Need to child proof my keezer!

I have the perlick 575 w/creamer don't think the tap locks are going to work for me. I saw these 5/16" valve on-line somewhere I don't remember what wed site. I was thinking about doing it on the back side or the shank. On the beverage line. Any ideas, url's, and pictures would help.

Just disconnect the liquid lines on the kegs! They are already quick disconnect.

lucas-3 said:

Just disconnect the liquid lines on the kegs! They are already quick disconnect.

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Lol i didn't even think of that.

Disconecting the lines would be the easy solution as Lucas-3 already said.

My problem is a little more difficult as I need to figure out a way to "teenager proof" my keezer. Not so much to keep my son out of it, but possibly his friends (or even friends of friends now that he is in High School). I know what I was like in High School. Thankfully my son is taking more after his mom than me when it comes to getting in trouble.

I need to devise a way to lock the lid of the freezer, while still making it look good so that his friends will not simply hook the lines back up, have a few drinks, and then disconnect the lines.

When I come up with a way, I will probably post the results as it is a question that pops up around here from time to time.

Depending on the look of your keezer, you could go with an antique latch and padlock replica. Would still look good and be teeanger safe,

I have a great idea for the teenager proofing- rather than lock it I would alarm it. I would get a wireless home alarm kit (around $20 online) and put a window alarm on the lid of the keezer. When someone opens the keezer the alarm (which is in your room) goes off.

One step above that would be to set up a wireless alarm like the above for the taps. Use a sensor like a driveway or garage door safety to sense whenever a tap handle moves forward it breaks the beam and the alarm goes off.

SpentGrains said:

I have a great idea for the teenager proofing- rather than lock it I would alarm it. I would get a wireless home alarm kit (around $20 online) and put a window alarm on the lid of the keezer. When someone opens the keezer the alarm (which is in your room) goes off.

One step above that would be to set up a wireless alarm like the above for the taps. Use a sensor like a driveway or garage door safety to sense whenever a tap handle moves forward it breaks the beam and the alarm goes off.

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Thats a great idea, but what if your out of town.

Tell him some BS... show him a gauge and tell him when you connect it, it shows not only the amount of air pressure but also the liquid levels.

Then show him a fist & let him know what happens when liquid levels aren't where they were when you left...

VegasJ said:

Tell him some BS... show him a gauge and tell him when you connect it, it shows not only the amount of air pressure but also the liquid levels.

Then show him a fist & let him know what happens when liquid levels aren't where they were when you left...

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Haha while I appreciate this (and I know you're partially joking), lying to a teenager is going down the wrong path. Once they know you're lying, they'll probably never trust you again. If you trust your son, you can trust him to make good decisions. Just sit him down and have a talk.

VegasJ said:

Tell him some BS... show him a gauge and tell him when you connect it, it shows not only the amount of air pressure but also the liquid levels.

Then show him a fist & let him know what happens when liquid levels aren't where they were when you left...

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A girl I work with fell for that same story when she was a teenager.

The problem now is that kids have Google and access to HBT. It wouldn't take much energy to disprove that statement.

Get a solid bar and some eye loop blots, run the bar through the eyes to the point that it prevents the handles from opening. Then put a lock on one end and bend the bar on the other.

i was planning on grabbing some lock-out tag-out boxes for electrical stuff and modding them to fit over a faucet. they have spots to run different gauge wires and such through so i cant see it being that hard. plus has a spot to pad lock it shut.

Shawnylocks said:

i was planning on grabbing some lock-out tag-out boxes for electrical stuff and modding them to fit over a faucet. they have spots to run different gauge wires and such through so i cant see it being that hard. plus has a spot to pad lock it shut.

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Trying to picture that in my head. Seems like a great idea.

Gear101 said:

Get a solid bar and some eye loop blots, run the bar through the eyes to the point that it prevents the handles from opening. Then put a lock on one end and bend the bar on the other.

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I was actually thinking about doing something similar to this, but instead of locking out the taps, use it to lock the lid. Both the lid and the collar of my keezer are hinged or I would simply put some sort of latch on it to attach the lid to the collar. I don't want to drill into the freezer, so locking the colar to the freezer is an issue.

Kids are smart. If I just lock the taps, somebody will show up with a picnic tap and hook it up if they can get to the kegs (I would have when I was a teenager).

The keezer sits on a wood platform with wheels to make it easier for me to move. I am probably just going to attach a long piece of metal from the lid to the wood base with a lock on one end. That way, when I am not around, I can disconnect the lines, attach the lock bar, and it will be difficult to get into the freezer to hook anything to the kegs. I am just playing with how to make the entire setup easily removable but yet secure while not impacting the look of the keezer too much.

Just take the co2 tank out and hide it somewhere then you wouldn't have to lock anything or drill any holes

Modifying the keezer to include a padlock with a combo....would be easy and disconnecting the liquid line with that...but being a father of three (soon to be four) I can attest to the idea that kids are smart. Given enough time they can defeat any measure you can think up...remember kids have the same processing power as you do, just not the experience. I would use a combo of education (you teaching you kid house rules and consquences, along with a little demystification) ,and security measures. If none of that works either start brewing super high ibu( hopefully not palatable to teenagers) , low alcohol beer, or give it up, and switch to soda for a few years.

Thegreatestgray said:

Just take the co2 tank out and hide it somewhere then you wouldn't have to lock anything or drill any holes

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Then the teenager with the paintballing setup will become the most popular kid in the neighborhood.

Set up a surveillance camera and the first time the kiddies and friends get into your taps, upload the evidence to YouTube and email the link to all their parents.

Social media shame is the new padlock.

Thegreatestgray said:

Just take the co2 tank out and hide it somewhere then you wouldn't have to lock anything or drill any holes

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Still be pressure in the keg. Never really tried it but I think you could still get a beer or two. In my case my buddy has a little one I just don't want a phone call where he say I have 5 gallons of beer and the floor and the Co2 is empty. When teens I would just disconnect the lines and Master lock it.

There are a lot of similar threads here with some great ideas. One of my favorites was the plan to install solenoid valves in the beer lines, and have a keypad on the coffin box where you enter a code to open and close the valves.

Pour a sixer of O'Doul's in a keg with some laxatives. That would be difficult to hide.

SDBreWs0624 said:

Still be pressure in the keg. Never really tried it but I think you could still get a beer or two. In my case my buddy has a little one I just don't want a phone call where he say I have 5 gallons of beer and the floor and the Co2 is empty. When teens I would just disconnect the lines and Master lock it.

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SDBrews - sorry to hijack your thread.

Yep. That would not be a good phone call. Little people do like to play with all sorts of knobs, levers, buttons, etc. I still think in your case disconnecting the lines when you are not around is the easiest, and least expensive, solution.

If the CO2 tank is simply disconnected, there would be enough pressure in the keg to serve more than just a couple of beers. I had my CO2 tank run out near the end of a party and I didn't have a spare. If I remember correctly we still got another 8-10 pints out of the keg, though the last few pours were getting pretty flat.

JuanMoore said:

There are a lot of similar threads here with some great ideas. One of my favorites was the plan to install solenoid valves in the beer lines, and have a keypad on the coffin box where you enter a code to open and close the valves.

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What that just an idea. Or did some one have more info on that, if so could you post the link?

I would personally not go with any locks. I would go with if you touch my beer I will beat you a$$ scenario. But if you really want to lock it down I would go a bag over the top of the taps with a label with some kind of marking or date around a zip tie. so you know if someone cuts it like they do on shipping containers.

SDBreWs0624 said:

What that just an idea. Or did some one have more info on that, if so could you post the link?

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I know the project got started, but I don't know if it ever got finished. Couldn't find the thread with a quick search, but I did find one discussing something similar with RFID instead of the keypad-

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/child-proofing-kegerator-157304/

You might also be interested in the kegbot-

http://kegbot.org/

If you're worried about friends and friends of friends, having a talk with your son isn't going to solve the problem. My freezer has a latch on the lid and I could easily padlock if needed.

HokieBrewer said:

If you're worried about friends and friends of friends, having a talk with your son isn't going to solve the problem.

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Fair enough

Buy a dog! and train him to guard the keezer, or keep the teenagers out of your house

lucas-3 said:

Just disconnect the liquid lines on the kegs! They are already quick disconnect.

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These aren't particularly elegant, but are reasonably effective:

Refrigerator Door Padlock @ Amaz0n

I had to use one of these on a beer fridge after my friend's teenage daughter and friends decided to have a party while we were out of town. No problems since. Well... at least with missing beer... :smack:

KurtB said:

SDBrews - sorry to hijack your thread.

Yep. That would not be a good phone call. Little people do like to play with all sorts of knobs, levers, buttons, etc. I still think in your case disconnecting the lines when you are not around is the easiest, and least expensive, solution.

If the CO2 tank is simply disconnected, there would be enough pressure in the keg to serve more than just a couple of beers. I had my CO2 tank run out near the end of a party and I didn't have a spare. If I remember correctly we still got another 8-10 pints out of the keg, though the last few pours were getting pretty flat.

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Lol your not hijacking. These are things I'm going to have to look forward too down the road.

Put a high security cam lock on the keezer lid. Low profile and difficult to bypass if installed correctly. If you're worried about friends of friends stealing you're beer you should also be worried about one of them having seen one of the many ways to pick/bypass combo and most pad locks. Even lockout tags can be bought online and replaced after being broken off. The expense and level of high security you're using all depends on how bad you think the 3rd degree friends are.
Cheaper cam locks will suffice and at least show you made reasonable effort.

this makes me glad i dont have kids....yet

so in like 20 years when we do have early teens hopefully it will be easier to thwart them.... but i doubt it

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Perlick-Loc...775?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19d5be57ff

Now that says it's for the 525SS, I'm not sure if it would prevent one from getting beer out of the tap by pushing it into "creamer mode" on the 575's.

Expensive too, but just what the Dr. ordered.

I like the idea of the alarm... use a car alarm and put the horn close by or in the kegerator/freezer. Instead of disconnecting the lines couldn't you put a valve in line?

Baby proofed!

DonnieZ said:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Perlick-Loc...775?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19d5be57ff

Now that says it's for the 525SS, I'm not sure if it would prevent one from getting beer out of the tap by pushing it into "creamer mode" on the 575's.

Expensive too, but just what the Dr. ordered.

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That doesn't stop them from just removing the keg lid and scooping out beer from the keg.

DonnieZ said:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Perlick-Loc...775?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19d5be57ff

Now that says it's for the 525SS, I'm not sure if it would prevent one from getting beer out of the tap by pushing it into "creamer mode" on the 575's.

Expensive too, but just what the Dr. ordered.

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Plus won't stop the picnic tap to to keg problem. Alarm would also be a problem as it still needs a power source which can be disabled. I'd be thinking of locking the hinges out of site so not a decorative solution needed (after disconnecting the Q.D.'s of course)

okay I thought the training the dog to guard the keezer, or keep teenagers out the house was a great idea......but I've surpassed myself with this one......Chain your Mother in Law to the Keezer....that'll keep em out

GotPushrods said:

Pour a sixer of O'Doul's in a keg with some laxatives. That would be difficult to hide.

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This is the best idea in the whole thread. +1

How about designing shelves around the outside of the keezer and line it with lots of books. That would keep most teenagers away.

patthebrewer said:

okay I thought the training the dog to guard the keezer, or keep teenagers out the house was a great idea......but I've surpassed myself with this one......Chain your Mother in Law to the Keezer....that'll keep em out

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You think that's a good idea? Every time you go for a beer YOU have to deal with that, you must really like her!