Dual Hinge Keezer Build!

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krenshaw

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i wanted to document my keezer build to inspire other as i have been inspired by many threads on here..

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/chest-freezer-keezer-conversion-mikees-diy-build-242624/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/converting-frigidaire-7-2-cu-ft-chest-freezer-162225/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/ge-7-cf-fcm7suww-keezer-conversion-192208/

i have the collar done, so i wanted to get some pics up as i'm waiting on all of the rest of the materials to be delivered..

i started out with my chest freezer.. we bought it new around 5 years ago to use for food, but we recently upgraded to a huge upright so i got to use this one to convert to a keezer! i sold my old 2 tap kegerator on craigslist for some seed money for all the hardware for this..

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i decided to go the 1x10 dual hinged collar route because i liked the flexibility of being able to open either just the lid, or the lid and the collar (or should i call it a quad hinged collar?).. doing this i was also able to make it fit snugly on the inside lip of the freezer, but still have it look flush from the outside.. seems to be a little more work overall, but really will be worth it in the long run..
 
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for the actual collar i went with 1x10 oak for the outside, rigid foam insulation for the middle, and some leftover plywod i had lying aroudn for the inside.. i did the sections because i wanted the look of the oak on the outside, but didn't trust the small thickness of the wood to be strong enough..

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i mitered the oak and used L-brackets to hold them to form.. next i added some bracing on the inside to be able to attach the plywood later, and to have a good mounting location for the hinges in the rear..
 
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once the bracing was set i glued all of the insulation on the inside so it was flush with the bracing..

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then i cut and added the plywood on the inside so it was flush with the lip on the inside of the keezer.. that way i'll have 2 staggered locations for which weatherstripping will sit to provide a good seal from the outside.. i also added caulking just about every place that appeared to have a crack our wasn't flush..
 
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i used some inspiration from a keezer metioned in the above links to use aluminum flashing to cover the finished areas to make it look a bit more complete.. without any sort of bender for the material it was a bit difficult to get it to do what i wanted to, but i made it work after a lot of bending and hammering and gluing.. be sure to always wear gloves when working with stuff as it is sharp!

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after i had the flashing all set up, i put the new weatherstripping in place on both parts of the underside.. you can see from this image the difference in size from the inside and the outside portions.. the longer part with the weatherstripping sits nice and snug on the inside lip of the freezer..

currently i do have the hinges set up and ready to put on the casters that should be on my doorstep when i get home tonight.. i'll post more pics soon..
 
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here is an image from the inside with the hinges installed and the flashing all finished.. the seals ended up nice and tight and haven't noticed any problems with how its working.. i have one keg of apfelwein in there, but sadly no way of drinking any until my AHS order comes in on tuesday..

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the dual hinge design works quite nicely.. from taking inspiration from other builds, i will be able to open just the lightweight top if i need to make an adjustment or get a bottle of something out, or i can open the collar to switch kegs w/o having to worry about the shanks in my way.. you'll notice i had to slightly adapt the hinges i purchased as the only ones i could locate that had the right pattern on were a little small..
 
i decided to make a little sled for the keezer to sit on rather than drill anything into the bottom.. no place on the bottom seemed easy enough/secure enough to put the casters on, and this way the taps will be at a nice comfortable height.. here is me in the process of making the little sled.. pocket screws were a good way to hold the nice oak front on..

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and here is how it looks as of now, waiting for some more deliveries to make it an actual working keezer! glad the timing will work out well with the beers i currently have fermenting..

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this morning i received my new tank, regulator, and some air tubing.. i needed a way to attach the tank and regulator to the keezer, but since i have a dual hinge it is slightly more difficult to keep it stable when opening both hinges.. i adapted a way from aluminum stock to secure a mounting bracket using the hing screws already in place.. that let me be able to secure everything without having to worry about drilling into the side of the keezer.. i was sure to make it strong/large enough to be able to hold a beer gas tank as well for when i add that as a fourth tap in my setup (hopefully around xmas time).. here are 2 pics, one with just the regular semi-permanently mounted, and the other with the tank on its shelf.. its quite easy to remove the tank to get it refilled, and i'm planning on adding a velcro strap or two to keep it secure as well..

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Great looking job. I like the flashing installed on the inside of the collar.

I've started planning a conversion of a Frigidaire 8.8 cf freezer to a keezer and will definitely use your build for lots of ideas. My only change so far would be to either locate the co2 bottle and regulators inside the freezer, or build the shelf as an extension to the base. That way the base would protect the regulators from being bumped into a wall.
 
ah i didn't even think of building it into the base.. the base was actually an afterthought on my part.. was going to screw the casters into the bottom, but didn't like the idea once i took a look.. our basement has thick insulation wrapped along the walls so i'm not worrying about it getting bumped into anything, good idea on the base though..

on another note.. i received my shipment from AHS and it is just sitting next to me at work, but i can't do anything with it until after work except open it up and look at all the shiny parts :-(
 
home with the AHS order, so on with the build!!

first i put the manifolds in for the air distribution.. props to homebrewstuff.com for putting a vent on one side, nice touch..

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next i installed the fan and the air lines.. i also installed a bracket on the bottom of the fan to hold my dehumidifier.. i remember reading somewhere that a good place to locate that and the temperature probe is inside of the fan path.. the probe will be located towards the bottom of the freezer..

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next was on for the johnson controller.. i mounted it with industrial velcro on the back next to my regulator so it'll be easy to peek around when necessary.. the probe goes through the same hole in the collar as the power cord for the fan.. i'll just need to buy some spray foam to fill that gap up..

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i also measured out the locations for the taps, handle, and bottle opener.. i currently have 3 taps, but want to leave a spot to put a fourth tap in the future for a beer mix stout tap..

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here is the front as of now.. the open space between the handle and the 1st faucet will be the future location for the last tap..

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next on the list is to connect the beverage lines (not looking forward to that as i see it takes some time to work with the accuflex bev-seal lines) and to create the tap handles.. i'll be making 4 of them with chalkboards to easily identify the beers.. i'll probably put that as a new thread, really excited about those as well..
 
Your Keezer has some nice touches, and you've finished off the inside quite nice! How many hours do you estimate that you have into your build?
 
thanks guys.. glad that it is now on and keeping my apfelwein cold while i wait to keg more and get some CO2 filled..

hmm.. hard to gauge for the collar because a lot of it was glue/clamp/wait.. the collar and wheels maybe a total of 4-5 hours of actual work time.. the inside/mounting another 2 so far.. probably still have another 2 or 3 to do the beer lines and tap handles
 
You will need to insulate your CO2 tank from the heat generated by the coils in the side of the freezer. The temp change will make your pressure all jacked up as it changes the boiling point of the liquid CO2 and thus pressures inside the tank. The regulators you use wont deal with it properly and your output pressure will bounce all over the map. I learned this one the hard way.
 
it seems like its been fine, its been up for a month now with no noticeable problems.. though i do still have a half a sheet of the insulation so i can always put some between the back and the tank just in case.. thanks for the heads up
 
I have not yet begun my keezer, though I do have many of the parts. I love what you are doing and may incorporate some of your ideas into my project (when I get around to it). Good job!

Mark
 
ah i didn't even think of building it into the base.. the base was actually an afterthought on my part.. was going to screw the casters into the bottom, but didn't like the idea once i took a look.. our basement has thick insulation wrapped along the walls so i'm not worrying about it getting bumped into anything, good idea on the base though..(

After I mentioned building the holder for the CO2 bottle into the base I figured out a reason NOT to do that, it might not roll through a doorway! I ended up building a slide out sub-base which fits under the keezer but built into the dolly base. I can then remove it before trying to move the keezer from room to room. Glad I figured it out before getting too far into my build. Just a warning for the next guy.
 
would love to see some picks with the top opened the two different ways. I have been thinking about rebuilding mine, if I ever get around to it, just to change things around a little with the options from other I have seen sense I have made mine. Just to make things easier on my down the road. I also would like to move it from the garage to the sreened in porch and if it's going to be more visible I want to make it a touch more pleasing to the eye. although it's not bad, just minor upgrades/changes would be needed.
Thanks for the post, you have a fine looking keezer.
 
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the dual hinge design works quite nicely.. from taking inspiration from other builds, i will be able to open just the lightweight top if i need to make an adjustment or get a bottle of something out, or i can open the collar to switch kegs w/o having to worry about the shanks in my way.. you'll notice i had to slightly adapt the hinges i purchased as the only ones i could locate that had the right pattern on were a little small..

that seems like a lot of weight for the stock freezer hinges, oak is pretty heavy on its own...anyone had top lid weight issues issues?
 
I wonder how melamie mdf would hold up on the interior, instead of the aluminum sheets.
 
I do not think the mdf would hold up even though it has the melamie over it. MDF and any hint of moisture just do not work well together. I think over time it will eventually swell up from moisture unless one lives out in an arid desert somewhere!

I would think something like this from HomeDepot would work great though: http://www.homedepot.com/p/1-16-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-Plastic-Panel-63003/202090190. You would just need to seal all the seams with silicon glue.
 
that plastic panel would probably be better than the flashing i used.. i had a heck of a time trying to get it to lay flat after bending it around the corners and such.. maybe just a good adhesive would be needed to hold it together, and then you're right some silicone caulk would be nice on the seams
 

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