Project Monsterator

That is absolutely incredible. Prost!!

cool stuff man...nice work!

Fabulous Work. I cannot wait to see it in action.

Thanks! I hope to get a good amount of work done on it this week as well. I want it to be ready for the "I am a homebrewer" video!

I like what you have done. I have 6 taps on mine... and a 25.3 cuft chest freezer... One thing that I will be doing with mine is removing the air and putting it outside... I like to cold crash my beers and having loads of kegs in there and carboys/ buckets can be a bit problematic... You might want to consider this as well.. Mine is nothing special but: here's how I did my wood top:


Please excuse the messy basement... Its since been cleaned... oh yea and the crap beer is no longer in there either.

JoeC I hope you are going to remove the window treatment and are going to paint the walls if you truly are making this a VIP room...

Joe C said:

I tested out my wiring by breathing on the unit to bring the probe out of temperature range. To check and make sure it would shut off, I put the probe in ice water. It immediately shut off! I was very happy about this as I've been dreading wiring it for a while.

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I sure hope that probe is water proof!

wildwest450 said:

I sure hope that probe is water proof!

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Thats what I was thinking! I know my Love Probe is not!

cyberbackpacker said:

JoeC I hope you are going to remove the window treatment and are going to paint the walls if you truly are making this a VIP room...

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No more painting rooms in this house, I'm too lazy.

wildwest450 said:

I sure hope that probe is water proof!

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IrregularPulse said:

Thats what I was thinking! I know my Love Probe is not!

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Sorry, I didn't add that I put plastic wrap around it because I was afraid of something shorting out on me. No worries

Quick and easy waterproof for probes:
I have this roll of duct tape - the real stuff that HVAC uses, adhesive backed foil, NOT the cloth stuff. One simple fold-over on the probe.

Hang Glider said:

Quick and easy waterproof for probes:
I have this roll of duct tape - the real stuff that HVAC uses, adhesive backed foil, NOT the cloth stuff. One simple fold-over on the probe.

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That would not be a sanitary solution to use in fermenting wort though... I have used that stuff all the time... I've worked in the duct cleaning business...

Why are you submerging your temp probe? Ambient is not that far off once your freezer and liquid have equalized... I think I even heard many people say that putting the probe in liquid is not recommended...

Definitely go with what your heart says on this matter but I would not recommend submerging any probe into a liquid unless it was designed for that inherent reason.

I simply did it just to test the temp probe, this wasn't a static solution.

Bowtiebrewery said:

That would not be a sanitary solution to use in fermenting wort though... I have used that stuff all the time... I've worked in the duct cleaning business...

Why are you submerging your temp probe? Ambient is not that far off once your freezer and liquid have equalized... I think I even heard many people say that putting the probe in liquid is not recommended...

Definitely go with what your heart says on this matter but I would not recommend submerging any probe into a liquid unless it was designed for that inherent reason.

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Thats what I have found with my setup.

I have a analog temperature control unit with a brass type one peice temp probe that I keep in a glass jar with sanitized water in it. In that same glass jar I have the first half of a calibrated digital themometer also. Then....I have another Digital Thermometer just hanging in my freezer at about mid level of my buckets/carboys.

Once the water chilled to 59-61 degrees, both the liquid and ambient temps stay the same when the compressor is not running. Once the compressor kicks on, the ambient drops to about 56, the liquid drops from 60 to 59. Then once the compressor shuts off, they equalize out again at about 60-61.

Bowtiebrewery said:

That would not be a sanitary solution to use in fermenting wort though... I have used that stuff all the time... I've worked in the duct cleaning business...

Why are you submerging your temp probe? Ambient is not that far off once your freezer and liquid have equalized... I think I even heard many people say that putting the probe in liquid is not recommended...

Definitely go with what your heart says on this matter but I would not recommend submerging any probe into a liquid unless it was designed for that inherent reason.

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There is no reason for this probe to be sanitary. It's for a Kegerator, not fermentor.
And the more exact you can get it the better. Ambient can be much different than the actual beer depending on where in the keezer the probe is located. My probe wire is too short to reach the bottom of my keezer so there is quite a difference in temp change with being submerged.

I have a pretty large Chest freezer and was curious about the temperature varience from top to bottom.. so I used 4 digital thermometers in there to see what the difference is... Amazingly the bottom was only about 2 degrees colder than the top... if that... I find that the only time you have a huge difference from top to bottom is if you build a collar and don't insulate it. My previous freezer was plagued by this problem.

Also another thing that I noticed is if you place the probe about 3/4 -1/2 the way down the side of the keg you will be almost spot on every time...

dude, sweet a$$ kegerator! can't wait to see the tartan plaid on it when it's done! keep it up.

Bowtiebrewery said:

I have a pretty large Chest freezer and was curious about the temperature varience from top to bottom.. so I used 4 digital thermometers in there to see what the difference is... Amazingly the bottom was only about 2 degrees colder than the top... if that... I find that the only time you have a huge difference from top to bottom is if you build a collar and don't insulate it. My previous freezer was plagued by this problem.

Also another thing that I noticed is if you place the probe about 3/4 -1/2 the way down the side of the keg you will be almost spot on every time...

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You can also add a computer type fan in there to keep the air moving. I have one and it just sits on the compressor hump. Runs all the time which halps keep my compressor from starting or stopping from a hot or cold spot.

You can see it sitting in the bottom here.

Well, quick update.
I've been insanely busy working 12+ days in a row, so I really haven't made any progress.

Because of the humidity in my house, we are having a hard time with surface rust actually coming through the paint. It is making visible dark spots in the paint. While it's clearly not spreading, it's visible in the paint and I don't want that to happen.

I'm picking up what is called "Rust Doctor" to re-prime the fridge. Here's some information on it here...
Rust Removal Products Rust Repair Rust Converter Rust Stain Removal Stop Rust

In the meantime, I will be starting to get the inside portions of the freezer situated.

Joe C said:

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I'm surprised no one else brought it up, but You are not only a luck man to have such a nice keezer, but also to have an SWMBO who belongs in the fight club....

lucky man indeed!

Great build BTW, can't wait to see it finished....

Thanks on all accounts. I'll tell you now though that'll never happen.

Joe C said:

Well, quick update.
I've been insanely busy working 12+ days in a row, so I really haven't made any progress.

Because of the humidity in my house, we are having a hard time with surface rust actually coming through the paint. It is making visible dark spots in the paint. While it's clearly not spreading, it's visible in the paint and I don't want that to happen.

I'm picking up what is called "Rust Doctor" to re-prime the fridge. Here's some information on it here...
Rust Removal Products Rust Repair Rust Converter Rust Stain Removal Stop Rust

In the meantime, I will be starting to get the inside portions of the freezer situated.

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Here's the pictures... I'm pretty damn pissed.



I will be stripping down all the paint and re-priming once the priming doctor shows up.

what kind of primer did you use before?

Glidden Interior/exterior primer.

Looking awesome!

Why put the collar on the lid and not the chest?

So when I open it up all of the taps and lines go with it. Once I run all of the lines inside it will make perfect sense

Well, it looks like the rust Dr. did what it said.... it reacts with the rust spots and turns them black. I suppose you could just paint over it now, yes?

If you're going to bother with stripping all the paint off again, I would use an oil-based primer that is made specifically for metal. Glidden latex primer is probably not going to cut it.

Awesome project.

Suggestion - if you haven't already, try a 'real' paint store - there are metal conditioners and other products to use on the rust before the primer...

you might want to look into treating it with naval jelly

purechaos said:

you might want to look into treating it with naval jelly

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Eww I wouldn't recommend that at all. I got Jelly in my naval once during a...um...well it just happened once. It feels gross! Sure you're not necessarily thinking of that at the time it happens, but waking up the next day in the middle of a park half naked with sun baked jelly in your naval is no fun! Not even going to get in to the mess with getting jelly out of a Donkey's Mane! Good thing bachelor parties only happen once right!

I say just concentrate on the build for now.

for serious

Duro Naval Jelly, 16 OZ, Rust Dissolver, Brush On Then Rinse Off Years

I had rust peek through stuff before. A coat of Red Oxide Primer is the way to go.

I just have to say, what an AWESOME project!
:rockin:

DrMaddVibe said:

I just have to say, what an AWESOME project!
:rockin:

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Thanks!

JPicasso said:

Well, it looks like the rust Dr. did what it said.... it reacts with the rust spots and turns them black. I suppose you could just paint over it now, yes?

If you're going to bother with stripping all the paint off again, I would use an oil-based primer that is made specifically for metal. Glidden latex primer is probably not going to cut it.

Awesome project.

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Actually, the rust doctor hasn't come in yet. I attempted to use vinal caulking in the corners, it didn't work (clearly... YUCK!)

The Rust doctor primer will be here soon. As soon as it's here, I will start the painting process again. It's pretty discouraging, but I'm still going to make sure that I keep pushing forward on it.

Side note, I don't know who updates the HBT twitter page, but I made it!!!

homebrewtalk (HomeBrewTalk) on Twitter

I just want to say THANKS!!!!!!! I really appreciate the recognition, and it's cool to have my work/effort promoted. To have it called the "MOAK" is humbling and makes me proud.

Would it be beneficial to insulate the collar?

Amazing project...what amazes me most is that you posted "I don't drink much beer" yet you'll have 12 kegs on tap???
Wow, that's a lot of beer to have on hand..

Okay I'm a little jealous but seriously ...12?

I would like to also have 1-2 as soda taps.

Taylornate; from what I've read there probably are benefits to insulating the collar, but I am going to see how it works out without insulating it first. If I notice that there is a significant problem with foaming then I will insulate it.

Awesome Project - Prosted! Can't wait to see how the painting comes out.

Joe
I don't think insulation on a collar would help with foaming. With your faucets in the cold area, insulation would just help the freezer to run more efficiently. A fan would help with stratification, moving the coldest air from the bottom and keeping your taps colder.
-Ben

Joe C said:

I would like to also have 1-2 as soda taps.

Taylornate; from what I've read there probably are benefits to insulating the collar, but I am going to see how it works out without insulating it first. If I notice that there is a significant problem with foaming then I will insulate it.

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I was thinking more about the electric bill than I was about foaming.

This is looking bitchin man, I'm not going collar when I do mine but yours looks killer.