CO2 Bottle and Gage in Kegerator

I'm building a kegerator out of a small chest freezer and considering wheter or not to put the gas equipment inside the chest. I know it's done but seems like the moisture and temp would be hard on the gage. My pros and cons are, if on the inside it is a cleaner looking setup but the con is I'll have to open and close the lid a lot to make adjustment to pressure, select kegs, etc. Anyone care to share your thoughts? thanks

I have my bottle and guage inside. I put the valve manifold on the front door over the taps, so I know which valve is which ale. I rarely make adjustments, just a squirt of CO2 when a keg is running slowly.

Not sure where you live and the locale you'd keep the kegerator but I read "somewhere" that the CO2 tank shouldn't be in an excessively warm area (90+?). FWIW. With me, it's got to be in the fridge since I have my setup on my back screened in porch...

EDIT: Found a little article on temp of your tank. A bit winded and technical but the last three paragraphs talk of the DANGERS of having a tank exposed to excessive heat (88.8+). Basically has the potential to be a bomb in waiting and recommends keeping them below 80.

http://www.reefscapes.net/articles/breefcase/co2_tanks.html

Good article!

I had toyed with the idea of plumbing my CO2 bottle outside the kegerator, but figured temperature fluctuations werent good for the gas. At least inside the fridge the temps are constant 41 degrees (3-4 degree variation at the most) and it would be safer.

So, this guy is saying that no one in the USA south of the Canadian border should use CO2? It gets well over 100F just about everywhere in the country in the summer. When I get a bottle of CO2 it's normally at 800 psi. That's at 70F or so. The bottle is good for 2000 psi, not counting the safety margin. The critical temperature for carbon dioxide is 31.1°C (88F), and the critical pressure is 73 atm (1080 psi). Above that point CO2 is a gas and the temperature/pressure relationship is linear. 2000 psi would be about 500F.

By the way, while I was in the US Navy, I saw a safety film showing what a 100 lb bottle of CO2 could do if you knocked the valve off and didn't have the safety straps tight. Rather impressive.

I found where I read the temp thing; twas on my regulator docs. They stated the typical, out of the sun preferably 70f. They went bold with the NEVER above 130f. Think the key is to have quality and tested equipment and if you could fit it in the fridge, why not.

BTW I get my 5# tank filled at a local bottled water purification place. 100's of tanks laying all over the place outside both in & out of direct desert sun... $1 a pound though

Tank testing is one of the reasons I exchange rather than refill.