Lines freezing

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cardinalsfan

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So I built a kegerator out of a mini fridge. It sits under my bar and feeds into my 2 tap tower. The beer lines go up through the top of the fridge and into the tower.

This mini fridge doesn't have a freezer plate, the whole top 1/4 or so of the fridge is where the cooling lines lay and it's covered in ice. Because of this, and the fact that the beer lines run up through this area, they freeze up often. I shouldn't say they freeze up (not sure that's whats happening) but I pull the handles and all I get is a little dribble.

I've tried insulation and it works for a while but eventually the lines freeze up again. The fridge is set to 41* so it's not super cold.

My next idea is to run the beer lines through the side where the CO2 lines come in now (just switch the two).

I'm also open to the idea that the issue may be somewhere else in the system. I have perlick taps, a 20# CO2 tank, mfl swivels on all connections and the kegs are pinlocks.

So, anyone else have these problems? Anyone have any ideas or input? I'd greatly appreciate it!! I love my kegerator but I'd love it so much more if it worked every time I wanted a pint!! :mug:
 
Nothing?

I did some research today and confirmed it can't be anything on the gas side. I also took the liquid side off and hit the top of the poppet and I got a beer shower. So the kegs should be fine as well. Leads me to believe it's something in the liquid line itself.

Next i'll take the fridge out and mess with the taps themselves. I plan to run the beer lines a different way to see if that helps at all.
 
Have you put a few selectively placed thermometers in the fridge and tower to see what is going on? I've had a regular fridge freeze things before, so it's not inconceivable. If the calibration of your controller is off, you could be running at sub 32 instead of 41.
 
ok, I think I might have it. The pipes I was using to insulate the lines weren't all the way through the top of the fridge. I just stuck them in the insulation. Ice was forming in the pipes (directly on the beer lines) and freezing them up.

I pushed the pipes through the top of the fridge and I'm going to put insulation either in the pipe or around it. Likely some spray foam in the pipe and if the lines ever need to be replaced I'll just have to replace the lines and pipe together and put it back together the same way.
 
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