Tower Cooling

Sorry if this is classified as double posting, posted this on the kegging bottling section and got minimal response.

I mounted my twin faucet tower a couple weeks ago and used the copper tube method to try to cool my beer lines. The results have left something to be desired. Usually the first pint comes up at least half foam. I found a fan that could be mounted in the hole on the top of my fridge. That way a project box wouldn't have to be used and no extra hoses in my kegerator. Would this be enough to keep my lines and faucets cold? The link to the fan is posted below.


http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102824

I've thought about ways to put a fan effectively into a tower and the best solution I"ve come up with is a little complicated but I think it'd work well.

With most towers, the beer line goes straight up with no exit, so the beer line can only go in the same hole that your trying to blow air in. To get around this, I would put longer screws (~2-4" longer) in the mounts on the top of the tower, then screw a small shelf frame that the fan can rest on. This would allow your line to be run between the fan and the ceiling of the fridge and still blow a considerable amount of air up to the tower for cooling. The shelf frame would allow for air be pulled from the backside and pushed into the tower. See pic if you're still confused...

As for that fan, it looks like it should work, you just need to wire it into a 9-12V DC converter...

You think I could just mount the fan in the hole on the top of my kegerator? The fan measures 2 1/16" diagonally. My tower is 3" dia. So if I used a 2 3/4" hole saw you think there would be enough air exchange. I already got the fan and hooked it up to an old cell phone charger, I was surprised how much that tiny fan can push.

Based on the dimensions, 2x 3/16" beer lines and the fan look like it should fit into a 2.75" hole without any problems.

I would think you have enough cooling ability with what you have but it's possible to increase the air flow at the expense of fan life. (If you put a 12V DC power supply on the fan it will push more air but it's generally not designed to run continuously at 100% operating load.)

I'd say test it and see if you like it...although that could be considered alcohol abuse if it doesn't work. :cross:

Good luck.

FWIW, I would try something a little different before going to all that trouble. The main problem I see with a tower is that it's difficult to blow air into a confined space like that. It's difficult to displace the warm air that's trapped up inside the tower simply by blowing at it. Obviously, some air will get moved around but it won't be efficiently circulated.

Here's what I would suggest you try first. Install a fan in the fridge or freezer and run it continuously. This will get air moving across your copper tubes and the beer lines as well. The upper portion of a fridge can often be considerably warmer than the lower areas. Most fridges have a fan in them, but they don't run continuously. You can try this out without actually mounting the fan to anything and it doesn't matter much which way it blows. The objective is to simply keep the air constantly moving. Just keeping your beer lines somewhat cooler this way should help a lot. I have fans in all of my fridges, freezers and fermentation chambers. IMO, they really make a difference.

I do have to admit, I do tend to over-design things...hence a tv turned kegerator that will probably stand up to an earthquake.

Just out of curiosity, how far down do the copper tubes extend into your kegerator?

The copper tubes I have in there run down through the tower then take a 90 and run about a foot. There is ice built up at the top of the fridge that touches the pipes and its still not enough to get a frost first pour.

I modeled mine after purechaos' classy keezer.

https://cdn.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=23863&title=dsc021201&cat=1

I had an issue initially with cooling, so I ran a second small pvc pipe inside the tower and insulated around that. 12v DC fan on one side works like a charm.