Questions about Building a New Kegerator

Hey guys,

I'm looking at building a kegerator out of an Oster 5.0cu ft fridge I picked up today at Best Buy, which after all of my recent lurking appears to be the logical choice for things you can actually go out and purchase. My girlfriend got me a homebrew kegging setup from a local brew shop for Christmas, which consisted of the hose from Co2 to keg, a reconditioned Cornelius, a picnic line, and a dual gauge reg.

My original plan was to do two kegs, with door mounted faucets. Would there be enough clearance in this fridge to do this? It's a heck of a lot cheaper than doing a tower mount, but if it won't fit then it just won't fit.

Secondly, the regulator she got me was clearly set up for one keg, not two. Would there be anything I needed other than an air distributor and some hoses to make it work for two kegs?

Finally, the setup didn't come with Co2. So far this:

5 lb. Aluminum Co2 Tank | BeverageFactory.com

Has been the cheapest I can find one. I'm in the St. Louis area and everything I'm seeing on Craiglist is 15# or bigger, and I'm a bit wary of drilling holes in this sides of this. Does anybody know of any cheaper 5# or should I buck up and try and get a bigger one and drill a hole?

Sidenote: I heard that on the Oster there are no coolant lines on top, is this true?

Thanks in advance, all!

I have found that keeping co2 outside the fridge works best. The gauges are more accurate. Get the biggest tank that you can you will soon find that you'll be using co2 for more than pushing beer out of kegs.

Is there an easy way to tell where to drill a hole for it?

The place where I get my CO2 filled sells Steel bottles pre-filled. I got mine for $45 filled.

You could put the taps through the door, but I don't think you would save much as the only thing you wouldn't need is the tower itself. But there is enough space above the kegs to run the line to the door and use one of the recesses. IMO not worth the hassle at all.

You can just use a single regulator with a y splitter, but you are better off with 2 seperate regulators so that you can run different pressures for each keg.

You are talking about an appliance that you will have and use for many years to come. Spending an extra $100 now to do it right is nothing over the long term.

Here is my conversion steps for this fridge.

Oster Conversion!

Slipgate: I had read over your conversion steps a lot, they were key in my decision to get this fridge! Thanks for making them so easy to read/follow.

What would I gain by running two regulators? Would I often want to keep kegs at different pressures?

You've convinced me on the tower idea, I figure I may as well toss the extra money in now. The one I'm looking at is:

Draft Beer TowerBeverageFactory.com

Seems like a solid price, though I had planned on doing Perlicks, this appears to come with faucets already. Does stainless insulate better than other chromed metals? The chrome ABS is another big step up in price, which is rough for a college student piecing together a beer setup.

Does anyone see a problem buying a used Co2 tank? I found one relatively nearby for $40 for a 15#. Seems like a solid deal to me, just have to find where to drill a line through this thing. Does the Oster have a drain hole like the Sanyo did?

What is involved in making those tower adapters connect to a Cornelius keg?

If you always have the same type of beer, then running the same pressure in each tank is ok. But I usually have a stout in one and an ale in the other. Not that big a deal, but it gives you more options.

I'd definately go with the Perlicks. I started with the cheapies and replaced them not 6 months later with the Perlicks. I'd also try Keg Connection, he will custom build a kit with whatever components you want.

I got the brass, and I wish I had gone with the stainless. The brass discolors a lot. As far as insulating, they are most likely the same. The inside of the tower comes with a layer of insulation.

I'd also buy the 5# tank so that you can self contain everything inside the fridge. I don't like the idea of running the air lines through the fridge. The only way I'd do this is if you rigged up some quick airline disconnects on the inside (like some kind of permanent tap) with posts on the holes so you didn't have a hole going through the fridge (per se). The other problem with used tanks is that tanks have to be certified (I think every 5 years). What is the date on the used tanks?

I don't know what the tower adapters are??

Hope this helps!

All you need to do is get ball lock connectors and replace the ones on the faucet lines. Not sure which tower you will be getting, but the shanks typically have 1/4'' barb connector on the back. 3/16'' lines (most kits will have 3'-5', but I recommend longer once you look at balancing your system). On the other end, if it comes with sankey, it will either have a 1/4'' female connector attached to sankey, or 1/4'' barb straight on the sankey. If it has a barb, you can cut it off and get a connect with a 1/4'' barb, or a 1/4'' barb to female 1/4'' nut. With the nut then they sell connects with a 1/4'' thread you can just screw it on.

Barb:


or thread:

You can save $30 if you a do a search on ebay for "draft tower."

There's a listing on there for a double draft tower all complete with a buy it now at 89.95 and there are two available.

I didn't look, but that's where I got min- I think KegCowboy. New faucets, longer lines, but like the tower!

Looking at the listing on ebay again just now, the seller on ebay is beveragefactory. com

Nice write up on the Oster conversion.

I'll have to go with this to start my Keg system, I'll add a Keezer Out in the Garage when I need more than 2 kegs going at a time and/or when I decide to do lagger's.

So how long until I want to do that???? Hmmmm.

Ordered the stainless tower kit from Kegconnection with Perlicks and the homebrew disconnects! Leaving town for a week, so I'll hope to build it all out next weekend.

Is there a way to convert an existing two gauge regulator to a dual regulator for two tanks or do I need a whole need reg? I'm not too tempted to do that right now after all of this expenditure.

I'll ask the fellow about testing, but you do have a solid point on keeping all of the stuff inside of the tank. Thanks for all the help so far guys!

The guy on CL said that he was unsure of testing dates, that it was partially full and he got it recently in a restaurant he purchased. Should I go for it or buy new?

Jif, you can expand it in the future. Micromatic sells a threaded pipe that acts as a coupler. Get another primary regulator, and you can daisy chain them to be a dual pressure system. Glad you took the plunge! You won't regret it (although this is only the first expenditure, it's addictive).

As far as the CO2 tank on CL, $40 isn't too bad. Since it's coming from a restaurant environment, it should still be good on the hydro test date. I know my local welding supply place where I go would swap it even if it wasn't, which is fairly common. I'd say go for it unless you can find one cheaper. Have you checked out welding places in your area yet? They're typically not too bad on pricing.. Good luck!

Jif said:

The guy on CL said that he was unsure of testing dates, that it was partially full and he got it recently in a restaurant he purchased. Should I go for it or buy new?

Click to expand...

The dates are stamped on the bottle.

Jif said:

Ordered the stainless tower kit from Kegconnection with Perlicks and the homebrew disconnects!

Click to expand...

Excellent choice! I recently purchased the 2 faucet SS tower from Todd @ KegConnection. You won't be disappointed. :rockin:

Thanks for all the help guys! Hoping it all arrives by Saturday *fingers crossed*!

The only thing I'm still not sure of is where to drill a hole for the Co2 line coming from the outside. Would I be best served by doing that corn starch slurry method I've seen used around these parts? Anybody know if the back or sides are a better starting point?

I would look at the compressor hump- Most of these are just metal or plastic, with little to no insulation. That's where I drilled my Sanyo 4912 I used the classic tap and feel method; I wonder if a stud finder would work? LOL hmm... Measure front to hump, back to hump, front to back to determine how thick the hump is. If it's thin, say 1/4" you're probably safe (I'd say safe but I have never done or dealt with an Oster).