My Beer dispensing using a soda machine....

Have been looking at all the kegerators and keezers that everyone has been making. I loved the coffin keezers and was looking in Craigslist for a small freezer when I came across a 5 tap pre-mix Cornelius soda machine. This made my DIY easier and cheaper, also more portable.

This is what it looked like from the Craigslist ad...

I was trying to decide how I was going to make it "look pretty" and I thought of a few options, paint, wrap, powder coat, but decided to go the easy cheap route, rattle can paint. The theme was also hard for me to come up with a cool theme that I liked and was me. As I am an Aussie living in the states and a very proud Aussie and everyone here knowing that I decided to make it an Aussie themed dispenser, so dark green paint it was with gold accents. I found some car decals on eBay of the southern cross (from the Aussie flag) and a map of australia.
The dispenser after the green and the first decals........

The final product in its place in the basement after some layers of clear paint over the base and decals.......

Wow I saw the first pic and thought you have some work ahead for you, but nice job looks really good.

For those who don't know how the machine works, it is like an electric jockey box. Inside the top is a large water tub that has the refrigerant coils that cool and freeze the water, and product coils are in this water so when the product is brought in through the coils there is enough contact time to cool the beer to dispensing temperature. An ice bank is formed around the refrigerant coils and turns off when compressor there is a sufficient ice bank made, the whole tub does not turn to ice. The compressor and fan therefore don't run all the time and you don't need a temp controller. There is a motor with blade that circulates the water in the tub to keep moving it and keep it in contact with the ice. The soda taps have pressure valves to aid in getting the dispensing right.
A pic of the insides.....the little you can see.....

rourky80 said:

...I came across a 5 tap pre-mix Cornelius soda machine. This made my DIY easier and cheaper, also more portable.

This is what it looked like from the Craigslist ad...

Click to expand...

At first I was thinking about modern soda machines which mix syrup with water and carbonate it at the same time which would've been a pain to work around. I'm guessing though that pre mix means it dispenses already mixed soda. Great find on a great looking kegerator!

Due to the theme of the dispenser, I now have a name for the brew it dispenses as well...."Fauxster's - Australian for Homebrew!"

Wow, that's very cool. Nice work!

The taps are ugly as sin though

Yeah I have been thinking and wondering if the shank covers of perlicks would be large enough to cover the holes that the soda taps use. That would be one upgrade over time if the machine works well and suits it's intended needs. I could fit wood to brace them and attach the shanks to, I think it could be done.

Very cool! Does it work well?

Where are your kegs?

The kegs and the co2 sit in the laundry behind the wall. I may in time polish my kegs and then sit them behind the machine if I think it looks cool, otherwise out of sight out of mind!

Very cool! Where did you find this thing at?

Craigslist, i think the guy I got it off said he had got it from his uncle who had gotten it from a school. Another guy I know said he remembered using a thing like at that his school dances.

Looks pretty sweet. You'll have to do something about that horrible paint job though - yellow/gold & green I can only think of one nation that thinks that looks good

No problems with the pour, just had to tweak it for full full. The soda taps have a flow control screw, took a few beers to get it down. It's working perfectly! The first pour......

That is a downright awesome piece of equipment, and a great alternative to conventional kegerators!

That's pretty clever! Great bit of DIY, I'd say. What'd you pay for that beast, if I may ask?

Got it for $75, saved me plenty compared to buying a freezer, taps, lines etc. The ad was asking $100. actually the $75 included lines with connectors, and a dual body regulator too, I thought that had to be worth at least half the price. I redid all the beer lines, to and from the coils, primed painted and cleared it and some extra $$'s for the decals. Also pbw run through it a few times, so still not a whole lot into it.

I think it is a great deal cheaper than if I built a keezer as I had first planned.

For any interested parties (read:copycats), it's called the Cornelius Universal 1550 Pre-Mix Dispenser.

I'll certainly keep an eye out for one now.

Aunt_Ester said:

For any interested parties (read:copycats), it's called the Cornelius Universal 1550 Pre-Mix Dispenser.

Click to expand...

For good measure, the exploded view: http://www.cornelius.com/stellent/groups/web/@guest/documents/manual/002922.pdf

(that's the 2-tap model).

MC

Awesome!

Yeah mine is the Cornelius Universal c-750 and the instructions and machine breakdown are pretty much the same!

Misplaced_Canuck said:

For good measure, the exploded view: http://www.cornelius.com/stellent/groups/web/@guest/documents/manual/002922.pdf

(that's the 2-tap model).

MC

Click to expand...

Do you actually have/use one? Is there anything I should know long term? I hadn't seen any threads about using one like it so that's why I did this thread for info if anyone else finds one and wants to use it for their beer.

What pressure are you carbonating at since the kegs are room temp ? If you change faucets to perlick don't you lose the ability to throttle the flow?

Based on the pressure-temp graph, I am pressurizing at 24psi, (i have a stella clone on it atm), I am thinking of upping the pressure just a touch too for the flow constrictions but I am getting good pours, it's just playing with it a little.
I presently have the flow control almost fully open, so I don't think using the perlicks would be a problem, but again I would have to play with it to make sure it's right. I could always get the perlicks that have flow control on them, although they cost quite a lot more.

So far so good with the soda taps though, my only concern is them sticking, and the main reason I would want to convert to the perlicks.

I had one of those I bought for the kegs it came with and sold it back on Craigslist after I bought it. 4 tap version, and worked well, but I was also worried about the taps sticking / breaking. You did a nice job on it!

I have the same unit. Mine only has 4 taps it cools the beer great but cant seem to get a good pours. It comes out slow Im at 24 psi in keg.Do you have to modify the unit in some way?

I have the flow restriction all the way out, and my pressures are similar to that, my pours are probably slower than a usual tap, but I get nice pours with a good head, so I'm not too worried if it takes a couple of seconds longer. I haven't modified the unit at all yet.

I could not get it to pour more then just a trickle even after adjusting the flow control.I ended up taking this thing out it was right behind the tap. It pours great even at 12-14 psi

Where do the kegs go in this thing?

The kegs dont go in it they sit out side at room temp. The unit cools the beer as it goes through it.

I may have to pull apart one of my taps and pull that piece out and see how good it works, I will still need to keep the pressure near 22-24psi due to the temp of the kegs based on the pressure graph to keep them properly carbed, so it may be too quick for it.

I just got one of these machines for free today. It is in great shape (hardly used). I am excited to get it set up, but it will be awhile until I can get that done.

So, I was wondering if you are still pleased with how this machine functions with the soda taps? Any constant problems or drawbacks. Any suggestions or advice? I thought I would need to change the taps, but yours seems to work just fine with the original ones.

You really did a great job fixing yours up. It looks great.

Im still using mine. It works great but the temp controller stoped working. It will freeze up if I dont unplug it in time. still using original taps they work fine.

I scored one of these a couple of years back, initially for the 20 pound co2 tank that came with it. I'm excited to know someone else has had success using it for beer. I wasn't sure if I was going to use it for beer because of the need to keep the keg warm and the length of the lines and the soda taps. I may have to fix 'er up in the coming time. I think my temp regulator looks rusted up so I may have to unplug as well but I haven't really let it get to temp, just checked to make sure it still cools.

One for sale in MPLS now....


http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/dak/for/4183723507.html

Mine is still working like a charm. The ice bank control on mine is gone too, never worked since I had it so I have a timer on the outlet that turns it on either 30-45 mins a day depending on the season, doesn't over freeze, and always keeps it cool.
The taps do stick if not used for a bit, but so will most taps except perls. I tweak the pressure on the kegs a bit due to fluctuations in my basement temperatures, but it's just tweaking to get the carb and serving pressures right.
I still love mine, and for me was the easiest way to get into having my beer on tap! Easy to check the levels of beer in the kegs too since they are just sitting there not inside the freezer or fridge.

You should be able to rig up a stc 1000 controller to regulate your water bath if you need, and I've found that if you lube up the faucet internals with keg lube it really cuts down on sticky taps. (At least with the chrome ones).
I'm very interested in this thread- I've got a Booth five tap Coke dispenser in the basement that I haven't decided what to do with yet.

I’m also working on modifying a Universal 750 to dispense beer. Just picked up the unit last week and found the stirring motor was locked up so ordered a new one of those 115.00 shipped. Also a few parts where the flex hose leaves the cooling tube and threads into the clear fitting that leads into the tap. A couple of those fittings were cracked.
To me it looks like the temp probe controls the stirring motor only and and assuming the on/off switch is all it takes to make the refrigerated portion work. I’m guessing it runs all the time the switch is on. I’ve seen the exploded view of the unit but there isn’t a detailed wiring diagram that I can see.
Also noticed some take out the conical plug in the dispensing head. Any pros or cons about doing this?