Converting a 4.4 Cubic Foot Danby DAR440BL Mini-fridge into a Double Tap Kegerator
1 – As of March 2013, this model of Danby can be purchased for around $175 to $200 from Amazon or Lowes. If you have Amazon prime, you can get free 2 day shipping as well. Home Depot sells a Danby Kegerator built from this exact model for $800. You will be able to save at least $400 building your own Kegerator, even if you do not have a keg or a CO2 tank at this point. There are other Danby models which have an inner freezer, which cannot be disconnected, these conversion instructions do not apply to inner freezer models.
2 – Required materials: Danby DAR440BL mini-fridge, 2 tap chrome tower, a CO2 manifold, 1” plastic hose to house the beer lines, PC fan, electric drill with high torque, 2 1/8” drill bit, and a digital thermostat. It is assumed that you have already obtained the necessary keg(s), in/out lines, CO2 tank and brewed beer.
3 – Earlier versions of this model required that internal shelf supports must be cut out with a utility knife or dremel tool, but this model’s inner door shelves can be taken out by hand, and half of the door shelves can be hand removed (1 Corny keg can be placed inside without using any tools).
4 – If you have the older model where the entire plastic piece screws out, you will need to reinforce the door with 3/16” plexiglass or alternately, light diffuser sheets used for florescent light fixtures which can be purchased from Home Depot. The newer model has a fridge door which is more stable, so you can just cut out the shelving with a utility knife or dremel to allow for the kegs to fit inside of the fridge with the door closed.
5 – You cannot connect the keg taps to the front of this mini-fridge, there are too many lines to drill around.
6 – The center of the tower will be drilled 5.5” from the back (with the front door facing you), and 10” from the left of the fridge.
7 – Place masking tape over the no-drill areas: the fridge light, and the cooling line that runs left to right (with the fridge door facing you), about 2” from the back. The Danby manual should also have a diagram of the coolant lines. There are some Danby fridges that have a refrigerant line that needs to be moved away from the drill area. Check to be sure.
8 – Construct a tower template out of cardboard or other material, or alternately you can draw or scrape the circle onto the correct area. In the below photo, the outer diameter of the white template is the outer diameter of the tap tower, and the inner diameter is the outer diameter of the hole that will be cut.
2 1/8” hole saw
If you don’t have a drill with enough torque, you can use a “nibbling tool” to cut the hole. You will first have to drive a nail to make the first hole and then slowly cut out the hole in the right dimensions. When you get past the foam and need to drill through the inside ceiling of the fridge, you will have to use a saw drill-bit to cut sideways and the cut will not be clean. A hole saw is recommended.
Drill slowly though the metal until you can remove a black metallic circle. Feel around for wires in the exposed foam, and then remove the foam with a utility knife.
Check the inside of the fridge to see if the bit of the hole saw has been placed half-way between the back of the fridge and the inside fridge light.
Drill all the way through and then check to see if you’ve hit any wires or refrigerant lines.
Cover the exposed area with aluminum tape to make sure that moisture doesn’t get into the foam.
Many people use polysheet “marine lumber” which is impervious to moisture to provide a secure place to mount the tower. The polysheet should be cut into a template around the fridge light, with a groove made for the refrigerant line and attached to the inside ceiling of the fridge. The tower will actually connect to the polysheet for stability. Plexiglass can also be used, but more care must be used when drilling the holes. I have read several accounts from other conversion forums which did not use any mounts that have claimed there was no problem, though they did claim to use a “large fender washer” to brace the keg tower.
Make sure to use all stainless hardware when mounting the 2 tap tower, many copper fittings have a lead coating which can literally poison you. A ¼” hole needs to be drilled to attach the bolts for the keg tower. The template that comes with some kegerater conversion kits have the bolt holes in the wrong position.
Mini-fridge thermostats will cycle the refrigeration process off and on, resulting in unstable temperatures, sometimes from 39-44 degrees Fahrenheit. You can either replace the thermostat with a $40 digital replacement, or you can install a small fan inside the fridge to ensure that the air circulation keeps the thermostat kicking back on which results in cooler beer. An Antec brand LED tri-cool 9V 100mA 4”x6” hobby box with 3” PC fan with PVC elbow will work just fine and add a cool blue light. The power supply cord will fit through the drain hole. Alternatively, those who decide to keep their CO2 outside of the fridge can run the gas line through the drain hole as well. If you do have the CO2 tank installed outside of the fridge, you will be able to connect a larger CO2 tank to pressurize 2 or more mini-fridges, allowing for at least four, 5 gallon Cornelius kegs to be on tap at once. As long as the correct sized hole is drilled, you could probably fit both through the newly drilled drain hole. The drain hole has a white cap on it, while the other hole in the same area has no white cap. A needle nosed plier will not be able to pull the drain cap out. The plastic CO2 line is 3/8” thick. You will need a hole that is larger than 3/8” thick. A 1” to 1½” PVC piece should be placed at the interface of the top of the fridge and the bottom of the tap tower. This keeps the tower from frosting over as cool air enters the tower. Connect a 1” hose from the PC fan straight into the tap tower, this will keep the plastic out lines cool, and with this configuration you will not need copper tubing. The medium fan setting can be used. If you choose to also add a new thermostat, you should mount the probe into a water bottle which can be filled with the gel that in inside ice packs, which maintain a constant temperature.
A CO2 manifold will allow you to hook up one CO2 tank to two kegs at the same time without a dual regulator. Alternately, if you know that you’ll be drinking from one keg while carbonating a newer keg, then you should use a dual line regulator with 3 gauges instead of a manifold. This way, you can have each keg at a different pressure.
This configuration will fit two Cornelius 1/6 kegs with ball locks (Pepsi model), one 1/6 pin lock (Coke model) keg and one 1/6 ball lock keg, or one 1/6 bbl Sanke keg.
