Kegerator build

So, my first batch of beer was finally ready to keg yesterday. I took the afternoon off class (ok I skipped my PHP class) and got my keggerator built. Sorry for the crappy pictures, but I couldn't find any batteries for my camera, so I used my cellphone. Well, on to the beer porn.

I used the Frigidaire from Lowes that so many people have been curious about:



And a bunch of other stuff:



First I removed the door, measured like four times, and then drilled two 7/8" holes:



Next I took two small pieces of wood(ok I hacked up a WAY too small cutting board) to spread the load on the plastic and cut a 7/8" hole in each one, and threaded the faucet shanks through the door and each piece of wood. Then I tightened everything down:

Here is a shot from the front of everything mounted and tightened:



Next, the door was remounted and all hoses hooked up:



Finally, I mounted my homemade drip tray. This is made out of one of the shelves from the door of the fridge which has been hot-glued to the front and lined with a paper towel. Actually looks very nice IMO:



And here we have the completed setup with a small glass of my first brew on top after a quick burst carb:



All that is left to do is:
-Receive tap handle(s) from Ebay
-Purchase a second keg and gas fittings, it will go where the CO2 tank is right now
-Run CO2 lines from outside to inside the fridge
-Get used to temperature-to-fridge-dial-setting ratios
-Let that darn beer sit for a week or two so it can condition and settle

This is actually rather interesting...didn't this fridge have a little freezer as well? I'm assuming it's the 4.4cu for $179.99? How is the temp holding? Also, how tall is this thing...are you on your knees when you pour a beer or is it not too bad?

It does have a little freezer, but it is deceiving. The freezer is nothing more than super insulated plastic that comes right out. Temperature seems to hold well, like I posted in the other thread about this fridge, it seems to range from below freezing to up around 45-47ish. Just to be clear, it WILL freeze a glass of water, even at the bottom of the fridge if turned all the way up, it just takes a bit to do so.

The fridge is just short of 33" tall, and it really isn't too bad pouring a beer. Yeah, you have to bend over some (I'm 6'2"), but it isn't. It is also the PERFECT height for pouring beer from a computer chair, which is excellent for me b/c it sits in my computer room. I'd also like to note that I was warned that doing a project like this there would be some flex on the beer faucets when I poured a beer, with the wood in place and tightened properly, this thing is rock solid with no flex.

I honestly don't remember the size, but 4.4 or 4.9 sounds right. It was 179.99, but it has a small dent in the lower-back of the left side, they had it marked down to 161.00 and I talked them down to 140.00.

edit: Link to the other thread about this fridge CLICKY

you can pour beef? how do you do that? j/k, nice!

If you leave it in the blender long enough

Fixed the typo.

Dude, this is awesome...SWMBO was not thrilled about a chest freezer conversion and I didn't want to spend the extra cash on towers and an Oster that has such horrid reviews...there's a lowe's about 2 minutes from me, I betcha I have one of these before the weekend is over! Thanks for the build man!

Check the model number against the thread I linked. If they have a display unit, it is fairly easy to make sure you have the right one (I actually did this btw):

Open it up and open the freezer compartment up. There is a small plastic bezel on the front of the freezer shelf, start on the left side and pull outward until it comes off, you'll have to pull hard but you won't hurt anything, then slide it out from underneath the hinge on the right. Pull the entire freezer shelf forward a bit, this is sign number one that it isn't a cold plate. Then run your hand along the back of the shelf once you can get it back there and feel for a connecting tube to a cold plate, there shouldn't be one. Then if it isn't the one you are buying (in my case it was b/c of the dent) just snap that bezel back in place and close it up. Noone will be the wiser, and you will not have harmed it in any way.

edit: As a side note, the large tempered glass shelf on the inside goes great on top with a bit of the no-skid material you put inside kitchen drawers, creates a nice look. The large crisper drawer makes a great tote/basket for keeping brewing odds and ends like hoses, StarSan, hydrometer, etc. So you can re-use a few pieces of the fridge

Cool, thanks for the tips!

I am so happy you posted this. I am waiting on my keg kit and then will be building a virtual clone of what you built. I'm not saying I'm glad you were the guinea pig, but man I am glad you were the guinea pig

Awesome job. Good example of not needing a tower on a dorm room fridge.

Yeah, no need for a tower. When we move out of this apartment in a few months, I'll be building a small base to put it on and raise it up about 6-8" which should put it at a fairly comfortable height.

Did you have any problem's cleaning up those taps I brought you?

Nope, I just ran Oxyclean, extremely hot water, and then StarSan through them, everything came out clean and they work smoothly now.

Hey man, in the other thread it mentioned having to move the thermostat in order to fit 2 kegs...is this something you ran into?

Yes, you have to move the thermostat, it is a very simple task though. There is one screw in the front, and one screw underneath the light lens, which just pops off, in the back. Just unscrew, pull it off, and move it back. If you wanted it to look semi nice (although there will be a keg in the way, mine just hangs), there is a ridge about the size of the posts that the screws go into up and back a bit from the original location, a few dots of superglue or jbweld on those screw posts and slip it into that ridge and it would look fairly decent and be out of the way.

Good call on the drip tray. I just superglued one on this morning--not quite so neat a job as with the hot glue gun, but it'll hold.

Yeah, I put some hotglue along the back of it, and then afterwords realized that I could have run it just along the edges and bottom and the glue would have been entirely invisible.

I imagine the superglue melted the plastic a bit eh?

Everything seems alright and intact--it was Scotch glue that I had sitting around, so it might be a little different than the standard superglue. Overall it's not a pretty as it could be, as you can see where it's all gummed up behind, but it's solid.

I like this setup, has anyone done a hole thru the top of the unit?

Excellent write up!

Just to be clear --

You were able to fit TWO corny kegs AND a 5# CO2 tank in there without removing anything from the door except the storage compartments? I've read other conversions that involved removing that entire front panel from the door and replacing it with plastic/plexiglass/etc to flatten it out. This isn't necessary on this Frigidaire model? There are at least six of these sitting in the Lowes by me and just wanted to make sure of that before I bought it.

Looks great, thanks for all the info!

I just completed the same two tap mini fridge project. I went to Lowes and purchased the 179 Frigidare 4.4 Cu Ft fridge. It had a different model number, #: LFPH44M4LM, and from what I can see the only difference is the door panel. Instead of what looked like the removable/adjustable clear plastic shelves they used a solid plastic mold with removable metal and plastic rods to hold condiments and soda cans (better not be any cans full of fizzy yellow stuff). Other than that everything went as the plans explained, removed the freezer shelf, drilled the 7/8" holes four inches from the top of the door and used two short lengths of 2x4 to support the shank bolts against the thinner plastic mold of the inside shelves, moved the thermo/light towards the back of the unit. Now I have a #5 Co2 tank, two face regulator, two ball lock Pepsi Cola corny kegs and all the hoses to match inside with the door seated firmly closed. I didn't have to cut into anything except for the door and now I have a beautiful addition to my line of beer equipment. Unfortunately I can't post any photos but this project is so easy it doesn't even require photos.