Richard-SSV

Recipes 

I'm in the process of building a kegerator for my home bar and am trying to decide if I should store my co2 cylinder in one of my bar cabinets and run gas lines to the kegerator or just store the cylinder inside the kegerator itself.

What is your preference and why?

naga77777

Recipes 

I Put it outside so the reg works quicker, i seem to remember reading something about the diaphragm(?) responds slower due to colder temps.

Also i have 20# tank and it wont fit in fridge along with kegs due to sloped bottom.


General consensus is that it doesn't matter.

__________________
Brewing Since July 2012 All-grain BIAB
Primary 1: Raging Irish Red
Primary 2: Lilsparky's Nut Brown Ale
Secondary 1: Skeeter Pee
Secondary 2: Air
Kegged: Two Hearted Clone, Graff, BM Centennial Blonde (again :) )

Misplaced_Canuck

Recipes 

My thinking is this: If you have the space inside the fridge, put it inside as it prevents you from having to drill the fridge. If not, carefully drill a pilot hole and check for clearance before you make the hole bigger.

MC

__________________

landshark

Recipes 

Benefits to both. Mine are inside currently.

However, if you locate it inside and regularly open and close your kegerator the sudden changes in temperature can cause the CO2 to condense in the regulator, causing the regulator to "gunk" up. this will eventually require your regulator to need to be rebuilt as it will not be able to change pressures as easily and will turn much harder.

__________________

funkadelicturkey

Recipes 

Outside, DANBY645BLS came with hole for the gas line and a mounted bracket to hold a 5Lb tank. It has wheels so I can roll it around.

I put a three way manifold inside. Not sure a tank would fit in there with 3 kegs.

nutty_gnome

Recipes 

I have my kegerator mounted on a wheeled board. The board extends behind the fridge to hold a 15 pound tank. I had no trouble drilling and grometting the gas lines. I do worry about the tank falling if I ever push the kegorator around. I need to build some sort of support, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I don't see a safe way to anchor a strap to the fridge. For me the biggest concern with keeping it outside the fridge is how to keep it from falling over and damaging something (e.g. the regulator).

__________________
N_G
It could be worse.

schokie

Recipes 

I've done both. My kegerator came with a 5lb tank and a convenient bracket on the inside to hold it, so I kept everything inside.

Then I moved and the only CO2 place near my new house requires you get one of their 15lb tanks and swap out the empties for the new full one. The bigger tanks don't fit in my kegerator, so I had to drill a hole and run the line from the outside in. It works perfectly fine that way, though I was a bit nervous of hitting a refrigerant line when drilling.

Either way works just fine. I'd say go whichever way is easiest for you.

beaksnbeer

Recipes 

Outside the gauges are prone to rusting, can adjust pressures/change tank without opening the lid, and if you drill a small ole through the lid no worries of hitting a coil. Oh and it takes up space inside.

__________________

Xtant

Recipes 

I've done both. My first keezer was 24 cu ft. Plenty of room. My second is 16 cu ft. I moved them outside to free up room.

My huge complaint about being inside was the inaccuracy of the bottle gauge. The child bottle showed pretty much the same pressure until it didn't. It would read full until it was empty. Then it was empty. I would be out of CO2 for a few days until I could get my bottle filed.

Now that it is outside, it accurately shows how full the bottle is. I also have a backup bottle, now, but that's beside the point.

__________________
"Make sure that the beer - four pints a week - goes to the troops under fire before any of the parties in the rear get a drop." -Winston Churchill to his Secretary of War, 1944

pabloj13

Recipes 

I'm not aware of a gas gauge that shows the level remaining in any liquid gas tank unless it is based on weight.

__________________

Kegged Two Hearted, Dragonmead Final Absolution
Bottled Robust porter, Founder's Breakfast Stout, Ommegawd Hellepin, Ed Wort's Apfelwein
RIP Snake Dog IPA, Biermuncher's OktoberFAST, Falconer's Flight IPA, Two-Hearted clone (Culturing Bell's Yeast), Noberon wheat, Skeeter Pee using dry yeast, Smooth Oatmeal Stout

Simple and easy wort aeration - Harvest yeast from your blowoff - Homebrew Spicy Mustard