Side by Side Kegerator

I finally finished my side-by-side kegerator and have my homebrew flowing thru the lines! I don't have any "build" pics since this has already been done and just wanted to give a big thanks to all of the previous posters that inspired me to tackle this project.

Looks great man - quick question how do you keep the freezer side from freezing?

I was wondering that myself. Using a controler I assume? Does it keep both sides the same temp?

I am using 2 Love Controllers. The one on the freezer side just turns the compressor on and off, just like the original thermostat, but with a greater degree of accuracy and range. The one on the refrigerator side controls 2 AC fans (push and pull) and a small 200 watt heater. It is designed to be a fermentor (I have to get going on a new brew) in which I have been able to attain 71 degrees with no problem. I have had as much as a 30 degree temp difference between the 2 sides.

I love it, great job. Looks nice and neat. Make another one and take pictures on the build!! Just kidding.

cas3439 said:

I am using 2 Love Controllers. The one on the freezer side just turns the compressor on and off, just like the original thermostat, but with a greater degree of accuracy and range. The one on the refrigerator side controls 2 AC fans (push and pull) and a small 200 watt heater. It is designed to be a fermentor (I have to get going on a new brew) in which I have been able to attain 71 degrees with no problem. I have had as much as a 30 degree temp difference between the 2 sides.

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Interesting, so the fridge side gets no cooling from the compressor anymore it only gets supplied by cold air via fan?

cas-are you in the ANG by chance?

Skagdog, yes I am in the PA ANG. I have no idea how you would have known that unless you are somehow connected to the wife thru Facebook...

I just went back and looked at the pics I posted and have decided that it could be the Erdinger cases from Germany stacked up next to the fridge that tipped you off.

cas3439 said:

Skagdog, yes I am in the PA ANG. I have no idea how you would have known that unless you are somehow connected to the wife thru Facebook...

I just went back and looked at the pics I posted and have decided that it could be the Erdinger cases from Germany stacked up next to the fridge that tipped you off.

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I recognized the Crates. I'm in the AK ANG and we go to GK from time to time as well...

Well that's a sigh of relief knowing that it wasn't thru the wife and Facebook!! Take Care

Yeah, you to. I didn't mean to hijack. That's great side by side you've got there.

I love how the OP rigged his thermal probe! Big prost!

Great job! I have a few questions:

What did you use for the metal skin on the inside of the freezer door?
What do the switches do on the inside of the fridge door, as I thought the controller would handle everything automatically?
What type of heater did you use?

Max1,
I'll post the replies here to both threads. You may have the answers already from reading the other thread.

1. I just used metal flashing from Home Depot to line the doors.

2. Everything is controlled automatically by the controllers. I just didn't want the fans or heater running if I was doing something prolonged in the fridge side. I also wanted the ability to only run 1 fan (which I do most of the time), unless I needed to cold crash quick.

3. This is the heater: Lasko 102 My Heat Personal Heater. This thing works great and is only 200 watts. Even better is the price, for just over $20. In my opinion, this makes the light bulb in a paint can seem archaic. I picked mine up at Walmart, but they are available in other stores. Heres a link to Walmart. http://www.walmart.com/ip/41248980?...69906929&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=97835549289&veh=sem

4. From the other thread: Just curious why you chose Love controllers over STC-1000F controllers. Cost difference is pretty significant and both appear to have the same features. Relay amperage?

Back when I built these the STC-1000's were available but only displayed in Celsius and I didnt feel like converting everything to a chart stuck on the fridge. I can't remember but I do think that one of the contacts is rated at a higher amperage.


Here is the link to the other build, just in case anybody wants to look at it.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=316056

Wow, thanks for the quick reply! I believe you are correct with the amperage. Again... awesome job! Time for me to get to work!

Looks great, question, how did you do your paint? I'm looking at refacing/painting/something-ing my side-by-side kegerator and yours looks great, what type if prep did you do and do you remember what type of paint you used? i know this is an zombie thread but just thought i'd check.

I just prepped it by wiping it down since the fridge was already in great condition. I just used regular Rustolium spray paint. It's held up great with only minor scratches but she now sits in her third house since being born. Zombie thread? Ha Plenty of time to answer as I'm brewing right now!

cas3439 said:

I just prepped it by wiping it down since the fridge was already in great condition. I just used regular Rustolium spray paint. It's held up great with only minor scratches but she now sits in her third house since being born. Zombie thread? Ha Plenty of time to answer as I'm brewing right now!

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Zombie thread, as in back from the dead lol Thanks for the response. I want to paint my side by side but SWMBO doesn't really dig the chalk board idea so I'm leaning towards painting it a cool color, maybe stenciling on my brewery logo or something. Curious because for the Appliance paint your suppose to sand it down spray it but those colors suck (black/white/SS only) and the chalk your suppose to sand or prime first but mine is already up and running, i'd rather just tape it off, put some drop clothes down, unplug, spray, re plug repeat for each coat as needed lol

Since I doubt that the kegerator is going in the kitchen and more likely into the garage or basement, I would go with your plan. I also didn't want the plain colors available in appliance paint. I painted mine in the garage and there was definitely a lot of over-spray. I just put down newspaper and that worked. Post a pic when you are finished!

Will do, might be quite a while. Its in the semi finished basement and actively full of beer (and kid snacks in the freezer) so its going to be a process to get it done w/o having to completely disassemble but i'm hoping if i just go crazy w/ drop clothes and painters tape i should be ok? those are probably famous last words but i've said that on every step of the build thus far and its gone ok lol

Nice! I have a side-by-side as well. I lager in the freezer side and serve in the fridge side. Your build looks much nicer

I don't k know kegerators,but it looks badass. What's the cylinder with the hose and the water? Some kind of relief, I guess,but what's it do?

Zuljin said:

I don't k know kegerators,but it looks badass. What's the cylinder with the hose and the water? Some kind of relief, I guess,but what's it do?

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Temp sensor. Liquid, not ambient. [emoji16]