I know there's a million kegerator builds out there, but here's my GE WRM04GAVABB mini fridge on an EXTREMELY low budget. I'm the single income provider of a family of four, full time job, and classes at night working on my degree. I'm a very diy person, "It ain't broke until I can't fix it". So heres my build.
The fridge has been sitting out in the shed for a couple of years after it stopped working. After replacing the defrost heater and inlet valves on our main fridge, I decided to take a look at it. After a few minutes with the multimeter I found the thermostat was bad. Well after awhile searching online, the best I found was $15 (universal) on ebay before shipping. Next day I called a local small town used appliance store, and got a "good ol boy" hook up, didn't come from the same fridge, but I can make it work. After a few modifications it fit right in, and the fridge was running like a champ again.
Well I had the fridge, but I'm still lacking kegs, CO2 tank, regulator, draft tower, and everything else. After a few calls to friends and craigslist ad's, I scored a faucet, ball lock corny, and 15lb (FOR SALE) 20lb CO2 tanks. For a grand total of.... FREE (All from friends).
So time to dig around all the random stuff I have and get to work. First was the tap handle. I got the faucet first, so this was my first project. It was a scrap piece of red oak I had lying around. Free handed the outline then went at it with the jigsaw. I came back later with the dremel and router attachment to do the bottom. Used a soldering iron to slightly burn it, then used some krylon satin clear I had.
I didn't have anything yet else so I looked through my junk pile and found a piece of 3" PVC and a drain, draft tower was next. A lot of sanding, several coats of high build primer, 400 grit sanding, satin black krylon and then clear. Done.
Well, I can't build a shank for the tap, but I can build a collar so it will fit on my draft tower. After a failed drunken attempt the night before with the drill press and hole saw, I decided to try again the next day. I took some measurements from my buddies kegerator and found that a 3/4" PVC coupler is the perfect size. I traced the rough shape on to the elbow I had, then took the dremal with a cut off wheel to it. It was WAY of, so used the dremel once again with a small sanding pad to slowly shape it till I was happy.
Since my freezer section of the fridge was the coils, I VERY carefully bent and shaped the to the back. I found I can actually fit two kegs without removing anything from the door (more room for beer!!) with the CO2 tank external.
Next random project was a draft tower cooler. I took an old spinner bait box, computer fan, switch (came with the mini fridge thermostat), a PVC coupling, and power supply I had and came up with this.
So far I'm in it for a grand total of...... $0 (kind of). SHWMO wanted to trash the fridge but I kept it around, paid around $140 four years ago. The rest of the stuff I had lying around and got from friends. I'm still lacking a shank and CO2 regulator. So more pics when it's complete.
The fridge has been sitting out in the shed for a couple of years after it stopped working. After replacing the defrost heater and inlet valves on our main fridge, I decided to take a look at it. After a few minutes with the multimeter I found the thermostat was bad. Well after awhile searching online, the best I found was $15 (universal) on ebay before shipping. Next day I called a local small town used appliance store, and got a "good ol boy" hook up, didn't come from the same fridge, but I can make it work. After a few modifications it fit right in, and the fridge was running like a champ again.
Well I had the fridge, but I'm still lacking kegs, CO2 tank, regulator, draft tower, and everything else. After a few calls to friends and craigslist ad's, I scored a faucet, ball lock corny, and 15lb (FOR SALE) 20lb CO2 tanks. For a grand total of.... FREE (All from friends).
So time to dig around all the random stuff I have and get to work. First was the tap handle. I got the faucet first, so this was my first project. It was a scrap piece of red oak I had lying around. Free handed the outline then went at it with the jigsaw. I came back later with the dremel and router attachment to do the bottom. Used a soldering iron to slightly burn it, then used some krylon satin clear I had.
I didn't have anything yet else so I looked through my junk pile and found a piece of 3" PVC and a drain, draft tower was next. A lot of sanding, several coats of high build primer, 400 grit sanding, satin black krylon and then clear. Done.
Well, I can't build a shank for the tap, but I can build a collar so it will fit on my draft tower. After a failed drunken attempt the night before with the drill press and hole saw, I decided to try again the next day. I took some measurements from my buddies kegerator and found that a 3/4" PVC coupler is the perfect size. I traced the rough shape on to the elbow I had, then took the dremal with a cut off wheel to it. It was WAY of, so used the dremel once again with a small sanding pad to slowly shape it till I was happy.
Since my freezer section of the fridge was the coils, I VERY carefully bent and shaped the to the back. I found I can actually fit two kegs without removing anything from the door (more room for beer!!) with the CO2 tank external.
Next random project was a draft tower cooler. I took an old spinner bait box, computer fan, switch (came with the mini fridge thermostat), a PVC coupling, and power supply I had and came up with this.
So far I'm in it for a grand total of...... $0 (kind of). SHWMO wanted to trash the fridge but I kept it around, paid around $140 four years ago. The rest of the stuff I had lying around and got from friends. I'm still lacking a shank and CO2 regulator. So more pics when it's complete.
