Yet Another Freezer Conversion

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juvinious

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Joined
Jun 18, 2008
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Location
Hollywood, FL
Hello new to these forums, created an introduction thread earlier.
I took pictures of my project last night after about a weeks worth of work. Picked up this 16cf freezer on craigslist for about $75. It's old, I think around 92ish but runs great. I had to clean it up first. The entire freezer was an off color beige which was really nasty, I repainted it with an epoxy white appliance paint making it look almost new. Also added a collar around it underneath the table top part, which is already stained and anchored to the freezer itself. You can see the collar from behind, the rest of it is sectioned off when I was repainting the entire unit. I'll probably have to retouch up the color since I ended getting some over spray on it.
I stained it last night so now it's got a nice cherry red look to it. Tonight I have to do another coat and tomorrow should be my final coat. Then on to clearing it. This thing came out really good, despite me thinking it was going to come out like crap. I'll be adding more pictures as I go along. Enjoy.

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Looks sweet! Interesting using a collar with a coffin - most use a collar so they can put taps through it. Did you need the height?
 
Looks sweet! Interesting using a collar with a coffin - most use a collar so they can put taps through it. Did you need the height?

Thanks, this is pretty much my first project ever working with wood, had to do tons of research.
Regarding the collar not necessarily since there was enough head space. But I thought that maybe in the future if I need to have to go through anything, ie run lines or whatever, I wouldn't have to bother the top nor risk going through the side of the freezer.
BTW, your project was a big inspiration for me actually going through with this project.
 
Here are some more pictures from last week when I was in the middle of staining it. Apparently the wood filler didn't take the stain all too well so I had to go back later and retouch it up:

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More to come...
 
Here are some from last night after letting the clear cure for a couple of days. You can see where the tower is a bit more darkened after the touch up. I attached 4 faucets and added a bottle opener. I'm planning on putting a stout faucet in the middle there. In the meantime it'll just get plugged up. That glass (Sam Adams White Ale) is just a teaser, it isn't a real pull just wanted to get an idea of how it might look. Still have to finish up the insulation in the tower this weekend, get the beer line run through and hopefully I will be up and drinking come next week.

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Finally finished everything this week. PHeeew.
I went and grabbed a sixth of seadog bluepaw wheat ale to christen it and put a quarter of Miller Lite (blegh!) for the other people. Still having foaming issues with the miller lite, so I'm still working on getting it to go smoothly. The bluepaw on the other hand pours beautifully.
So here is some finished pictures:
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Looks awesome, have you tried the 3/16" beer lines for the miller lite, try using longer lines to reduce the foam. :mug:

Side note:
Have you thought of placing the Co2 tank outside the freezer? Room for 1 more corny wouldnt hurt.
 
Looks awesome, have you tried the 3/16" beer lines for the miller lite, try using longer lines to reduce the foam. :mug:

Side note:
Have you thought of placing the Co2 tank outside the freezer? Room for 1 more corny wouldnt hurt.

Thank you. :mug:
I've been so excited and glad that I'm finally finished with it.

I'm currently using 10' of 3/16" line for each right now, 40-41 degrees at 12-13 PSI. I've been looking up solutions and just lowered the temp last night to roughly 36-38, I'll have to take a reading tonight when I get home and play with the PSI levels.

From the angles I took the pictures it looks like I don't have much room in there. But I have enough room for 3 more of those sixth barrels. That quarter barrel is a big space hog though, next time I'm going to see if I can get a slim quarter or just a sixth.

Hopefully by then though I'll be on the road to brewing my own. :)
 
Too lazy to cut them? :eek:
I'm probably going to end up cutting them shorter soon, there really isn't a need for their length.

[edit]

In fact I cut them last night. :cool: I had intended to do something different with them to make sure I got proper cooling up in the tower but it has sufficient cooling with my 65CFM fan pushing cold air from a project box into the tower. They sweat quite profusely now, I'll update with more pictures later with the piping gone.
 
Ok so here are the pictures with the pipes shortened...
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I upgraded the blower since I apparently wasn't getting enough air in the tower with a 1" ID hose:
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I made a simple 4-tap setup using a collar and this really made me rethink things. I have no need to "not" install a custom tower now and I really think it would help since I could use the top to sit around also. Thanks for posting all the great pictures, now I have a new challenge!

My only question would be how you made the project box fan setup. And does it plug directly into the wall outlet?
 
Wow! I haven't rigged up my tower cooling fan yet, but with that much tap sweat I just might not do it! It gets cold almost immediately anyway. Hmmm...

:mug:
 
I made a simple 4-tap setup using a collar and this really made me rethink things. I have no need to "not" install a custom tower now and I really think it would help since I could use the top to sit around also. Thanks for posting all the great pictures, now I have a new challenge!

My only question would be how you made the project box fan setup. And does it plug directly into the wall outlet?

Here is a list of the parts I gathered for it:
Radio shack 120VAC 4" Fan
Project Box
Some hose (not specifically this one, should be able to find it in plumbing)
Flexible Coupling

The Fan has no connectors just two wires. I just cut off the end of an extension cord and wired up the fan, which plugs into the wall. Then created a hole on the bottom side of the project box that is the size of the fans blades and screwed in the fan to the box and closed it up.
I initially made a small hole on one side of the box and was using a 1" ID tubing to try to feed the air into the tower, but it gave too much resistance and gave me blow back. So I got fed up and went and got some pool hose made the hole bigger and connected it up with the coupling on the pvc. There is no blow back now and it blows strong circulating the air in the tower and in the freezer.
I guess you can't see the the blower at the bottom all too well. I can take some better pics of the project box so you can see the construction so you can get a better understanding. I'll post them later. :)
 
Wow! I haven't rigged up my tower cooling fan yet, but with that much tap sweat I just might not do it! It gets cold almost immediately anyway. Hmmm...

:mug:

Well I guess it also has to do with the unit being outside and it's really hot and muggy out so now they sweat profusely. Depending if it's cooler they generally don't sweat up a storm. ;) Before my faucets were only cold when beer was flowing through them and would give me too much foam which was annoying to no end so I went and upgraded the hose and there you have it. :D
 
Where did you get that type of insulation for the lid?! I've been looking around for it, but I can't seem to find it. I need to do the same exactly lining on the top like you did. Is there any special name to it?
 
Thanks! I'm guessing you used the 1". Is that enought insulation for the top or are you losing coldness?
 
Yeah 1".
As to losing coldness not as much as I expected since the thing is in my backyard but it does get extremely warm outside. At high temperatures it tends to kick on more often than not. Since I got some extra foam board I'm contemplating doubling up on it and insulating the sides of the inside of the collar to see if that improves it.
I'm quite satisfied with the performance otherwise.
 
Forgot to show closeups on the blower here they are below:
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And here is the new 5-way secondary regulator:
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I also added tape around the foam that was exposed, it improved the insulation allot.
 
Very nice. I like the cherry stain as well.

How does your drip tray work? Do you just have to empty it every once in a while, or do you have a drain for it?
 
That looks awesome!! I love the cherry finish on it

Very nice. I like the cherry stain as well.

How does your drip tray work? Do you just have to empty it every once in a while, or do you have a drain for it?

Thanks, it seemed to be the best color at the time and what would suit the counter top well imo.

About the tray, I lift it out to clean it every so often where I can hose it down and scrub it down if necessary. Prevents me from having to have a catch pan inside the keezer and opening it up then emptying it. Plus the tray was like $17, can't beat that.
 
Been over a year since I last updated this. But I finally upgraded and added the final shank in the middle.
Replaced the faucets with perlicks and added a creamer perlick in the middle. Ran into a problem with the perlicks lever being further back then a normal faucet. I had to add in some makeshift spacers to compensate, took a while but it worked. I'll have to figure out something to change that later whenever I upgrade the shanks to stainless. Oh and I also made some custom tap handles from HD stuff some months ago.
Here are the photos:

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