Please give input on my kegerator

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humpadilo

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So, after roughly 4 months of brewing, I decided I want to get into kegging. To do this I needed a kegerator. I didn't want just a fridge/freezer one. I wanted one SWMBO would like inside the house and not stored in the garage. I found inspiration from maverick9862's article:
DIY Kegerator: Moving Beyond Functionality
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/entries/diy-kegerator.html

So after weeks of searching craigslist, pawn shops, etc. I finally found this:
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I should be able to fit two 5 gallon kegs on the right side and make the left a place where I can put beer bottles and maybe wine. I am going to follow how maverick9862 did his and use the guts of a dorm fridge. It is going to be kinda hard making the modifications, and I am far from experienced in this kind of project, but I am highly motivated and open to suggestions. Please let me know if you have any advice or ideas that I could use. SWMBO really likes the old fidge, so I am pretty excited to have her on board and excited about it, too. I am going to put insulation on the inside. There is a drain in the bottom that I might use to run my CO2 though and have the CO2 tank mounted outside and concealed somehow. There isn't a lot of room inside. One thing I need help on is the taps. I have no idea what I want to use for the tower. I want it to blend in with the look of the fridge. My over all picture is to make look so that it doesn't look like a kegerator, just another kitchen piece.

Please let me know your ideas. I am really excited about this project. I think it is going to look great when I am done.
 
It looks like an old ice fridge. Does it have a compressor? If it does have a compressor, you should check the cooling capability.
 
No it doesn't. They would used to deliver an ice block and they would put the ice in the bottom compartment. I am not sure how old but it doesn't even have any cooling system other than a block of ice. I am planning on ripping one out of a dorm fridge to use.
 
The challenge will be how to end up with the condensing coil on the outside and the expansion coil or cold plate on the inside, without having to disconnect either from the compressor...

Cheers!
 
Roger that. I was thinking about putting the compressor in the bottom left and sealing it off. Put a old looking vent and paint it red. Also I would put a computer fan blowing the hot air out the vent. Just brainstorming on that piece.
 
This is a picture if the side of the fridge. I pulled off the tin an the insulation was this 1/2 inch particle board stuff. I am going to replace it with the insulation board from HD.

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Roger that. I was thinking about putting the compressor in the bottom left and sealing it off. Put a old looking vent and paint it red. Also I would put a computer fan blowing the hot air out the vent. Just brainstorming on that piece.

That would be ideal from an aesthetics aspect - nice clean exterior unsullied by a radiator. Otoh, you'll need good insulation around that compartment to avoid throwing heat where you want cold, and you'll need both an exhaust and intake from/to that compartment for your cooling fan to work well.

Still, it could be done - and well-executed would likely look killer (maybe even good enough for the spousal unit ;) ) But would you be able to fit enough kegs to meet your desires?

Cheers!
 
I was planning on separating the bottom left compartment and have it insulated so the heat won't get to the cold side. Also I am planning on hooking up a computer fan in the compressor compartment, and putting a vent on the side so the hot air can be blown out by the fan. I would like to find an old looking fan and paint it the same color as the fridge.
 
Here is where I am now.



It is stripped down to the frame with the metal part that makes the inside wall. I got insulation I am going to put in after I finish gutting the new fridge for the cooling system. That is taking a while. I might get it taken apart tonight.

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Now it is time to put these together. I want to run the coils inside to keep it cool. As for the compressor, I am going to cut the metal in the bottom left compartment to separate the fridge from the compressor. I will leave it open and just put a big vent on the side so the air will circulate and cool the compressor.
 
I haven't had much time to make progress on my kegerator. I'm a little concerned about how I am going to bend the copper coils. Does anyone have any suggestions or advice on how to do this?
 
If I were you I would search for a fridge that has the coil on the back or the coils under the fridge. GRAB THE MODLE NUMBER TAG! "it is important that the coils not be in the wall" then harvest the compressor, condenser, timer, heating coils, timer, and evaporator coils. You can’t put the Compressor in the fridge compartment as it get too hot. You will need it to have a fan on the compressor in that small of a space. You can hang the condenser coils on the back of the box. Cut wherever you need to and braze the coils back together once you get it plumbed. Now if you grabbed that model number the books will tell you how many ounces the fridge needs . Any good appliance repair center should be able to vacuum your lines and refill with the right amount of Freon (R-134a) for about or under $100. Cooling system done cheers! :mug:

If you don't grab the heater then the coils will freeze over and it wont cool.
 
My goal is to get the coils on the fridge I am modyfing without any "special tools" or professionals. I want to make so that anyone can do it in their garage. As for the setup for where the compressor is going, I making the bottom left compartment isolated from the rest of the unit and insulating it pretty well against the heat/cold transfer. The left wall and the back of the left compartment will have a vent installed. Also I am planning on attaching a PC fan to circulate the air in that compartment. The coils are going to be between the layers of tin. So, from the outside to the inside it will be sheet metal, insulation, coils, sheet metal, inside of fridge. I have had a few so I am not sure if I am describing this right.
 
That is really nice looking. Given that, one idea that I would consider for the taps would be to not add exterior taps at all. Open the door and use picnic taps. I think that would look the best.
 
A little confused as to what I'm seeing here.

Ice boxes were popular until the advent of the modern powered, compressed coolant refrigerators. These started rolling out for home use in the late 20's. The particle board I'm seeing in your pictures wasn't developed until some time during World War II.

Does this thing have a date stamp or other manufacture date indication anywhere on it?
 
Take a look at mine. The link is in my signature. It might give you a few ideas on how to fit it in. I just put the compressor and coils into mine.
 
thadius856 said:
A little confused as to what I'm seeing here.

Ice boxes were popular until the advent of the modern powered, compressed coolant refrigerators. These started rolling out for home use in the late 20's. The particle board I'm seeing in your pictures wasn't developed until some time during World War II.

Does this thing have a date stamp or other manufacture date indication anywhere on it?

There is this on one of the doors. It says it complies with codes set in 1936. So I figured it was made around 1940.

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Take a look at mine. The link is in my signature. It might give you a few ideas on how to fit it in. I just put the compressor and coils into mine.

That looks awesome!! I am at the point where I have bend the copper wire. Any advice on that? Did you just use your hands. I am a little worried about breaking them.
 
That looks awesome!! I am at the point where I have bend the copper wire. Any advice on that? Did you just use your hands. I am a little worried about breaking them.

Just take your time and be careful not to kink a line. Those are copper tubes, not wires. Use your hands and try to follow the existing curves. Take your time. Metal taping the copper tubing to an aluminum plate like I did acts like a heatsink. The original configuration of the minifridge had the copper taped to the inside of the steel shell.

It can be done. Once you find the location for the compressor, just carefully bend the lines to fit your needs. It may not look factory perfect, but if you take yor time and think out your layout logically, it will still work.
 
Howiedw- thanks for the advice. I just finished getting it bent the way I want it. That is exactly what I did also. I think I bent one specific spot a little much but I think it will work.

Here is the front and backside of it as of now. You can see how I separated the compartment for the compressor. I am going to put the coils on the out side of the metal housing, and put the insulation right on top of the coils.

It is kind of a rough cutting job on the metal, but all I had was shears.

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Angle grinders with cut off wheels work great. And like Norm says, "There is no more important piece of safety equipment than these, safety glasses:eek:."
 
Howiedw- thanks for the advice. I just finished getting it bent the way I want it. That is exactly what I did also. I think I bent one specific spot a little much but I think it will work.

Here is the front and backside of it as of now. You can see how I separated the compartment for the compressor. I am going to put the coils on the out side of the metal housing, and put the insulation right on top of the coils.

It is kind of a rough cutting job on the metal, but all I had was shears.

Make sure that you are attaching/taping the copper to the inside of the outer shell, not the outside of the inner metal wall. Otherwise you will accomplishing nothing. You will need insulation between the copper tubing and the inner shell to prevent heat transfer into the cold area from the copper tubing. Just food for thought.
 
I first taped all the coils to the inner shell, thinking "these are the coils and coils circulate the gas inside that makes it cold."
After reading your suggestion I realize I might have been wrong. I am guessing half the coils circulate the cold gas and when it reaches the second half it is warmed up, correct? So those warm coils need to be attached to the outer shell. Please correct me if I am mistaken. I am planning on using glue to attach the insulation and don't want to have to spend a good amount of time and effort correcting this mistake.
 
I first taped all the coils to the inner shell, thinking "these are the coils and coils circulate the gas inside that makes it cold."
After reading your suggestion I realize I might have been wrong. I am guessing half the coils circulate the cold gas and when it reaches the second half it is warmed up, correct? So those warm coils need to be attached to the outer shell. Please correct me if I am mistaken. I am planning on using glue to attach the insulation and don't want to have to spend a good amount of time and effort correcting this mistake.

Plug your compressor in and figure out which coils get cold and which coils get warm. Cold goes inside the cold box, and the warm ones get taped to the outer shell. The minifridge that I cannibalized had a plate that formed the freezer portion. That's the side that cools.
 
So I fixed the issue with the coils. I taped the "cold coils" to the back of the unit. I put insulation on the sides and I am going to tape the "hot coils" to the insulation on the sides. I also cut out the insulation that goes over the "cold coils" on the back. My question now is, should I try to cut trenches in the insulation on the side that will go on the "cold coils", so the insulation will sit flush with the inner shell? I am out of town today and tomorrow but I should make good progress next week. Hopefully finish it up then.
 
If you plan on using foam board insulation, I would make sure to get the foil backed variety. Face the shiny side out and tape the coils to that side. As for recessing the coils, you want them to male contact with the outer shell. If you have the room to fit the shell over with out cutting grooves, them go that way. If there is not enough clearence, then cut groves.
 
So this is where I am now. I have the cold coils under the foil on the back and I am going to cover that with foam insulation. The hot coils are going on both sides of the fridge. It will be sitting on top of aluminum and the foam insulation. The metal shell will be resting against the hot coils to transfer the heat away. I am also going to seal the compressor compartment from the rest of the fridge. I am planning on having vents on the compressor area and installing a fan that comes on when the compressor comes on. I am pretty close to finishing.

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Last night my father in law came over to help me wire up the electrical parts. We put a little PC fan in the main chamber to circulate the air and another one by the compressor to cool it off. We wired them to have them come on only when the compressor is on. The one in the main chamber has a pretty shabby frame but it works for now. I also put a metal grate over the back and side of the compressor to vent it.

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I haven't had much time to make progress on my kegerator. I'm a little concerned about how I am going to bend the copper coils. Does anyone have any suggestions or advice on how to do this?

Looks like I got here too late, but it sounds like you were able to bend the copper fine. For reference on future projects, when I was bending copper tubing for my wort chiller, rather than bending it freely by hand or buying an expensive bending tool, I just simply filled the tubing with sand to keep it from buckling anywhere and it worked like a charm.
 
That's a really good idea but the only problem with mine is that the copper lines have gas in it and i didn't want to have to pay someone to solder it back and refill it with gas. So, I had no way of filling it with gas. I will use that idea if I make a wort chiller though.
 
Ooooh I see. I was thinking you were buying new tubing and fitting it to an existing refrigerator unit. Looks like a really interesting and seriously ambitious project. I look forward to seeing the finished product!
 
So I am pretty much finished. I put some trim on the bottom and plugged it in for the night. I still need to paint over some scratches I put in and put a shelf in the top left compartment so I can store bottles. I will be moving it in to the house tomorrow and put my Oktoberfest that is fermenting in it until I get my keg. Here is the finished product.

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tdexterc said:
Ooooh I see. I was thinking you were buying new tubing and fitting it to an existing refrigerator unit. Looks like a really interesting and seriously ambitious project. I look forward to seeing the finished product!

It was really ambitious! Especially since I have little to no experience in thus kind of stuff. I just took my time and experimented. I am extremely happy with how this turned out. I think it looks great. I will see in the morning if it gets cool enough to chill my brews.
 
I turned the temp control to just over half way last night and it was at about 55 degrees this morning. Not to bad. I think I will turn it all the way up and see how cold it gets.
 
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