Draft tower cooling

A lot of folks have been spending a lot of time and effort to cool their towers to keep from getting foaming beer. The simplest solution that I have found is a 2 line aquarium air pump that I sit on the bottom of my kegerator, run the ac line out to an outlet, and connect 2 small airlines that reach all the way to the top of my draft tower. Very simple and it works great. It just pumps cold air up to the top of the tower!!

I didn't like the idea of having to drill another hole out of the fridge or having another plug to have to deal with, so I got a 110v muffin fan from Radio Shack and mounted it in a project box. The fan is hooked up to the power supply for the fridge light (no real use for that anymore anyway) and some 1" tubing directs the air up into my tower.

I still get some very minor extra foaming on the first pour, but my tower is cold to the touch at all times even though it's insulated.

Pics? I'm a visual learner

gwccbc said:

A lot of folks have been spending a lot of time and effort to cool their towers to keep from getting foaming beer. The simplest solution that I have found is a 2 line aquarium air pump that I sit on the bottom of my kegerator, run the ac line out to an outlet, and connect 2 small airlines that reach all the way to the top of my draft tower. Very simple and it works great. It just pumps cold air up to the top of the tower!!

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That's a great idea! I have a pass through tower that needs cooling. I currently have a little muffin fan that pushes air through it, but it works better for the faucets on the side the fan's mounted to. My clearances are also so tight that the fan makes it hard situate things so that the lid closes properly after changing kegs. I think I might give this a try, since the cooling would be more even, and I could mount it out of the way.

Here are some pics. I have the pump laying on its side, then the 2 airlines are tied to the beer lines, and the last pic if you can see it is where the airlines end at the top of the tower.

Have you measured the temp inside the draft tower since doing this? This would be ideal for me if the temp drops enough.

Seems like it would be less efficient to me. When you compress a gas it gets warmer, so it's not as efficient as a fan. And now you're adding a heat source (the heat given off by the pump) that makes your freezer work harder.

I'm sure it works fine and it's easier to install. Just not as efficient as a fan.

I have not measured the temp inside the tower. Dont get bogged down with topics such as inefficiencies. All I know is that it is simple, and it works. The heat that it gives off is a non-issue. Just try it!

I use a 13-14" peice of 1/2" copper tubing. It fits perfectly in the tower and I run my beer line through it. It extends about 2" into the refridgerator compartment, which cools it to temperature and keeps the line cool up into the tower. Works great and is simple. I only have a single tap kegerator but there would be enough room for two if I had a double tap.