7.2 cu ft Magic Chef Chest Freezer

Most likely was just a local deal that I was lucky to stumble into. But this afternoon I walked into Home Depot to get some simple green and heavy duty trash bags and respirators and I took a peek in the appliance aisle as I always do.

Magic Chef 7.2 cu ft Chest Freezer item # 539-355 (as seen in EdWort's sticky 'Sizing Your Chest Freezer') was on clearance for $195. Lists in the store at $225. Walked away with room for 6 kegs on tap after I build the collar (4 without the collar) for $211 plus tax, including warranty.

Not too shabby if you ask me, I had been planning on purchasing that next month but overspent a little today due to the $30ish savings.

Enjoy

... next month- perlicks and collar

****! I just bought one two months ago for full price.

**** mother ****ing **** **** !!!

With a collar, will four kegs and a six gallon better bottle fit in that model?

I am either going to get a 7.2 or 7.5cf when I get around to building my keezer.

I want room to do cold crashes, along with four kegs.

Best freezer ands down for the price. Good deal!

I love mine. I didn't build a collar. I keep 4 kegs with picnic taps inside, and my 5# tank and a dozen chilled mugs on the hump. (my garage is 100degrees half the year, and i don't like the sound of sticky faucetts)

I think I paid $210 new for mine at Home Cheapo plus $50 for the temp controller.

Cpt_Kirks said:

With a collar, will four kegs and a six gallon better bottle fit in that model?

I am either going to get a 7.2 or 7.5cf when I get around to building my keezer.

I want room to do cold crashes, along with four kegs.

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Yes. And you barely need the collar.

Beerrific said:

Yes. And you barely need the collar.

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would it fit without an airlock, if you used a low profile blowoff?

I might try that sometime i only have 3 full kegs, and move my CO2 tank to the floor. I should take some measurements and see if mabye a better bottle is shorter.

Nice price! I also bought mine a little bit ago at full price... so that pisses me off! I do love this freezer, and you can see my build in the signature.

Arkador said:

would it fit without an airlock, if you used a low profile blowoff?

I might try that sometime i only have 3 full kegs, and move my CO2 tank to the floor. I should take some measurements and see if mabye a better bottle is shorter.

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It would be close. My carboy was sitting on some cardboard in there for some reason when I took that picture. You could always hack a bit of lid back to make room.

Perfect freezer for a keezer!

Any pictures of it strapped to the roof of your Civic? That imagery is killing me.

bdnoona said:

Any pictures of it strapped to the roof of your Civic? That imagery is killing me.

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I had thought of taking a picture but just wanted to get the damn thing off the roof of the car.

What my friend is referring too is how I was too cheap to rent the truck so I had one my employees come with to Home Depot and we used that binding twine to wrap the huge box to the top of my civic hatchback to drive home. We must have wrapped the twine around the thing 25 times. Then hazards on, we drove home at about 5mph approx 1.5 miles cloggin up the lanes and slowing traffic and everythang... in downtown chicago...

But got it home safe and sound and my kegs are cold and it chills bottles very quickly too i must say...

jackson_d said:

Ihad thought of taking a picture but just wanted to get the damn thing off the roof of the car.

What my friend is referring too is how I was too cheap to rent the truck so I had one my employees come with the to Home Depot and we used that binding twine to wrap the huge bow to the top of my civic hatchback to drive home. We must have wrapped the twice around the thing 25 times. Then hazards on, we drove home at about 5mph approx 1.5 mph cloggin up the lanes and slowing traffic and everythang.

But got it home safe and sound...

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HAHAHAHAHA
!

jackson_d said:

I had thought of taking a picture but just wanted to get the damn thing off the roof of the car.

What my friend is referring too is how I was too cheap to rent the truck so I had one my employees come with to Home Depot and we used that binding twine to wrap the huge box to the top of my civic hatchback to drive home. We must have wrapped the twine around the thing 25 times. Then hazards on, we drove home at about 5mph approx 1.5 miles cloggin up the lanes and slowing traffic and everythang... in downtown chicago...

But got it home safe and sound and my kegs are cold and it chills bottles very quickly too i must say...

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Now that is dedication (or obsession) to a hobby!

I'm gonna go check out my local home depot to see if they have this deal going on. If they do I will have an official lager cold storage vessel, the last thing my brewery officially needs.

I just bought this unit too, and it works great. If you only need to hold 6 kegs or less, there is nothing that beats it. It is incredibly compact for its capacity, but I think it has been discontinued. They only had three left at the Home Depot where I got it.

I have a five gallon carboy on the hump. The cover just touches the foil covering it when it closed. There is no room for an air lock with out a collar.

Could you fit 4 kegs in there without a collar?

I am thinking of building a keezer with a tower and the MC 7.2 seems to be a good candidate, but the homedepot website says it is online only and I am a little leery to buy anything like this sight unseen.

Also do you happen to have any dimensions on the size of the compressor hump? Ideally I would like to be able to fit 4 kegs and a CO2 tank inside the chest.

ToV said:

Could you fit 4 kegs in there without a collar?

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Yes. There is about a fingers width between the top of the disconnects and the where the lid would sit. But, that is with my kegs, kegs com in many different sizes. If it didn't, a 2x4 collar would not be too hard to make.

I got one last April for 200 even when it was listed for 225. I just told the guy that I wanted it for that price and he said OK. Home Depot appliance guys have a little haggle room.

I built a collar and outfitted it with two taps, with aspirartions for two more, though I do not think my pipeline will catch up to that. Fits two Cornys on the floor with a 6.5 gallon bucket as well, and I keep a 10lb CO2 tank on the hump. Easily fits four cornys (ball lock) if I do not havee a lager fermenting.

Beerrific said:

Yes. There is about a fingers width between the top of the disconnects and the where the lid would sit. But, that is with my kegs, kegs com in many different sizes. If it didn't, a 2x4 collar would not be too hard to make.

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Thanks, that is good to know, I think I may have found a keezer platform that will suite my needs for a good bit to come.

eck said:

I got one last April for 200 even when it was listed for 225. I just told the guy that I wanted it for that price and he said OK. Home Depot appliance guys have a little haggle room.

I built a collar and outfitted it with two taps, with aspirartions for two more, though I do not think my pipeline will catch up to that. Fits two Cornys on the floor with a 6.5 gallon bucket as well, and I keep a 10lb CO2 tank on the hump. Easily fits four cornys (ball lock) if I do not havee a lager fermenting.

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So 4 kegs with a 10 lbs CO2, that is good to know when looking for a tank.

ToV said:

So 4 kegs with a 10 lbs CO2, that is good to know when looking for a tank.

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I have no collar, and I have to have my regulator angled just right to close the lid with my 5# tank on the hump. the valve on the tank has about 2inches clearance, but the regulators have about a .5inch clearance.

I'm considering getting this freezer (if I can find one)

My question is:

How long should a 5# tank last with 4 kegs? Will I be refilling it quite often? I'm trying to determine if it is worth it to build a collar to accomodate a 10# tank....thanks in advance

Arkador said:

I have no collar, and I have to have my regulator angled just right to close the lid with my 5# tank on the hump. the valve on the tank has about 2inches clearance, but the regulators have about a .5inch clearance.

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It is really definetly worth making a collar and having room for 2 extra kegs. I use my tank on the outside to a manifold on the inside. All 6 kegs will be on gas while serving out of 4.

I have three kegs and a 10# co2 in the main part of mine. On the hump I have bottles and some hops.

Hey guys, I am wondering if this freezer will be able to fit a 1/2 keg with a cronie plus a 5lb co2 tank...

new collar - HomeBrewTalk Gallery

here we go. nice to have a neighbor who is a woodworking student at the art institute who will help build a collar for nothing more than a burger and a few beers at the pub down the street.

he even routed the edges of the collar to perfectly match the rounded lip of the freezer. now i'm thinking i will hit it with some dark stain and of course.....eventually..... Perlicks!

so for those who were asking, there is just enuff room to fit 2 kegs on the hump with a 2" x 8" collar. the 2" x 10" would give you a little more room but i found it unnecessary.

so 6 total kegs in there with a 2" x 8" collar and the tank outside. now i have some more brewing to do...



oh ps- get a 12' piece of wood...

bdnoona said:

Any pictures of it strapped to the roof of your Civic? That imagery is killing me.

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I got one:

Man, I'm drooling looking at these pictures and reading these posts. I hardly have any woodworking experience but my confidence is very high... mostly driven by envy. I am, however, really nervous about the rewiring of one of these for temperature control.

Is it really difficult or can a moron like me do it?

(sorry about the double-post)

chumprock said:

Best freezer ands down for the price. Good deal!

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...only if you have a hang-up about buying used.

My first chest freezer was a 9.something cubic foot, for $100 delivered to my door. I got another one (not sure the size) that holds 7 kegs for $120 delivered. Since I ended up covering it with black contact paper anyway, I didn't mind the scratches and dents at all.

$40 off of craigslist in perfect condition. Had a friend fab the collar (3/4" thick x 6" tall). I insulated the collar using flat foam insulation from HD (bonded using door/window seal) and then covered the insulation with Gorilla tape.

How long should a 5# tank last with 4 kegs? Will I be refilling it quite often? I'm trying to determine if it is worth it to build a collar to accomodate a 10# tank....thanks in advance

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IMO, get a 20# tank and keep the 5# tank as a spare (for when the 20# tank runs out). Also, keep the CO2 tank out of the keezer imo (you can see the 20# tank behind the keg to the left of my keezer).

Just finished mine last night - I got the deal from Home Depot as well. I decided to do only 3 Perlick 525SS taps - 3 beers on tap, 3 aging behind them. All of the other tubing, connections, etc came from Midwest. Only task left is to get the missing gas QD for the incoming line - thankfully I've got NB and Midwest within 20min drives

On the first photo below, it shows the front corner detail. Routing skill aside, I decided to frame the collar in 1x8" pine and then face the sides in 1/4" oak plywood and the front with a real slab of 1x8" oak. The plywood was half the cost - I think all the wood together was < 30 bucks. The bottom frame is also 1x8" pine with 6 casters rated at 90lbs each.

I routed the corners to help hide the fact that I routed the bottom edge of the front to get it over the lip - making less of a mess for drops on the front. If you go the plywood route, I highly recommend using a flush cut router bit - I cut all the pieces long, then used the router to size things precisely. Know thy limitations....

If you are making a collar for this freezer that will sit inside the lip, you might want to space the hinges off of the back just a bit - I needed to to get the rear seal to line up properly. I used a 1" washer I had laying around - put it right above the _bottom_ two screws between the hinge and wood. Placing it higher will tweak the lid angle just enough that it won't seal around the front very well. I also used exterior grade white caulking to seal the collar to the top - more moisture and temp friendly. I also sealed the whole mess with the spray-on Minwax Poly - spraying was much quicker and easier than having to deal with brushes, sanding, etc.

All in all - it doesn't look like the dog chewed on it and more importantly....it serves beer

Obligatory Peer Born:







More photos here