MacGyver it up,
perhaps with an electric fan, into a device to cool
the air? Is there a better way to do this?

What are the theoretical issues of this? Is there
anything fundementally different about a fridge's
compressor/refrigerant/condenser specs compared
with those of an air conditioning unit, other than
simply the BTUs, that would prevent this from
working? If a small fridge's compressor were
running all day instead of intermittently,
would it burn out?

What about mechanical and practical issues?
I am assuming (correct me if I'm wrong) that
the condenser coil would have to end up outside
the room, while the evaporator coil (or freezer
tray!) would have to be inside the room with
warm air blowing through it. After disassembling
the fridge, can its coils and tubes be "bent" into
some appropriate shape without causing those
coils to break or lose their proper charge? Or, is
there a way to do it on a typical small fridge without
bending the copper tubing?

There are some local repair shops here which can
work on fridges, but "local" means a 4 hour bus ride
away, and "repair" is primitive at best. If AT ALL
possible,we are looking for a procedure that a non-
fridgie can do. If it takes a LOT of labor, that is
NO problem--labor is almost free. If it takes a lot
of troubleshooting and trial and error, no problem.
If it takes any specialized expensive equipment, it is
instantly out of range.

All the fridges I have seen use R12 and are of the
"hermetic (the motor & mechanical parts are sealed
within the case)" type, not belt-drive. I can provide
a typical photo of the compressor setup if it will help,
and I will be happy to research any other data points
you need. I am not a fridgie so please explain any
stats that you need.

Remember--LOW expectations. Anything you can
provide, any little improvement, will be met with
nothing but appreciation, for the alternative is
nothing at all.

Let me give you some perspective: when you
have a flat tire here, you pull over to the local
"ba yang," where some old guy fires up a tiny
concrete cooking barbeque (the same one he
uses to make super-tasty barbequed pork
satay), heats up a chunk of rubber from someone
else's old tire in a homemade iron press tool
resembling a nutcracker, clamps and melts the
"patch" into your tube with satisfying hiss,
you pay up to 10 baht (25 cents US), and you're
off for another few weeks/days before it happens
again. Some people patch their tubes 10-20 times
before they feel it's necessary (or can afford)
to replace them. They are grateful that
"ba yang" are so ubiquitous and helpful.

Looking forward to some great ideas, or at least
some clear explanations of the limits of the idea!

Thanks!