Kegerator Conversion with Danby DAR440BL?

ObiDon said:

Cheers!

Does your model have supports for the shelves that plug into brackets along the back or does it use molded supports on the sides of the fridge? I bought the one from Costco and it has the molded supports which I had to cut out in order to fit two corny kegs.

I posted some pics here: Danby DAR044

I haven't picked out my tower yet so I'm just using picnic taps for now.

Don

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Don I have the same one you got. I looked at the pics and got spooked for a min b/c my door cut outs are almost identical to yours! I got a twin tap tower custom homebrew kit from beveragefactory.com, seems to be the way a lot of folks are going with this.

brewerdudeaz said:

I used a 1/4" drill bit, they fit though without an issue. I didn't bother with a support on the inside, it holds just fine.

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Thx for the info -- will go all the way up to 1/4" hole tomorrow and complete the project (fixing leaky MLT has taken project time priority the last few weeks)

pvburton said:

... I got a twin tap tower custom homebrew kit from beveragefactory.com, seems to be the way a lot of folks are going with this.


Thx for the info -- will go all the way up to 1/4" hole tomorrow and complete the project (fixing leaky MLT has taken project time priority the last few weeks)

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Be sure and post some pictures!


Don

Do you have to disable the freezer in this model? or is it just a fridge?

Just a fridge.

I completed my conversion today. I also received one of the newer ones with a door that had glued on foam in shape of the shelving which was covered in plastic. I was able to rip all of that out and get the foam flat enough to mount the dry erase board. I used the original seal and gorilla glued in around the edges since it was no longer tight. The door now seals perfect. The ones with the screws would be SO much easier though. I probably spent 5 hours on the door alone. The tower mounting was a breeze!

Thanks for everyone who's contributed to this thread. I think I'm leaning towards this fridge for my build.

Has anyone had any experience putting a copper pipe up tower to cool the lines on the this fridge? I've seen it done on the Frigidare build but haven't seen it here. I'd really like to try to avoid having a fan in there to blow air up the tower.

Also, from what I've gathered the thermostat is mounted in the ceiling by the light. Has anyone tried hooking up an external thermostat to this? I wouldn't mind trying to get a little more temperature control with something other than is installed.

I'm finishing building one of these this week. Did all of the door work over Thanksgiving by cutting out the door panels and mounting a piece of plexiglass over it. I still need to paint on a primer and then chalkboard paint. By maintaining the original gasket on the door, all of the caulk work is hidden, so the final product will look super clean.

Going to use the copper tubing / spray foam method for cooling the tower. I'll bolt it all on probably on Christmas. Will post pictures when finished!

CHans3 said:

I'm finishing building one of these this week. Did all of the door work over Thanksgiving by cutting out the door panels and mounting a piece of plexiglass over it. I still need to paint on a primer and then chalkboard paint. By maintaining the original gasket on the door, all of the caulk work is hidden, so the final product will look super clean.

Going to use the copper tubing / spray foam method for cooling the tower. I'll bolt it all on probably on Christmas. Will post pictures when finished!

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Awesome, I can't wait to see what it looks like all done. Merry Christmas!

wsender said:

Also, from what I've gathered the thermostat is mounted in the ceiling by the light. Has anyone tried hooking up an external thermostat to this? I wouldn't mind trying to get a little more temperature control with something other than is installed.

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I wasn't going to, but my test run iced up the lines w/ the stock thermo set to 3/4 power.

Instead of futzing with it to dial it in (and risk further icing of my brand new equipment) I just hooked up my Dwyer TSS2 unit to it.

The temps dived way past my set point w/ the stock thermo on 100% in this configuration, so I ended up dialing it back to 1/2 power, which dives only about .7 degree F. I'm happy with this, since in the summer it may not make it as far down.

Got a 10-minute duty cycle programmed in... might set that higher in the summer as well.

luke2080 said:

I put tape over the switch for the light. I'll never need that light on, so would rather have it off. But I can always remove tape if I want it.

All other parts of the build was followed through the original instructions for this model.

Those instructions, beside the door, are still spot on. Drilled the top hole 5.5" from rear, 10" from left.

I got the fridge for $170 - free shipping with Amazon Prime, so got it 2 days after i ordered. Too bad Keg Cowboy is 2 weeks behind my fridge order. Still haven't had a frosty beverage out of it yet.

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When you say you drilled the top hole 5.5" from the rear and 10" from the left, is that with or without the top plastic piece? Also, is that for center of the hole ?

Finally finished the last mods to my Danby, cut out the shelf supports to be able to handle 1/6bbl commercial kegs as well as cornies. Also added a 3 port manifold, mounted to the existing shelf support rail. Now locked and loaded with MyPA, and a 1/6bbl of Full Sail Amber.

Great job! What tool did you use to cut out the shelf supports?

joshb said:

Great job! What tool did you use to cut out the shelf supports?

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Thanks, I used an oscillating multi-tool from Harbor Freight:
http://www.harborfreight.com/power-...ol-single-speed-oscillating-16-amp-68861.html

Handy for lots of jobs around the house as well and under $20..

Has anyone made this fridge work with 1/4 barrels? Maybe a 1/6 and 1/4? I want to build one, but would like to have the option of two 1/4 barrels..

Mine just arrived today. I'm using a single faucet tower and found that once I removed the slide-in
storage compartments in the door, I could fit a ball-lock cornie and a 10 lb. steel gas tank inside without cutting up the door. I left in a couple of the plastic can holders to store yeast vials and packets.

ThatGeekGuy said:

Finally finished the last mods to my Danby, cut out the shelf supports to be able to handle 1/6bbl commercial kegs as well as cornies. Also added a 3 port manifold, mounted to the existing shelf support rail. Now locked and loaded with MyPA, and a 1/6bbl of Full Sail Amber.

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Is that Pin Lock in there with the 1/6bbl? If so, then two Pin Locks would fit with the mods?

Edit: Answered my own questions. 1/6bbl height = 23 3/8". Pic shows HB keg taller than 1/6bbl. Pin Lock height = 21/23". Ball Lock height = 25". HB keg in pic = Ball Lock.

Still a beautiful build.

I got a message yesterday asking if I'd post some pics of mine since it holds 2 pin lock kegs. Here ya go opus!

That's right because the kegs were empty (until tonight) the tap handles had Sad Ness written on them.

To get the two kegs I just used my angle grinder and chopped away the ledge that held the bottom shelf in place. Suuuper easy if you have an angle grinder. And if you don't and you plan on HBT-engineering projects you really should go buy one. Totally worth it!.

Hope this helps anyone who is on the fence of converting this kegerator. I've had it over 2 years and love it.

Cheers,

James

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/needing-pics-danby-converted-kegerator-door-panel-please-392027/

Here is a link to what I did as far as having to modify the door. The old danby models had the door liner screwed in and the new one have the door liner glued in. It is actually a VERY small modification for anyone that it looking to cut as little as possible.

Good Point! I totally forgot that I took off all of the door stuff. I took out all of the door stuff and replaced it with a piece of plexi-glass. Without doing this you can't fit 2 kegs.

Yeah baby. Gonna order one tonight. Might stop out at HF to see what they got in the way of grinders. I know that HF isn't quality tools, but it might be a decent value. Thanks for the pics. When I get started on my build I will reciprocate.

ThatGeekGuy said:

Finally finished the last mods to my Danby, cut out the shelf supports to be able to handle 1/6bbl commercial kegs as well as cornies. Also added a 3 port manifold, mounted to the existing shelf support rail. Now locked and loaded with MyPA, and a 1/6bbl of Full Sail Amber.

Click to expand...

Beautiful build. Just picked up a DAR440BL at NFM for $156. Looking at this kit from KegConnection. Thinking of going with 10' beer lines.

Your pics will really help. Can you share any info on your air recirculator (black box with white hose)?

Thanks.

Has anyone been able to squeeze two 1/6ths in there?

opus345 said:

Beautiful build. Just picked up a DAR440BL at NFM for $156. Looking at this kit from KegConnection. Thinking of going with 10' beer lines.

Your pics will really help. Can you share any info on your air recirculator (black box with white hose)?

Thanks.

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My tower cooler box was a DIY project, built with stuff from Radio Shack and Home Depot, and a USB fan with speed control from Amazon. I've got pics somewhere, I'll post them up if I find them. You can buy premade ones, or search the forums and the web for other approaches.

sbrbrad said:

Has anyone been able to squeeze two 1/6ths in there?

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Not without a sledgehammer and a crowbar....

Hey all,

I mentioned I was doing this conversion over Christmas but I guess I never posted photos of the finished product. Here it is with the tap handle I posted about a few weeks back!

The door needs to be updated. I've brewed another 25 gallons since I took that picture in January!

I really want a kegerator and this is what I want to do, but nervous about dropping $200 and then f'n something up when modifying. It all seems pretty straight forward, but Murphy's Law...

Here is my build.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/entries/custom-danby-conversion.html

Hello all and thanks so much for all the great info and pics on this danby build. I will be using the 440 or whatever equivelent model I can find on a top tower build.

I dont think anyone has attempted this but would like to hear from those who have been in this unit cutting and modifying. Mine will sit under my bar which has about 10 inches of overhang I would like to slide the unit under.

That being said, the tower would need to be more toward the center. How hard does it seem it would be to remove and relocate (via duck tape, super glue, spliced wires, etc) the light/thermostat fixture that sits in the center of the top?

Thanks again everyone,

Mike

I am about to build a keezer to replace my Danby kegerator. I would be willing to let the Danby go cheap. It has two holes drilled in it to recirculate air for a remote faucet.

Chris

Thanks but i need a new ss model.

I'd love to hear thoughts from folks that have modified this unit on how hard it will be to relocate the thermo/light fixture. I am assuming just wiring and housing????

JMBTempest said:

Here is my build.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/entries/custom-danby-conversion.html

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Drilling from the inside. Smart.

And I'm going to steal your access hole location.

You elevated it from a nice build to beautiful with the glass tiles.

opus345 said:

Drilling from the inside. Smart.

And I'm going to steal your access hole location.

You elevated it from a nice build to beautiful with the glass tiles.

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Thank you opus345, brew on my friend...

meegwell said:

Thanks but i need a new ss model.

I'd love to hear thoughts from folks that have modified this unit on how hard it will be to relocate the thermo/light fixture. I am assuming just wiring and housing????

Click to expand...

I converted the SS model a couple months ago. Not sure what your plans are, but for 2 ball Locks it is not necessary to relocate the light/thermostat. I drilled in the space between the unit and the coils in the back. I unscrewed the unit so i could have it out of the way when I drilled down without worrying about the electric, then reattached it after the fact. I did see someone else posted that they drilled from the inside, which is pretty genius.

I don't know about everyone else that has completed this conversion, but a dremmel was my best friend. Made cutting out the door panel a breeze as well as cutting the metal layer in the top of the fridge.

ThatGeekGuy said:

Thanks, I used an oscillating multi-tool from Harbor Freight:
http://www.harborfreight.com/power-...ol-single-speed-oscillating-16-amp-68861.html

Handy for lots of jobs around the house as well and under $20..

Click to expand...

What attachment did you use to cut out the shelf supports?

NWMushroom said:

What attachment did you use to cut out the shelf supports?

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I just used a utility knife with a sharp blade. Cut them right out no problems.

RSNovi said:

I just used a utility knife with a sharp blade. Cut them right out no problems.

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Seconding this.

If you're having a tough time on parts, I found it easy to score the plastic lightly then do a full blade depth pass afterwards. The plastic and the foam are two very different materials that react differently to the blade.

Because of this thread, I ordered one of these from Amazon a few months ago and I am really looking forward to doing this conversion when I get home. Unfortunately I am still on vacation in Afghanistan, so it will have to wait.

Here is what I want to do if someone can look this over and confirm my plan, maybe help me choose a kit:

I want a tower with two faucets. One tap will be a cornie with a mixed drink like rum and coke for (SWMBO). I know this requires 20ft lines for the soda and higher pressure so I assume I need dual regulators. The second tap will be commercial 1/6, I really like Sierra Nevada and that is likely what I will have in it.

Thanks in advance, also thanks to everyone else who posted in the thread!

NWMushroom said:

What attachment did you use to cut out the shelf supports?

Click to expand...

I used the Japanese blade on mine.

Has anyone tried fitting a 2.5 or 3 gallon keg on the compressor hump in this fridge, along with the two 5 gallon ball locks?

Took some measurements but seems a mini keg would be too wide with two cornies in there too.

I'm trying to get the danby to sit at about 40. I have the thermostat dialed to about '10 o clock' right now. Any tips from those who sit their kegs at around 40?