Danby Chill N Tap

So I just got this kegerator to use as a fermentation chamber and then to serve out of when it is done after transferring to the keg. Anyone have experience with these? Are they decent? I got it at Costco for about $398. It says it can hold a full size keg, but just wanted to see peoples experience with having a corny keg in it (heighth wise). I'll have to figure out a way to get the thermometer probe through there, or just stick in the front door and close it on the cord. I wanted to buy it before Costco didn't have it anymore, but am waiting to open it until I get some feedback. Thanks everyone.
http://www.amazon.com/Danby-DKC146SLDB-Chill-Compact-Dispenser/dp/B0052F99LE

The thermometer probe should be able to fit through the same hole as the co2 line. That is where many people who do the external temperature control change go through. And it will fit 3 cornys fine.

Thanks for the reply, that is good to know. Still haven't taken it out of the box yet, but have heard from a couple other people, and you, that it will hold corny kegs. That was really my only worry. I have heard they have some issues with getting cold enough to serve, but we'll see; and it seemed like an easy fix based off what I found online.

Sorry to awaken an old thread, but I have just purchased this kegerator, and have yet to open the box. If you don't mind, I have a few questions for you:

1. How do you like it so far?
2. It looks like I'll need to buy a different coupler for my corney keg - did you have to do that?
3. Were there any unexpected purchases that you had to make before using this, - I understand that I'll need to fill the CO2 tank, and buy a cleaning kit - is there anything else?

4. It seems that older reviewers of this product complain about the tower getting cold enough, and they have made some modifications, including installation of a computer fan - do you see the need to do this?

Thanks!

Sam

sam1 said:

Sorry to awaken an old thread, but I have just purchased this kegerator, and have yet to open the box. If you don't mind, I have a few questions for you:

1. How do you like it so far?
2. It looks like I'll need to buy a different coupler for my corney keg - did you have to do that?
3. Were there any unexpected purchases that you had to make before using this, - I understand that I'll need to fill the CO2 tank, and buy a cleaning kit - is there anything else?

4. It seems that older reviewers of this product complain about the tower getting cold enough, and they have made some modifications, including installation of a computer fan - do you see the need to do this?

Thanks!

Sam

Click to expand...

There is a easy fix for the warm tower, just install a tower cooler.
Welcome to TowerCooler.com

These Danby units are not as good a deal for homebrewers as they seem to be up front and here's why.

1. You don't need another keg coupler, you need to cut the beer & gas lines and install soda (Corny) keg disconnects.

2. To serve 2 or 3 beers at a time you have to remove the tower and install a new tower.

3. The kegerator ships with a single gauge CO2 regulator.

You would be better off buying a mini-fridge and converting your own.
Here is one set of conversion instructions, there are other instructions out there.
Homebrew Kegerator

I have been happy with it so far. Is it as good as some other kegerators out there, probably not, but it was a good deal at Costco at the time. I used it as a fermentation chamber for my latest batch and kegged that a couple weeks ago. As the last post said you just have to cut the lines to remove the sanke tap and attach corny keg disconnects. For cleaning I just used Oxyclean free and Starsan for sanitizing. As far as the tower issues go, right now I am not too concerned. It has been serving beer cold enough for my tastes. You will need to get the C02 tank filled. One recommendation I would highly recommend is to purchase a digital temperature controller. I bought the Johnson and have been extremely happy with it. I tried using the thermostat dial on the fridge and it was near impossible to dial in certain temps. With the controller though I was able to maintain 65 degrees for fermentation no problem, crash cool it and it has been holding 40 degrees for serving without any problems so far.

I have to disagree that these are not good for home brewers. I've had one for years predating my home brewing. In fact owning a kegerator was one of the things that led me to home brewing because I wanted a variety of beers that were affordable.

The tower cooler link also IMHO is over priced for something that is that easy to make.

Micro Matic sells a tower adapter that adds two more taps to the single faucet tower and if you search these forums people have drilled holes to add taps to single tap towers. I opted for the adapter as it raises the two extra taps high enough to fit my 22oz glasses under easily.

And unless something has changed, mine came with a dual gauge regulator.

As the the post above said, for the price, they aren't terrible.

Baldy_Beer_Brewery said:

I have to disagree that these are not good for home brewers. I've had one for years predating my home brewing. In fact owning a kegerator was one of the things that led me to home brewing because I wanted a variety of beers that were affordable.

The tower cooler link also IMHO is over priced for something that is that easy to make.

Micro Matic sells a tower adapter that adds two more taps to the single faucet tower and if you search these forums people have drilled holes to add taps to single tap towers. I opted for the adapter as it raises the two extra taps high enough to fit my 22oz glasses under easily.

And unless something has changed, mine came with a dual gauge regulator.

As the the post above said, for the price, they aren't terrible.

Click to expand...

The current model only has a single gauge regulator - I looked at one about a month ago.

Also, already owning one of these then getting into homebrew is a little different from buying one new then immediately replacing the new tower with a 2 or 3 tap tower and new keg coupler with soda disconnects.

The adapter from Micromatic you mentioned is $86.00 plus 2 faucets are another $30.00. Than add another $35.00 for disconnects, $10.00 for hose and you've invested a additional $161.00 into your new $400 kegerator.

You can buy a complete 2 faucet conversion kit for just under $200.00.
2 tap beer tower kegerator conversion kit - kegs & CO2 tank sold separately: www.kegkits.com

And a new, ready to convert Danby refrigerator for $209.00.
Walmart.com: Danby 4.4-cu ft Refrigerator, Spotless Steel: Appliances

For a total of just over $400.00 and you don't start out removing new parts!