running co2 line in to fridge

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nootay

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I am planning to move my co2 tank outside of the keggerator. I have a standard fridge and plan on drilling a hole in to door to run my line. At one time, i came across a fitting that was made for this. i was thinking it was on austin homebrew, but i dont see it there. The way it worked, you would cut a hole in the fridge, then there was a shaft with a nipple on either end you would run through the hole. Hook up the lines to the nipples on the inside and outside of the fridge and done. Has anyone seen the piece im talking about?

Any other opinions on how to do this? I am planning on drilling in the door because i dont want to have to deal with refrigerant lines.
 
Is this what you're talking about? These are ice box shanks and the fittings inside are the same as the outside.

Ice box shanks.jpg
 
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=10234

I was going to do the same thing, but got talked into just getting some rubber gaskets to go between the lines and the metal of the fridge. Well, the drilling of the holes didn't go as planned, I had to widen the holes with a pliers... no i just have the lines sitting there with nothing else.

Mine go through the side though, so there is no movement like you might have when opening the door.
 
hmm this brings up another question. I have a double regulator setup. I was planning on keeping the co2 tank and the regulators on the outside. Will this have any affect on pressuring my kegs? Do the regulators need to be inside? I have a 4 way gas manifold im going to mount in my kegerator, then was planning on just running a gas line through the door of the frige to the 4 way gas manifold. I was going to run the hose in at the bottom left hand corer of the door, where the hinge is, that way there wont be much movement of the hose.
 
having the tank inside will show lower pressure - outside normal pressure.. It doesn't effect how much is in there, just the reading on the gauge..

Your manifolds or whatever you use on the inside should be fine...

The reason I used one line going in to 3 regulators is so I wouldn't have to drill 3 holes..
 
ok good deal. Right now i carbonate and dispense at 10psi, how much will this change when i put the tank on the outside?
 
ok good deal. Right now i carbonate and dispense at 10psi, how much will this change when i put the tank on the outside?

It shouldn't change the pressure your putting out, it will just show a higher amount when you move the tank outside..

example: mine went from 500 to 700 on the gauge when i moved it outside the fridge, but my regulators kept the pressure going to the kegs the same..

make sense?
 
Any other opinions on how to do this? I am planning on drilling in the door because i dont want to have to deal with refrigerant lines.

i dont know too much about refridgerators so yours may or may not be like mine. but i think most have the lines in the back of the fridge. then the freezer is the part that gets cold and there is a place where the freezer lets cold air into the fridge part. i put my co2 coming through the door. try to see if that would work for you too. because i would think it would be more of a pain everytime you opend the door, if the co2 line went through it.
 
Here are a few pics of mine. Nearly all residential refrigerators have the lines all in the back wall of the fridge. The side walls are normally just insulated panels. You can find how your lines are run by looking at the back of the fridge. Start at the compressor, and you will likely see a hard line insulated with foam running up the back of the outside of the unit to the freezer area. The return line is typically between the plastic interior wall and the metal exterior wall on the back. If you look on the inside of your fridge and don't see any vents on the sidewalls, you have no lines there. In my second picture below, notice how the vent unit on the inside of the fridge is in the middle of the fridge at the top of the compartment. If yours is similar, your lines are in the back.

I've built quite a kegerators over the years for myself and friends, and nearly alway put the CO2 line through the side of the fridge at the bottom on one side or another. I also like to have my faucets coming out the side if it makes sense for the installation so that the door space can be used for cans/bottles/wine, or whatever. When you run your line through, there is no need for special fittings for the air line, just use a drill bit that is a tiny bit smaller than the outside diameter of your CO2 line, and when you force the vinyl line through the hole it will seal itself.

IMG_0022.JPG


IMG_0020.JPG
 
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