CO2 tank inside or outside of kegerator?

Thanks to our recent black Friday sales I'm pleased to announce that I will no longer be bending over for 2 hours at a time dealing with bottles and bottles and more bottles. I already have the fridge that I'm going to convert and I'm going to be installing the faucets soon. But I'm not sure as to whether or not I should drill a hole for a line from the CO2 tank. I remembered reading something about this awhile ago, but I can't remember for sure.

So my question is...
Does the temperature of your CO2 tank impact the life of the contents inside?
does a cold tank empty out faster, or vice versa. Or is the temperature of your tank completely irrelevant?

I greatly appreciate your input

I vote "completely irrelevant".

That said, I prefer keeping my regulators out of cold damp places, so my tanks and regs are outside of the keezer and fridges...

Cheers!

I definitely prefer keeping the tank and regulator outside. This frees up space, and you also don't need to open up the refrigerator (or walk-in in my case) to check the pressure or change out the tank.

Also, I have had issues in the past with moisture getting into the low pressure gauges, and causing them to rust and stop showing the correct pressure.

If you go through the wall of the fridge, I would use some sort of bulkhead, and not just push tubing through a hole that you make. This will be a better seal and should be more energy efficient.

This debate comes up every so often, so i'll recap the bullet points for you.

inside kegerator:
pros

• "cleaner" look

cons

• takes up space that could potentially fit another keg
• some people say that the tank could potentially "rust" from condensation in the frigde.. but with the newer stainless tanks, that's not really an issue

outside kegerator:
pros

• tank pressure gauge (if you have one) will be more accurate
• leaves room for more kegs in kegerator

cons

• not as clean look (extra lines running to kegerator)
• have to drill extra hole into kegerator

If you keep the tank in the kegerator, the pressure gauges will probably read low -- the pressure coming out is still the same, but due to pvnrt the gauges won't read accurately

All that said, i keep my tank outside the kegerator.

I built an enclosure around my kegerator that conceals the tank, so it's a clean look. Also have an insulated cubby built in that uses the cool air in the kegerator to keep serving glasses cool.

Thanks for the responses. The pros of putting it outside definitely seem to outweigh those of putting it inside, I'm not that superficial when it come to the looks of my brew setup anyway

I just moved mine outside since i will be adding Nitrogen and the 2 tanks would not both fit inside. I really liked having mine inside as long as I did but now i have 4 kegs and it was just too tight.

Right now, my 5# tank is inside, but when I add a 6th (and possibly 7th) tap next year, I'll need the extra space. Luckily, my keezer is right next to a wall that separates the finished and unfinished parts of my basement which means a small hole at the floor in the corner and I can keep the CO2 tank on the unfinished side.

boogyman said:

This debate comes up every so often, so i'll recap the bullet points for you.

inside kegerator:
pros

• "cleaner" look

cons

• takes up space that could potentially fit another keg
• some people say that the tank could potentially "rust" from condensation in the frigde.. but with the newer stainless tanks, that's not really an issue

Click to expand...

The newer co2 tanks are aluminum and not steel and they do not rust. In my searches, I haven't seen a new stainless co2 tank.

boogyman said:

outside kegerator:
pros

• tank pressure gauge (if you have one) will be more accurate
• leaves room for more kegs in kegerator

cons

• not as clean look (extra lines running to kegerator)
• have to drill extra hole into kegerator

Click to expand...

I would add that you need extra parts if you want to seal off that hole you drilled. Or if you want it to look like crap, you could spray foam it or something. You just don't want cold air escaping through the hole.

Also, if you leaving in next to the kegerator, I would invest in some kind of strap/bracket to keep it upright. Think about where the thing is - if you have kids or intoxicated people milling about, they could knock it over and potentially destroy your regulator.

I think drilling the kegerator is the biggest con for me. The sides are pretty much wrapped in coils and I super carefully drilled the top for a two-tap tower after pulling out all the insulation foam. Since I don't mess with the psi settings inside my two tap kegerator, there's no advantage for me to keep it outside for adjustment purposes.

BrewThruYou said:

I would add that you need extra parts if you want to seal off that hole you drilled. Or if you want it to look like crap, you could spray foam it or something. You just don't want cold air escaping through the hole.

Click to expand...

This one was assumed in the first place

BrewThruYou said:

Also, if you leaving in next to the kegerator, I would invest in some kind of strap/bracket to keep it upright. Think about where the thing is - if you have kids or intoxicated people milling about, they could knock it over and potentially destroy your regulator.

Click to expand...

Too young to have children in my house, also my roommates leave my brew room alone for the most part. They're scared that I'll murder them if they do.

BrewThruYou said:

I think drilling the kegerator is the biggest con for me. The sides are pretty much wrapped in coils and I super carefully drilled the top for a two-tap tower after pulling out all the insulation foam. Since I don't mess with the psi settings inside my two tap kegerator, there's no advantage for me to keep it outside for adjustment purposes.

Click to expand...

I was actually able to find the schematics for my old fridge online and there won't be any problems with drilling through the side that I'm planning on.

dawgmatic said:

This one was assumed in the first place


Too young to have children in my house, also my roommates leave my brew room alone for the most part. They're scared that I'll murder them if they do.


I was actually able to find the schematics for my old fridge online and there won't be any problems with drilling through the side that I'm planning on.

Click to expand...

Schematics are mere suggestions and the lines may be +-6 inches from where they are in the schematics.
I suggest you use some type of volatile (alcohol or acetone) mixed with a powder (cornstarch) and make a thin layer around where you want to cut. If a high pressure line is close it will be hotter than the surrounding are. This will evaporate the volatile and dry that area quicker. Conversely, a low pressure line will be cooler, so the slurry will be wetter over it for a longer time than its surrounding area.

You also have to worry about electrical lines, if your Keezer has lights in it, or electronics close by to your drilling area.

Just be careful when you drill. I hope I have been able to help you.

boogyman said:

This debate comes up every so often, so i'll recap the bullet points for you.

inside kegerator:
pros

• "cleaner" look

cons

• takes up space that could potentially fit another keg
• some people say that the tank could potentially "rust" from condensation in the frigde.. but with the newer stainless tanks, that's not really an issue

outside kegerator:
pros

• tank pressure gauge (if you have one) will be more accurate
• leaves room for more kegs in kegerator

cons

• not as clean look (extra lines running to kegerator)
• have to drill extra hole into kegerator

If you keep the tank in the kegerator, the pressure gauges will probably read low -- the pressure coming out is still the same, but due to pvnrt the gauges won't read accurately

Click to expand...

You seem to be explaining this wrong. The tank pressure gauge reads lower in the kegerator because the pressure is lower, PV=nRT as you say. It's not that the gauge is inaccurate (unless the gauge gets stuck like someone described above I guess, I've got a secondary inside and haven't run into that thankfully). What gets folks confused is that they equate tank pressure with how much liquid CO2 is left in the bottle, which doesn't work.

I don't know how hot it gets where you are but my kegerator is in my garage, where summer temps approach 110-120F. I know that it's probably safe to have my tank outside the fridge, but I leave it in the fridge anyway...just in case.

ummm, talk about pulling up an old thread...

rekoob said:

ummm, talk about pulling up an old thread...

Click to expand...

good point, totally missed the necromancing