Keezer Build Frigidaire 15 cubic foot chest freezer

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.

WAORGANY

Supporting Member
HBT Supporter
Joined
Apr 20, 2010
Messages
470
Reaction score
17
Location
Northern NY
Well, after living and suffering with two kegs at a time smashed into a (free to me) dorm size frig with having to fight and struggle with hooking up the CO2 each time, and having the ability to only have two kegs cold at a time, and using picnic taps on beer tubes that were too short, I am upgrading to a 15 cubic foot Frigidaire chest freezer for my 6 tap (8 keg) keezer system. I am planning on having five dedicated beer taps and one soda for the kids. I will post my ongoing progress and step by step pictures of the build as I progress, providing I can figure out how to place them on here. So far I have about an hour invested in the unpacking and dis-assembly of the freezer. More to follow please stand by!!!! Thanks for watching. I will use many ideas that I have found and seen on this site and others as well. All the best. :mug:
 
I'll be following as I'm new and have read just about every one of these kinds of threads on here. I really want to build one of these some day. :mug:
 
Well here is what I have done and ordered thus far, and what I got from who. I will get the first string of photo’s loaded later today. Thanks for reading.

Shopping list:

Lowe’s:

Frigidaire 15 cu ft freezer on sale for $323.19, minus my 10% military discount, plus tax!!!

Austin Homebrew Supply:

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/index.php?cPath=178&osCsid=5b4295eb9eb7bdc68dcce445046d10c3

Refrigerator Conversion Kit x 6 = which includes 6 each of the following Perlick Perl 525SS faucets, SS 4 1/8” shank w/ SS collar, beer nut, beer washers. $55.99 http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_40_282_562_567&products_id=11656

Johnson Digital Temp Controller, $79.99, http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_40_366&products_id=12193

25’ of 5/16” air line, $11.25 http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_40_128_380&products_id=1212

The Beverage Factory:

http://www.beveragefactory.com/index.shtml

New double gas gauge, $40.87, http://www.beveragefactory.com/draf...mercial_double_gauge_beer_co2_regulator.shtml

6 way gas line manifold, $86.44, http://www.beveragefactory.com/draf...butors/aluminum_six_way_air_distributor.shtml

Beer Line cleaning/maintenance kit, $45.52, http://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer/cleaning-equipment/ck1100.shtml

William’s Brewing

Tap handle threaded inserts, what is a home brew system without a few homemade taps? 8 @ $1.10 ea,

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/TAPHANDLE_THREADED_INSERT_P1152C136.cfm

Gas Ball Locks, barbed, 4 @ $5.25, http://www.williamsbrewing.com/GAS_BALL_LOCK_BARBED_P52C110.cfm

Beer Ball Locks, barbed, 4 @ $5.25 (is what I wanted) but I clicked on threaded…so I will either use them and add barbed adapters or send them back for what I thought I was getting opps, mistake #1!!!

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/BEER_BALL_LOCK_BARBED_P80C110.cfm

Quick Disconnects x2 ea male and female @ $6.50 and $6.95 ( I want to have the ability to remove the CO2) quickly and easily. I will have two tanks a 5lb and 20lb (already have these, just adding one new gauge), the 5 lb will be for the 1 dedicated Soda tap and the 20lb for the 5 remaining and most important beer taps)!!!

http://www.williamsbrewing.com
/QUICK_DISCONNECT_1_4_TUBING_M_P2448C117.cfm

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/QUICK_DISCONNECT_1_4_TUBING_F_P2450C117.cfm

The Carobonator, I think the wife and kids will use this more than me, but should be fun for small 2 liter batches of soda, $14.90

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/CARBONATER_P115C117.cfm
And of course since I was on their web site I had to get some more brewing supplies so I can drink my current kegs down and restock!!!

The Winemaker (Watertown, NY)

http://www.thewinemaker.us/

This is my local supply shop / story….they had trouble getting better pricing on everything that I needed, but I still get much of my supplies for beer and wine making through them. Andrew and his dad are great people, and it is awesome to see a small local business that is there to support or hobby, they have tons of knowledge. I did end up getting my beer lines, 100’of 1/4” from them for $21.50. And I am sure if I forgot anything or need anything else they will have it or can get it!!!

Well that is what is happening so far I will get some pics up as soon as time permits, let me know if you have any questions!!! All the best.
 
Well, everything is going well. Here are the build steps to date:

1: Design:

I opted to go with the lift collar setup for s few reasons. First is that it will allow for everything, taps, hoses, manifold etc, to lift up with the opening of the lid and allow for easy access and removal, or adding of kegs or whatever inside. It will also allow me for more versatile portability. I will keep this in my bar/climbing gym/hot tub room half of the year, the other half, winter it will be moved inside, (the room is not heated) so the door is narrow and by removing the entire top I will be able to switch the unit back and forth with ease.

2. Day Zero:

I brought home and unloaded the freezer into the garage and unboxed it. Trial fit a few kegs and CO2 tanks. Next I removed the two long strips on front and back of the freezer that held the drop in trays. Next I disconnected the hard wired light, a quick disconnect. Then I removed the lid and hinges, placing the original screws back into the holes to prevent lose. Then I carefully removed the weather stripping seal , 4 screws and a bunch of small plastic snap clips. I plan to reuse the seal again for the door. I disconnected all the wiring and exposed the fiberglass insulation
 
3. Day One:
I measured and cut four pine furring strips and corner triangles to use to help attach the ¼” panel, collar, and hoses. Cut and measure the collar wood. I used 1x8 pine, low cost, light and ¾ “ lines up perfect with existing freezer door gasket and will add this to seal back onto the unit. (measure twice cut once).I stained this with two coats of Golden Oak stain, (already on hand). I mitered 45 degree angles for the corners. I laid out my tap positions, I centered the six holes, and spaced them 6 inches apart. I drilled pilot holes and then used a 7/8 inch paddle bit going about ¾ the way through from the front then flipped the board over and finished them up from the back, thus preventing and splintered wood. Next I joined each part front sides and back with wood glue, and three finish nails on the sides. I future reinforced the inside with two L brackets. Test fitted the collar and lid. This gave me a chance to drill holes for hinges and modified hinge plates that will be used to join the collar and the lid. I then applied two coats of a marine grade ploy to give a nice shine and help with moisture control. Between coats of poly I built a rolling base. I used some 3 1/2 “ swivel wheels that I already had, plywood, and some scrap wood, all of which was already in my garage.
 
4. Day Two:
First thing I did was attached the wood panel to the factory door lid. I applied a good amount of heavy duty liquid nails and then clamped and weighted the wood onto the door bottom and the fir strips and corner pieces. Once this was dry, I attached the collar to this lid assembly. I first used a plate that I attached to the lid and then applied liquid nails to the base of the collar and then attached the plate to the collar. Next I used four corner plates to attach the collar to the wooden panel. Next I applied a bead of clear silicone on all joints inside the collar. I still need to drill a hole for the temp probe, but must wait until it arrives to ensure the correct size. I am still debating about CO2 tanks inside the keezer or outside.
 
You post pictures by having the link to the picture ready.... and putting it between tags....

Like this (minus the red asterisks)....

[IMG][COLOR="red"]**[/COLOR]http://waorgany.blog.com/files/2010/04/Home-Brew-System-Build-2-006-150x150.jpg[COLOR="Red"]**[/COLOR]

The result will be...

Home-Brew-System-Build-2-006-150x150.jpg


Thanks for sharing your build! =D
 
A few pic of things so far...

The original starter set up
Draft-Beer-System-Build-011.jpg


What's in the box?
Draft-Beer-System-Build-013.jpg


Oh it is a new freezer!!!
Draft-Beer-System-Build-023.jpg


Preview of things to come...
Draft-Beer-System-Build-029.jpg


I can't wait to get these all hooked up
Draft-Beer-System-Build-032.jpg


Lid covered removed
Draft-Beer-System-Build-063.jpg
 
WOW, those are some big pics. Might want to try and re-size them some.

Where did you score those casters? They look pretty beefy. I bought some HD specials, and they suck. Looking for alternatives that will handle the weight.
 
WOW, those are some big pics. Might want to try and re-size them some.

Where did you score those casters? They look pretty beefy. I bought some HD specials, and they suck. Looking for alternatives that will handle the weight.

Not sure how to resize the pics, my first attempt at posting them....need to figure that out..LOL

As far as the casters go, I am not sure they have been hanging out for a few years in the garage, originally bought/acquired to mount on the frame for my generator, but that never happened, saw the crud at HD and didn't want to try Harbour Frieght ( I am sure they would have something that would work) so I dug these out....found a pair, then the third and my lucky wife scored #4!!!!
 
On Day 0 you mentioned that you disconnected the hard wired light and that it was a quick disconnect. Do you remember exactly what you did for this?

We just got the same freezer and upon removing the lid we realized the power cord to the light won't be long enough once we put the collar on. We took a look but aren't quite sure the best way to go about disconnecting the cord that goes to the light.

Thanks!
 
DrunkenAnchor said:
On Day 0 you mentioned that you disconnected the hard wired light and that it was a quick disconnect. Do you remember exactly what you did for this?

We just got the same freezer and upon removing the lid we realized the power cord to the light won't be long enough once we put the collar on. We took a look but aren't quite sure the best way to go about disconnecting the cord that goes to the light.

Thanks!

DA,

Yeah it was a plastic plug with female and male ends with w tap that held them together I pulled them apart by lifting up with a standard flat tip screw driver and separated the two ends at the connector. I discarded the light and the entire plastic lid section, and the associated switch that activated the light. All that remained was the end with a positive and negative connector. I wrapped this with electrical tape, but that was probably not needed. Have been using it since the build for several years with no issues, just no light inside but not so much needed. Good luck.
 
Back
Top