ball lock fittings

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

roryspa

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2007
Messages
63
Reaction score
0
Location
Warwick, RI
2 quick questions:

1)Has anyone used a fridge for a kegerator that had one of the freezers (ones that are like a flat plate kind of shaped like a "U")? If you have what did you do with it? We are debating unmounting it from the top and mounting it to the back out of the way. Does this sound realistic?

2)when using ball lock quick disconnect couplings on a Pepsi style keg, do the fittings stick out substantially past the height of the handle or are they pretty much flush?

Thanks in advance for any help!
 
1) Don't know

2) They stick out a little bit - probably about a 1/4 - 1/2" without measuring
 
I made a kegerator with the exact same type of "U" freezer. On my freezer, I just removed the clamps that held the freezer box up there, which also happens to be the cooling unit. It was pretty pliable, so I just gave it a little bend so that it was nice and snug up against the back of the fridge, kept in place with some brackets. Works great!
 
roryspa said:
2 quick questions:

1)Has anyone used a fridge for a kegerator that had one of the freezers (ones that are like a flat plate kind of shaped like a "U")? If you have what did you do with it? We are debating unmounting it from the top and mounting it to the back out of the way. Does this sound realistic?

2)when using ball lock quick disconnect couplings on a Pepsi style keg, do the fittings stick out substantially past the height of the handle or are they pretty much flush?

Thanks in advance for any help!
That U shaped part is usually filled with refrigerant, so you can't take it out - unless you are talking about a different model than what I am thinking about.
 
The freezer evaporator coil is in the refrigerant circuit and absolutely cannot be removed. As far as moving it out of the way is concerned, it could possibly be done if you were VERY careful that you didn't kink the refrigerant tubing when you were bending it. If it kinks, even a little bit, it may render the unit inoperable. It would then have to be cut out, the kinks cut out, then brazed back in with new tubing. Sounds easy, but it requires a lot of specialized equipment and training to perform both safely and legally.

Ball lock kegs are about 25" high. The QD adds another 1/2" to the height. In the photo below though you can see that you need to allow for the arc in the tubing and the fitting. The red line measures 26 1/2". Hope this helps.

DSC02172.jpg
 
John thanks for the reply and diagram! Is yours under a bar or is there a tower right on top of it? Mine will be under the bar. The fridge is 32" or 33" the bar to is 44". Ive seen the whole thing on keeping lines cool with the pvc piping. Im wondering if i did not do the pvc piping thing and i just bought pipe insulation to go around lines to tower and the distance from fridge to tower is like 10"-14". would that be a huge problem as far as foaming?
Thanks again!:mug:
 
That may not be the optimal fridge model to work with. You'll need to be careful about that plate as it can freeze the beer in the lines. IMHO, sell that fridge and find youself a used sanyo on craigslist. I located one in less than a week in the NJ area for $65.
 
roryspa said:
John thanks for the reply and diagram! Is yours under a bar or is there a tower right on top of it?...

It has a tower. I bought a Sanyo kegerator and replaced the cheesy plastic tower that comes with it with an unassembled tower from ACU, and assembled it myself with shanks from Micromatic and Shirron faucets from eBay.

4295-DSC02295.jpg
 
Back
Top