Custom CO2 Distributor

I'm in the process of building a kegerator that will hold 5 cornelius kegs when completed. has anyone built or designed their own CO2 distributor?? or, can you point the way to a how-to that might help? any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks!

This may be overkill, but it's a great place to start.

http://www.ihomebrewsolutions.com/TheGreatFridgeProject.pdf

Here's the thread that our own tnlandsailor created before he compiled the pdf.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=2009

OOOH - thank you, ollllllllllllllllllllllllllllllo - I'm trying to design one myself, that PDF has all the McMaster parts! That rocks, they'll be here Thursday

you guys rock! thanks for the help. if, and when, this project is ever completed, i'll post some pics. it's a stand up deep freeze and i have high expectations for it.

I had to save a copy of that PDF, great info.

J

man alot of good 411 there. Im going to rebuild my gas system that is a great idea.
JJ

the_bird said:

OOOH - thank you, ollllllllllllllllllllllllllllllo - I'm trying to design one myself, that PDF has all the McMaster parts! That rocks, they'll be here Thursday

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Heh heh heh - where do you think I came up with this? That fridge project is cool! (no pun inteneded, actually!)

I built mine from Mcmaster parts also...

I just bought mine online from here: http://morebeer.com/browse.html?category_id=100064&keyword=&x=1&y=1. It was cheap enough.

Anyone built (or seen) one of these with gas regs on the exit side?

I'm toying with early plans for an 8- or 10-tap chest freezer conversion, and would like to be able to run 2-3 different pressures (hey, if I'm going this far, why compromise with extra-fizzy Bitters and not-quite-fizzy Hefes?). Could just set up 2-3 tanks/regs, I suppose, but a 1-tank setup with regs after the split seems more elegant

Jester369 said:

Heh heh heh - where do you think I came up with this? That fridge project is cool! (no pun inteneded, actually!)

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Ok am I on crack or what? I added most of those parts to a McMaster-Carr shopping list (I scaled mine down to a 3 port version rather than the 6 port version) and my total before shipping was $60.80. If I would have went the 6 port version I'd be looking at least $85+.

Why not just buy one of these for $65?

HarvInSTL said:

Ok am I on crack or what? I added most of those parts to a McMaster-Carr shopping list (I scaled mine down to a 3 port version rather than the 6 port version) and my total before shipping was $60.80. If I would have went the 6 port version I'd be looking at least $85+.

Why not just buy one of these for $65?

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I wanted to give PC connections a go. Compared to the total cost of the project, $20 really didn't seem that big a deal.

Bobby M has a couple of how-to videos for his kegerator project. If I remember correctly, he used a manifold that had regulators on it to adjust pressures in each keg. I think he said he got it off of Ebay for about $50.

I used Tnlandsailors plan as a guide and built a 4 port manifold with the PC fittings. They work great and have never had one leak. They are worth the extra money.

Jester369 said:

I wanted to give PC connections a go. Compared to the total cost of the project, $20 really didn't seem that big a deal.

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Good point, is there a cheaper place to get any of these exact parts?

I've seen some posts that have said that McMaster-Carr isn't normally the cheapest, but you get your order very quickly.

Thoughts?

HarvInSTL said:

Good point, is there a cheaper place to get any of these exact parts?

I've seen some posts that have said that McMaster-Carr isn't normally the cheapest, but you get your order very quickly.

Thoughts?

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Not sure where, but there have to be other sources. I use McMaster more out of convenience than anyting else - we order from them all the time, and I just add in what I need to whatever order I happen to be placing for the company. Of course, the one stop shopping with tiny shipping charges probably would balance out having to source from 3-4 separate vendors each with their own shipping. I'm just too lazy to look beyond McM.

Hhmm, anybody have success finding the gas side keg fitting adapter? The brass one that screws onto the gas out, with pc fitting.


This picture looks different than the keg fitting picture in the PDF instructions on page 9 of 19TheGreatFridgeProject.pdf. I'd post picture but I can't get the picture

uuurang said:

Hhmm, anybody have success finding the gas side keg fitting adapter? The brass one that screws onto the gas out, with pc fitting.

This picture looks different than the keg fitting picture in the PDF instructions on page 9 of 19TheGreatFridgeProject.pdf. I'd post picture but I can't get the picture

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I got mine from here

Thanks for that link. I don't know why I couldn't find it on that web page, did look for it.

I discovered a Parker Store just down the road from my house. Checked it out yesterday and they got all kinda goodies. I should be able to find something there.

You can run your primary regulator at your higher "hefe" pressure into a manifold with a few outputs, one of which hits the input of this secondary reg: http://cgi.ebay.com/Cornelius-Secondary-Regulator_W0QQitemZ230147570791QQihZ013QQ

Then take the output of that and run it into another small manifold with a few more taps. That gives you multiple pressures (two) with a few gas lines off each.

I did happen to find a 3-reg secondary bank giving me up to 4 different pressures. I don't think it's necessary... two is enough.

I added up the parts for that 6 way manifold on McMaster and it came to $99 and some change....with the PC fittings. I don't mind barb fittings so I'm going to use those but if that's the case price-wise with TNlandSailor's distributor and the one from MoreBeer that has check valves on each output I think I'll save myself $30 and go with that one. Well, that is unless anyone knows of any other site with something similar for less $$$. Always looking for a deal! I don't mind working a little harder to save some money in the longrun....

Also, I can explain it that way to the wife..."Honey, I got the cheaper one even though it requires a little more work I my end. Look at this much more expensive (thing) I could have bought instead. See, I saved us some money!" and then all is well.....in theory.

Here's a picture of the 3 way distributor that I built today. About $25 to complete.

ModlrMike said:

Here's a picture of the 3 way distributor that I built today. About $25 to complete.

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Looks good, Mike. That manifold looks just like the one I picked up at Princess Auto.

Where did you get those shut-off valves?

The manifold is indeed from Princess Auto, as are the barb connectors. I got the valves and nipples from Gregg distributors. I think they have an outlet in Burns Industrial Park and Foothills Industrial Park. Each valve was about 4 bucks. The part number for the valve is "MINI-BV-1/4". I will probably add another 3 inch nipple on the back side so that I have something to hang the manifold with.

Cool, thanks! I will check them out. I am need of something just like this, and if I can do it on the cheap, all the better!