My kgerator build.

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Schnitzengiggle

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I know a couple of similar projects have been posted, but I am extremely proud of my DIY kegerator, so here is my experience with this build:

I purchased all of my kegging equipment from Kegconnection, they have great prices, and excellent customer service. I was helped by a gentleman named Todd ,who I understand is the owner. Despite having received regulator guages that were damaged during shipping, Todd promptly replaced them without any questions asked. I even asked if he'd like me to return the damaged pair, and he said to just keep them. Sweet, no additional shipping costs to me!

Other hardware for the build was purchased at Lowe's, Ace Hardware and the 1-1/16" Craftsman combination wrench shown in the photo (I'll get to that later) was purchased at Sears, of course.

1 can of Great Stuff window and door spray foam (Lowe's)
1 tube of PL Polyurethane adhesive (Lowe's)
24" length of 1/2" copper pipe (Lowe's)
1-1/16" Combination wrench (Sears)
6 Stainless steel hose clamps (Ace Hardware)

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I started my kegerator build this past Friday, and had a couple of hours each day to work on it through the weekend. I started with this mini-fridge. Frigidaire model #FRC445GM.

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The first order of business was to remove the top, although it wasn't extremely difficult it was somewhat of a pain in the ass. I would suggest working from one of the rear corners to start. The top is attached with foam insulation, and some adhesive tape around the top's edge. This is what it looks like with the top off.

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While removing the top, I managed to crack it right next to the door hinge. I used a small amount of epoxy on the inside of the crack to reinforce the damaged point while hiding it a the same time. It is purely cosmetic, and will not be noticed unless pointed out. So be careful!

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The second order of business was to cut out the foam insulation and reveal the cooling lines.

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I used a sharp kitchen utility knife to make the initial cuts into the foam, and dug it out with a putty knife. A metal spatula, or scraper would work well for this also. It is imperative that care is taken not to puncture the coolant lines, or you will have a very expensive paper weight on your hands!

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The cooling lines run about 1.5-2" apart. As you can see some of the cooling lines run right next to each other.

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There is a plastic film between the cooling lines and the foam, the darker gray areas in this photo is where the plastic film pulled away from the metal and the lighter area is where the flash from the camera is reflecting off the plastic film.

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Next, I needed to drill the holes for my copper cooling tubes. I chose to use copper tubing to cool the beer lines simply because it saves space, and it is easier and less expensive than building a cooling box for the tower. Copper is one of the highest thermal (and electrical) conductive metals, and should keep my beer lines chilled enough to reduce foaming.

For this step, I drilled a 1/8" pilot hole, and used a step bit to make the hole exactly 11/16". The OD of my copper tubing was 11/16", and fit snugly into the holes.

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The top needed to be modified to fit over the wood reinforcement. I took a utility knife, and removed the grid on the underside of the refigerator top. This was the most labor intensive part of this build.

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After removing the grid, I sanded the area to smooth out anything that was missed with the utility knife. I used a medium grit all purpose sand paper, in an attempt to rough the surface so the adhesive would stick better.

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I then dug out the foam to the same dimensions as the wood reinforcement. I cant remember the exact measurements, but I believe it was 16 1/2" x 13 3/4".

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I removed only 1/2" of foam so the wood sits flush.

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I needed to drill corresponding holes in the top and in the wood to line up with the fridge. I drilled a 1/8" pilot hole through both the wood and the top, then used a 3/4" hole saw and drilled the holes in the wood, and I used the step bit to make the holes in the top 11/16".

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Everything lined up perfectly.

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The angle of the camera makes it look off, but it was right on.

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I dry fit the copper pipe to make sure I had the proper length to fit in the tower, I wanted the pipes to fit as far up onto the tower as possible. The copper pipes are 16 1/2" long, with 2 1/2" extending into the fridge.

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My pipes converge at the top, which wasn't intentional, but it works out perfectly with how the shanks are positioned inside the draft tower.

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The thermostat scews must be removed and the housing pushed back and out of the way for the kegs to fit.

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There was originally about 4" of pipe extending into the fridge, and while logic tells me that the more copper pipe exposed inside the refridgerator the cooler they will keep, however, they interefered too much with my regulator, so I shortened them to extend into the fridge 2 1/2".

I filled the recess where the foam was dug out with the Great Stuff spray foam, and also put some spray foam between the wood and the fridge's existing foam since it wasn't cut perfectly even. Then the top was glued to the wood using the PL polyurethane adhesive, and I placed 2 full corny kegs ontop while everything cured. (I needed to move quickly, and didn't have anyone to snap photos of the process for me.)

TIP:
(A piece of advice for anyone taking on this project would be to use a rubber band, or to tape the copper tubing together at the top and bottom to ensure the pipes won't slide down into the fridge after the foam is applied. I almost had a disaster juggling the top, wood and pipes all at once, and the spary foam will be on your hands for weeks if you get any on yourself, so use rubber gloves.)

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I made my own shank nut wrench, basically a fitting wrench, but I could not find a 1-1/16" fitting wrench, and even if I had it would have probably been more expensive than this combo wrench. My dremel made quick work cutting this bad boy. These wrenches can be purchased from companies such as Micromatic for about $40.

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I wanted to extend my beer lines from the standard 5' length that my draft tower came with to 10' lengths so I could serve under higher pressures without excessive foaming. I now have the ability to easily remove my tower shanks when necessary. I'm certain beer lines should be replaced every few years if not just for good measure.

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My tower did not include hose clamps. After switching out the hoses, I added stainless steel clamps to prevent leaking from occurring.

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It's a snug fit with co2 tank/dual regulator, kegs and beer lines.

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Looking purdy!

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Finished.

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Overall this was a fun project, I had the ability to work on this for a couple hours each day over the course of 3 days, so this can be done in one day if you dedicate the time to it. With the exception of the near catastrophe from the spray foam and my pipes sliding into the fridge, everything went very well.

I plan on adding a Love Temperature Controller w/ blue LED display to this very soon, simply because the OE thermostat is bulky and unattractive hanging there. Even thought the OE thermostat will rarely be seen the digital controller will have the ability to regulate the temperature better, and it will look sweet once installed!

I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed working on this project, now I just need my beer to finish fermenting so I can pull my first pint off of this bad boy!

Please feel free to comment.

BGB.
 
I am looking into building a kegerator. Besides a eat look is there any reason to store the co2 tank in the fridge??
 
No, I may eventually move my tank to the outside, but for now it stays in the fridge. There is a post for this model fridge/kegerator where someone details where to drill the hole to run your gas line out.

If you are interested, do a search for "frigidaire kegerator build", and it should pop up.
 
looks great. i like how you made such a large wood base. i bet that tower is very sturdy. it should give a "quality" feel to the whole thing when pouring.
have you considered adding a fan for circulation?
 
looks perfect!!! good job! mine works awesome except for the cheap taps... they get stuck all the time and its a pain!

just need to pull the trigger on some nice ones.

Other than that I am sooo pleased with mine.. actually I think I will have a pint!
 
looks great. i like how you made such a large wood base. i bet that tower is very sturdy. it should give a "quality" feel to the whole thing when pouring.
have you considered adding a fan for circulation?

I wouldn't want to test it, but I wouldn't doubt if you could suspend this thing by the tower! :D Yes I plan on installing a computer/muffin fan that will help to circulate the cold air.

looks perfect!!! good job! mine works awesome except for the cheap taps... they get stuck all the time and its a pain!

just need to pull the trigger on some nice ones.

Other than that I am sooo pleased with mine.. actually I think I will have a pint!

Yeah I figured this would be a one time splurge so I went with the Perlicks. I got the 525's, but I did think about getting the 575's (Creamer), but I was already dropping a ton of cash, so I reserved myself.

Nice Build A+!

Thank you, I am proud of my kegerator, 2.5 more weeks left for my Witbier, and I'll be pulling my first pint!
 
Just wondering how the copper pipe is working to keep the lines cool? Any excessive foam on the first pour?

Thanks

I haven't gotten any beer in it yet :( I'm certain it will be fine. I also ordered my Love temperature controller, but it will be another 6 weeks before it arrives. (Special order, w/blue LED).
 
I haven't gotten any beer in it yet :( I'm certain it will be fine. I also ordered my Love temperature controller, but it will be another 6 weeks before it arrives. (Special order, w/blue LED).

I'm getting ready to build a kegerator with the same unit...Couple of quick questions.

1) How sensitive are the coolent lines. If you knick them with the puddy knife are you ok? I mean I know you don't want to hit with the drill but...

2) Did you just measure where you drilled your initial holes in the unit, and then do the same measurment on the piece of wood so you knew where to drill?

3) Do your tower bolts run all the way into the fride or to they just run into the wood and then stop before the coolent lines?

4) Lastly, when you pour your first pint let me know, I'm wondering how many feet of beer lines I should get...so I'm curious to see how 10 ft work for ya.

Thanks for the post, inspiration for my soon to be project :mug:
 
Nice Job!! I just finished my kegerator build....same fridge. Looks great! One thing I am not liking about this fridge is.......I have my OE temp controller set to 1....the lowest setting, and it is still under 30 degrees.....anyone else having this problem? I'm probably going to have to get an external temp controller:mad:.....more $$$$
 
I'm getting ready to build a kegerator with the same unit...Couple of quick questions.

1) How sensitive are the coolent lines. If you knick them with the puddy knife are you ok? I mean I know you don't want to hit with the drill but...

2) Did you just measure where you drilled your initial holes in the unit, and then do the same measurment on the piece of wood so you knew where to drill?

3) Do your tower bolts run all the way into the fride or to they just run into the wood and then stop before the coolent lines?

4) Lastly, when you pour your first pint let me know, I'm wondering how many feet of beer lines I should get...so I'm curious to see how 10 ft work for ya.

Thanks for the post, inspiration for my soon to be project :mug:

1) I assume the coolant lines are aluminum, so if you were to hit them with the putty knife or any sharp knife for that matter you should be fine unless you were really putting some pressure on them. I mean, they aren't made of aluminum foil or anything, so while care should be taken, they aren't going to be punctured extremely easily.

2) Yes, first you'll have to decide where the hole under the foam insulation in the fridge will be, then you can measure your wood and top. Fortunately, the grid on the underside of the top, and the grid the top formed in the foam insulation makes it fairly easily to make the measurements. Don't get me wrong, it is difficult to be extremely precise, but if I can do it anyone can do it. I am handy, but I am no engineer.

3)The tower I purchased from Kegconnection was supplied with screws, which aren't too long to penetrate all the way down to the coolant lines. So to answer, no I did not run the bolts/screws all the way into the interior of the fridge. It is unnecessary IMO. If you have a wood reinforcement the size I used, you will not have any trouble with stability whatsoever. My tower is very solid.

4) I will PM you in about 2.5 weeks when I pull my first pint off of this bad boy. The math says I only need 4-5' beer line (resistance) with the height of my tower, but I have heard horror stories of excessive foaming, so I went with the 10' lines as a precautionary measure. It is easier to shorten than lengthen, right? Apparently 2oz/second is the goal to achieve for the perfect pour. A well balanced system will have minimal foaming, and pour relatively quickly. the American Homebrewer's Association has a great draft beer resource which can be found here.

Nice Job!! I just finished my kegerator build....same fridge. Looks great! One thing I am not liking about this fridge is.......I have my OE temp controller set to 1....the lowest setting, and it is still under 30 degrees.....anyone else having this problem? I'm probably going to have to get an external temp controller:mad:.....more $$$$

You are both lucky and cursed to have this problem, I have heard of individuals that have had problems keeping their fridge at a low enough temperature at the highest setting. It makes me wonder if at the factory, they installed the knob properly. Iis ther a possibility that it is turned all the way up, when it is actually showig a 1? Try setting it to the highest level and see if it warms up at all. Otherwise, I have all of the wiring info that you would need for a temp controller on this fridge. PM me if you need wiring info.

I have not even plugged mine in yet. No reason to use electricity unnecessarily. Having said that, I will be installing my Love TS-2nTemp controller ASAP. I special ordered the model w/the blue LED, (40 day lead time) It should ship June 30th. :(

But a fellow brewer has the same fridge w/picninc taps and has had not troubles whatosever.

Good Luck!

p.s. PM me if you have any other qustions. I plan on outlining a write-up for the temp controller install.

Check out the link in my sig if you want to follow along, I update it as much as possible.

Tyson.:mug:
 
UPDATE:

I added a Love TS-2 Temp Controller:

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And magnetic chalkboards:

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I made liquid housing for my temp probe:

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And I added a fan:

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I plan on fabricating a plexiglass cover for the wiring using the original thermostat housing as a template, I should be able to get it to sit flush. I'll probably leave it clear because I thnk it looks cooler to be able to see the wires, but I did think about painting it white to hide the wiring completely, we'll see what actually happens when I get around to it.

The fan helps reduce condensation, but far from eliminates it. I think the last thing I will add is an Eva-Dry to do away with the condensation.

Later, I will probably move my co2 tank to the outside just because I have to leave the door open so long when switching kegs, or adjusting pressures, but for now it is not a priority.

I have the thermostat set for 38°F with a 3° swing, during the summer it does not fall below 36°F, but in the winter when the house is cooler inside it reaches 34°F. It cycles on and off equally, about every ~40 minutes, with the off time slightly reduced in the warmer months, maybe 30 min off, 40 min on with our thermostat in the house set at 78°F.

If you click on the this Broken Glass Brewery link or the one in my sig. I have a detailed write-up on the wiring, and I include a wiring schematic (thanks to ClaudiusB). So all the info you need is there if you are interested.

If you have questions feel free to ask.
 
Is it okay that I bump this because I am so uber proud of it, and no one has bothered to comment :(
 
Is it okay that I bump this because I am so uber proud of it, and no one has bothered to comment :(

Kudos!. I might add a temp control to mine as well (same model) but not anytime soon. Did you add the fan for the tower or just to circulate throughout the inside to help the accuracy of the temp controller? I used 15'' copper pipes and haven't had the need for any further cooling to the tower.
 
that LOVE controller with blue LED looks Titties. what did that run you $65 ish?

-=Jason=-
 
Kudos!. I might add a temp control to mine as well (same model) but not anytime soon. Did you add the fan for the tower or just to circulate throughout the inside to help the accuracy of the temp controller? I used 15'' copper pipes and haven't had the need for any further cooling to the tower.

I just wanted to circulate the cold air to improve the cooling efficiency, I found that having it run constantly reduced cooling efficiency (it cycled more), having the fan come on while the compressor was running improves the cooling efficiency over not having any circualtion at all, plus it helped reduce the condensation, but far from eliminated it.

that LOVE controller with blue LED looks Titties. what did that run you $65 ish?

-=Jason=-

It's $10 more for the blue or green LED that Love offers, but Blue to me seemed to eminate cold, so it was worth it, however, the six week lead time sucked balls!, I ordered two after the order for the kegerator, I wanted one for my soon t be chest freezer fermentation chamber!

But yeah it is the tits! Thanks for the compliment. $10 buck ain't gonna break my bank, and it's what I wanted, so there it is!
 
Thanks Claudius! I couldn't have done it without your help!

Did you make it to GABF after all?
 
Just bumping this bad boy, because it is the schnizznit!

BTW, I finished my fermentation chamber...finally.

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Great job! This thread is very helpful to me as I am soon to be undertaking the same project. Seeing your pictures and descriptions is very helpful. Well done.
 
It's $10 more for the blue or green LED that Love offers, but Blue to me seemed to eminate cold, so it was worth it, however, the six week lead time sucked balls!, I ordered two after the order for the kegerator, I wanted one for my soon t be chest freezer fermentation chamber!

But yeah it is the tits! Thanks for the compliment. $10 buck ain't gonna break my bank, and it's what I wanted, so there it is!


Did you order from Dwyer?

Any reason not to just go with the TSX3? Seems they regularly stock the blue one for $70. Same price, more features, no order lag time?

http://www.dwyer-inst.com/Product/T...witches/DigitalPanelMount/SeriesTSX3/Ordering
 
Did you order from Dwyer?

Any reason not to just go with the TSX3? Seems they regularly stock the blue one for $70. Same price, more features, no order lag time?

http://www.dwyer-inst.com/Product/T...witches/DigitalPanelMount/SeriesTSX3/Ordering

Didn't need all the extras, and I have no idea what the price was then compared to now, or what colors they stocked.

If I knew then what I know now, thne my decision may have been different, but I got what I have, and I am happy with it.

Chalk it up to noobism, or poor research if you want, but I have no need for heating in my kegerator, probably won't need it in my ferm chamber since it is indoors, and will definitely not need it in my chest freezer when I convert it to a keezer.

Beyond that I have fan wired up to my controllers without issues as well. I guess the option for heat in the ferm chamber would have been nice, but whatever.

Thanks for the heads up though, if i need a dual/tri stage controller I know what I'll get.

BTW, I like the jedi blue and green, not hte sith red, lol
 
Didn't need all the extras, and I have no idea what the price was then compared to now, or what colors they stocked.

If I knew then what I know now, thne my decision may have been different, but I got what I have, and I am happy with it.

Chalk it up to noobism, or poor research if you want, but I have no need for heating in my kegerator, probably won't need it in my ferm chamber since it is indoors, and will definitely not need it in my chest freezer when I convert it to a keezer.

Beyond that I have fan wired up to my controllers without issues as well. I guess the option for heat in the ferm chamber would have been nice, but whatever.

Thanks for the heads up though, if i need a dual/tri stage controller I know what I'll get.

BTW, I like the jedi blue and green, not hte sith red, lol

cool cool. blue is so sexy.

right now the TS2 is $58 + $10 for blue upgrade

TSX3 is $70 and kept in stock.
 
Where are you finding these blue temp controller. i asked dwyer but they said i would have to order more then 100 for them to make the TS2-010 blue. if you could let me know that would be great, in the process of making a Keezer pics to come soon!!!!
 
Thanks for the information, I plan on doing this in the near future. Any one know if the Frigidaire 4.4 will still hold 2 cornies and a 5 lb tank ? I know they change models from time to time.
 
Thanks for the information, I plan on doing this in the near future. Any one know if the Frigidaire 4.4 will still hold 2 cornies and a 5 lb tank ? I know they change models from time to time.

They have recently changed the model number, but basically the same fridge, a quick search here on HBT will reveal the new model number.
 
I bought the newer fridge from Lowe's 3 weeks ago. It will fit 2 cornys, but the door requires some modification. From what I've read in the other threads, the Best-Buy version doesn't require any modification to fit two. It's $10 more new.
 
Just bumping this bad boy, because it is the schnizznit!

BTW, I finished my fermentation chamber...finally.

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you have any link on this build? is that a chest freezer? right now I have a keezer (about 2' x 2') that just holds four 1/6th kegs or corney kegs, although I only have three taps, use the last spot for cold conditioning and the reserve keg. I ran the gas lines outside so I can use my 20lb tank and I hung that on the side so I could see the gage, otherwise I would have hung it from the back.
I just got a free fridge that I will be using as a fermentation chamber but will be limited to one carboy unless I change to fermenting in kegs i could fit two in there. I considered making the keezer the fermentation chamber but then I would be down to two beers on tap.
I haven't tried a full size keg in the fidge yet but that might be an option for a 10 gal batch.
let me know how you made this, like the looks.
also, love the how the kegerator turned out!
 
you have any link on this build? is that a chest freezer? right now I have a keezer (about 2' x 2') that just holds four 1/6th kegs or corney kegs, although I only have three taps, use the last spot for cold conditioning and the reserve keg. I ran the gas lines outside so I can use my 20lb tank and I hung that on the side so I could see the gage, otherwise I would have hung it from the back.
I just got a free fridge that I will be using as a fermentation chamber but will be limited to one carboy unless I change to fermenting in kegs i could fit two in there. I considered making the keezer the fermentation chamber but then I would be down to two beers on tap.
I haven't tried a full size keg in the fidge yet but that might be an option for a 10 gal batch.
let me know how you made this, like the looks.
also, love the how the kegerator turned out!

There is a link in my sig at the bottom of each of my posts that says DIY Fermentation Chamber, click on that, and it will take you to my build.
 
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