Need help finishing this project: Portable Kegerator

I am almost at the finish line of my portable kegerator for my 3 Gallon Cornys. I picked up an Ice Cube cooler from Lowes, I think it is a 55 quart cooler. I drilled a whole in the back which is 1/2" diameter.



I used a 2 1/2" x 1/4" nipple and placed two nylon washers at each end. The 2 1/2 inch nipple is about 3/16 too big the nylon washers took care of that gap. On the inside of the cooler I placed a barbed 1/4" female and on the outside of the keg I used a 1/4" street elbow.





Home Depot sells a small Husky Regulator for $20 which you can see in the above photo. Lowes sells a Kobalt one but it is blue, I wanted black to match the 20 ounce tank. The 20 ounce tank is a Rhino tank I bought at Lowes, roughly $35 for that.



I bought a PVC cap and two nylon automotive screw/nut things, not sure what they are called. They are the type of screw that is barbed when you insert it into a whole the barbs hold it in place. When I used to rip apart my Buick to install door speakers, these type of screws are what held the door panel to the frame. You can see them here.



Here is the general end goal:



The problem is, I don't know how to get from the aluminium adapter nut to the 1/4" female NPT on the mini regulator. I tried 1/2" but the threads are off and I tried 5/8" and that seemed too loose. what is the deal with these paintball tank adapter nuts? Am I SOL here or is there a solution...





Has anyone done this before??

Can you screw the regulator onto the tank? If so why not come up with some kind of strap system sort of like a fire extinguisher holder.

The problem is not the distance it is the fittings. I can not find anything that will reduce the adapter nut on the tank down to a 1/4" NPT Male.

something like this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/air-hpa-co2-remote-coil-quick-disconnect-NEW-/280688440846?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item415a55b60e#ht_1060wt_1139

Ummm, I don't think that reg is meant for what you're doing with it. Those cheap air regulators have a max input pressure of 200-300 PSI. Unless you got something super special, it won't handle the pressure, (I know, I was looking at those recently for the coors home draft thing in my sig). Your CO2 bottle will be putting out 800 PSI, 1000 PSI if it's in the sun. That thing then runs a very high risk of a messy explosion.

I bought a $30 used regulator on Ebay. Works great.

If you are intent on it though, go with what JKalpowsky linked to, or these:

http://cgi.ebay.com/air-n2-co2-asa-...892?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f0a755764
http://cgi.ebay.com/Paintball-Gun-3...526?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item588df24b6e

Just be safe. 800 PSI is a metric buttload of pressure.

Edit, by the way, those threads are CGA-320. Any welding supply store will also have threaded adapters, although they are meant to work with a nylon washer. Note that the threads on a paintball tank are IDENTICAL to the ones on your big CO2 tank. In fact, you can attach a big CO2 tank to a paintball remote valve if you include the nylon washer. I'm pretty sure you can do the same with a paintball tank to a normal CGA-320 adapter.

800 psi????? why would lowes or home depot sell these little regulators right next to the rhino 20 ounce tanks if they can not handle the pressure?

Because it's Lowes and Home Depot. If I'm ever in doubt I hit up Ace Hardware if they don't know they have no problem sending you to someone who does.

Btw it is looking awesome and thanks for sharing.

bellinmi88 said:

800 psi????? why would lowes or home depot sell these little regulators right next to the rhino 20 ounce tanks if they can not handle the pressure?

Click to expand...

Because the rhino 20 oz tanks, meant for use with a real CO2 regulator, are used for air tools. The cheapo reg you want is used for air tools too, but it's meant to regulate air compressor pressure, which only hits about 150 PSI max. It's next to the Rhino tanks because both are meant for air tools, but it doesn't mean they can both be used together.

Your CO2 tank can easily hit 1000 PSI. That's not an exaggeration. The pressure is the same, REGARDLESS of tank size, (so a 20 oz tank will have 1000 PSI, as will a 10 lb tank).

Look at the reg you have, does it have a max inlet pressure written on it or on the documentation that came with it? If it's any less than 800 PSI, which I guarantee it is, it is gonna explode when you hook it up. You want 1500 PSI or more inlet pressure to handle pressure swings in the CO2 tank.

HERE is the cheapest reg I can find on ebay. Note, when searching ebay, you need a pressure regulator. There are cheaper regs on there, but they are FLOW regulators. You need a pressure reg, and it will look like what I linked. Note the solid metal casing, the all metal design. That's what you need to withstand 1500 psi. Also, note that the one I linked already has the CGA-320 threads on it. This means you can screw your paintball tank directly into it! Mount it horizontally, so the paintball tank is vertical, (very important that the tank is always vertical when dispensing!), and you'll be good to go.

That settles it...I will put a quick disconnect on the street elbow and then connect it to my 5# tank and regulator. Just as portable just not as clean. Glad I posted this, thank you everyone for the feedback.

Oh bythe was I have a small Husky Regulator for sale...$20!

Just kidding!

That settles it...I will put a quick disconnect on the street elbow and then connect it to my 5# tank and regulator. Just as portable just not as clean. Glad I posted this, thank you everyone for the feedback.

Oh bythe was I have a small Husky Flow Regulator for sale...$20!

Just kidding!