Okay, here is my story, and there is a good chance this is a stupid question...so bare with me.
I am planning on getting into kegging soon, in the next month or so, and I have been kind of eyeballing the stuff I am going to need (kegs, CO2 tank, regulator, chest freezer, controller, tubing etc etc). Anyway, my plan was to get a mediumish sized chest freezer, in the 8cu ft range, and keep my keg(s), CO2 tank et all inside of the chest freezer with picnic taps and eventually make some taps on the freezer. Anyway, I now have a slim possibility of picking up a 20lb tank for cheap (cheaper than I can get a 5lb at any of the online places I checked). I dont know the source too well, but he says he bought it a few years ago and never used it. Here are my questions:
1) If I had a 20lb tank, there is virtually no way I would be able to fit it inside the chest freezer. How would I go about that? Just leave it outside the freezer and maybe drill a hole for the line?
2) What do I need to know safety wise? I know that a tank needs to be pressure tested every so many years, but how many years is that? Is there anyway to tell when it was last done without just taking the guys word for it?
3) would it be smarter to just buy the tank and take it to a professional and have him look at it? If he told me it was not right, do you think the expense of fixing it would be excessive?
I am planning on getting into kegging soon, in the next month or so, and I have been kind of eyeballing the stuff I am going to need (kegs, CO2 tank, regulator, chest freezer, controller, tubing etc etc). Anyway, my plan was to get a mediumish sized chest freezer, in the 8cu ft range, and keep my keg(s), CO2 tank et all inside of the chest freezer with picnic taps and eventually make some taps on the freezer. Anyway, I now have a slim possibility of picking up a 20lb tank for cheap (cheaper than I can get a 5lb at any of the online places I checked). I dont know the source too well, but he says he bought it a few years ago and never used it. Here are my questions:
1) If I had a 20lb tank, there is virtually no way I would be able to fit it inside the chest freezer. How would I go about that? Just leave it outside the freezer and maybe drill a hole for the line?
2) What do I need to know safety wise? I know that a tank needs to be pressure tested every so many years, but how many years is that? Is there anyway to tell when it was last done without just taking the guys word for it?
3) would it be smarter to just buy the tank and take it to a professional and have him look at it? If he told me it was not right, do you think the expense of fixing it would be excessive?