Chest freezer kegerator

Hi All,

In a few weeks I will be building a chest freezer kegerator with a GE 7.0 freezer. My question is with regard to the drip tray. I will be building a collar, and using shanks with Perlick faucets. Looking for advice on mounting the drip tray. I don't want to put screws through the front of the freezer because I'm sure there are lines in there. I was thinking about slapping a nice piece of 1x10 red oak on the front of the collar, that should be low enough to get the tray on to, and maybe on the other side have a bottle opener and cap catcher. Any thoughts/advice will be much appreciated.

The 1 x 10 is a good idea. I have a similar freezer ( 7.2 cu ft ) and I built a 2 x 6 collar. Now I find out that a ball lock will not fit on the hump with the gas and liquid disconnects. Another forum user suggested install 1 x 10 around the collar, then that way I could put 2 x 2 under the current collar to raise it up. From the outside it would look neat and would give me a place to screw on a drip tray.

When done, I'll be able to fit 6 cornies in my kegerator.

I simply roughed up the paint on the side of the freezer and glued a piece of 1 x 3 to it. I then used some small SS screws to mount the drip tray to the wood. You can see a portion of it below the taps in this pic:



I used some Gorilla glue to attach the wood and some Tub & Tile adhesive caulk around the perimeter for a more finished appearance. Cheap and easy to do without the need to drill holes in the freezer wall.

Two L-Brackets painted to match keezer, liquid nails, and some heavy duty velcro.

Thanks, that was quick! Both great ideas. I think the wood looks great, but will probably go with L brackets because it would probably be easier to go from 2 to 3 taps down the road. Of course I ordered a 6" wall mount tray which won't even be good enough for 2 taps. Oh well.

Thanks again!

I use a couple of heavy duty magnets to hold my drip tray to the keezer.

I think I'm going to try a combination of 2 ideas. I've ordered some heavy duty rare earth magnets. Going to cut a piece of oak, along the lines of Catt22, and mount the drip tray on that. I'll epoxy the magnets into "pockets" I'll rout out of the wood so it will sit flush on the Freezer. Got the Perlicks in today, and will most likely start next week. Mass is having a sales tax free holiday this weekend so I'll get all my stuff then. Wish me luck! Thanks guys!

Someone already mentioned it, but I too would embedd a couple of small rare earth magnets into the drip and it will tsick like crazy to the side wall of the freezer. They are awesome for all sorts of applications.

I have finished this build and I'm really happy with the results, hope to have some pictures this week. Thanks for the advice! (BTW, rare earth magnets rule!)

I concur with the rare earth magnets. I use 4 on a stainless smoker tray for mine.

Going the magnet route too.

Here is a link to my finished product. What do you think???

http://webpages.charter.net/sensortech/

Looks great! That is the same freezer I used. I just need to finish running tubing, add the drip tray and put some trim at the bottom.

why is it that a collar is necessary on these chest freezer units when i see people are fitting everything just fine in smaller or equally sized units like the sanyo mini fridge that is around 33 inches tall?

The collar gives you a place to run taps, gas lines, temp probes, etc without having to drill holes in the freezer. Also, in many cases the collar will increase the number of kegs the unit will hold.

I used 3 welding magnets I got at Harbor Freight for $2.50/ea. I painted them black. Additionally, I put black electrical tape on the part that would be against the freezer, preventing them from scratching my paint.

The drip tray sits on these 3 magnets. I then put 3 rare earth magnets on the back of the drip tray so it wouldn't slide forward somehow.

I can set 3 full beers on the drip tray and it doesn't budge. Here are some pictures before I painted them black.