No-drill enclosed kegerator

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RacingRam

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Hey everyone! I've been brewing for about a year now and regularly lose sleep thinking about a new beer I want to brew. I've been lurking around HBT for quite a while now, but I thought I'd start a thread on a small DIY project I'm undertaking. I'd love your input/suggestions as I get it together.

Here's the deal: I'm a grad student and I live in a rented house. The house came with a spare fridge in the basement, which has sat empty since we moved in. Since it belongs to the landlord, I'm reluctant to start drilling holes in it. My plan is to build a kegerator inside the fridge, with taps available as soon as I open the door. Here's the fridge (you can see I'm racking my newest brew, Kal's Electric Pale Ale):

2012-11-06 22.14.24.jpg

Being a grad student, this will be a 3 phase project to spread out the cost a little:

Phase 1: Corny + CO2 + Regulator + Picnic Tap = lamest kegerator ever. This is just to get the most expensive parts together. This morning I ordered a 5lb CO2 tank, one pin-lock corny, and a premium 2-keg basic kit with a dual regulator upgrade from KegConnection. The dual regulator might be overkill, but I thought it would be nice to be able to serve at different carb levels and I wanted to try to future-proof the setup as much as possible. I took out the door shelves and installed a simple floor, which seems to work well so far (that's a 5-gal carboy for scale):

2012-11-06 22.55.51.jpg

Phase 2: False wall and Perlick faucet. I plan to put up a false wall inside the fridge a few inches inside the door and run faucets through it (with the kegs and CO2 tank behind it). I still need to figure out how I'm going to hinge it and keep it closed, as well as figure out lighting in front of it. I'm thinking about a rope light or LED strip across the top with a piece of moulding to make it look nice (any idea if I could power it from the existing interior light with a light socket/outlet adapter like this?).

Phase 3: Second keg and tap. I just can't help myself. Hopefully will be easy after installing the first.

So what do you guys think? Doable? Suggestions? Thanks! :mug:
 
I have pretty much this same type of set up. I have a perfectly good upright fridge that I didn't want to butcher to build a kegerator. However, I didn't go through the trouble of building an entire false wall. My set up is a little simpler since I only run 2 taps. I could fit 3-4 corny's plus my CO2 tank inside. My set up also allows me to just use the fridge light to see. I'll have to post a pic later if I remember.
 
Cool idea! What if you just framed out some 2x4 or 2x6 to mount your taps to?

I like the idea of a stealth kegerator if you will and not butchering a fridge. Only down side is some cold tap handles!
 
I can see how a wall might be useful so you don't loose your cold air on the floor every time you go for a refill. It seems like a half wall would work just as we'll though.
 
Honestly, I've been going with the false wall idea just to make it as much like a "real" kegerator as possible. I could probably just frame it up like you suggest Gator, but I'd like it to look a little more finished.

I was also thinking that having the taps on the inside would actually be beneficial to reduce gunking of the taps/lines. The whole thing is chilled!

Of course, once the beer starts flowing, finishing it out drops down the priority list. :drunk:
 
I'd push up the purchase of a second or third+ kegs over the perlicks. Whether you force carb, prime, or go low and slow - onlyvone keg will result in gaps in beer supply. With only one keg you'll likely end up rushing your brew and burn half a keg "testing"

A picnic tap inside the fridge will work just fine until after graduation. There's an in-fridge build where someone mounted multiple taps on a horizontal band that was pretty clean.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/upright-keezer-rigid-mounted-picnic-taps-237711/#post2809138

Edit - found rigid picnic tap build thread.
 
I'd push up the purchase of a second or third+ kegs over the perlicks. Whether you force carb, prime, or go low and slow - onlyvone keg will result in gaps in beer supply. With only one keg you'll likely end up rushing your brew and burn half a keg "testing"

.

Yea...having one keg is like having one leg, tow or even three will work far better unless you want to drink half the time, one keg is always conditioning while the other is ready for consuming.
 
Color me convinced. Additional kegs are at the top of the buying list...as soon as my Sugar Mama gets paid again. Good thing SWMBO likes homebrew. :rockin:
 
Sounds like a workable plan. A little OT, but important - I'd recommend getting milk crates or a BrewHauler for those carboys. If you're lifting full carboys with those carboy handles, that's just asking for trouble.
 
Thanks DeafSmith. I'll pick some up this weekend. And hopefully NorthernBrewer will ship my Better Bottles sometime soon. I'm sure they're backed up with the BOGO deal a few weeks ago.
 
If you wanted to build a false wall have you thought of building a new door? some plywood and insulation with a couple coats of paint would do and depending on the hinges you most likely could still use the existing ones. Thought i might give you something to think about
 
I was thinking the same thing Flatcap was. Why not build a new door? Get some plywood, insulating foam, foam stripping to seal it against the fridge and connect it to the existing hinges. Drill into it however you want and you wont need to open it every time you want a brew. When you leave, put the original door back on and your landlord will be none the wiser.
 
Why not just ask the landlord if he actually gives a crap about the ancient fridge he abandoned in the basement? I guarantee that if he's renting the place to college students, he has no expectations of ever being able to use that fridge for food again.
 
You guys have given me a lot to think about...JJL I really like your setup, might go with something similar. Gives room to store bottles, which is nice. Not sure if I want to mess around with replacing the door.

I got my kegging kit yesterday and filled up my CO2, cleaned out the corny, filled it up with some of Kal's Electric Pale Ale, and started carbing up!

2012-11-09 19.57.21.jpg

Unfortunately either I screwed up hooking it up or KegConnection missed something assembling the kit because the 5lb CO2 tank was empty this morning. :mad: I'll have to get it refilled on Monday and try again after soaping it up and checking for bubbles.

With Taprite regulators, both the black part and the red part can turn. Is it safe to assume that I should only unscrew the red knob? I accidentally messed around with the black part before I hooked it up and might not have screwed it back in all the way.

Also, when carbing up, does it matter if I have the liquid side on the keg connected?
 
JJL, your setup got a lot of attention on the HBT Facebook page! Didn't even realize HBT had a page until tonight, but noticed that your photos were featured on Friday.
 
I know it's been a while, but I thought I'd post an update on the kegerator. It's working great!

2013-01-27 16.31.46.jpg

There's enough room underneath the taps to put a carboy for cold crashing if I move the drip tray. I can fit maybe 20 bottles between the kegs and the drip tray otherwise. I also have perfect storage space for jars of washed yeast under the plywood floor.

My next step is to move the CO2 tank out of there and have a bulkhead going through the wall. I'm a little hesitant, as the fridge is so old I can't find any plans showing where the cooling coils are. I have tried looking for hot/cold spots with my infrared thermometer, but it's not clear where the coils are. I'll probably drill a small hole and poke a toothpick through to feel for coils. Once the CO2 is out, there will be tons of room for bottles or a carboy, even with the drop tray there.
 
My next step is to move the CO2 tank out of there and have a bulkhead going through the wall. I'm a little hesitant, as the fridge is so old I can't find any plans showing where the cooling coils are. I have tried looking for hot/cold spots with my infrared thermometer, but it's not clear where the coils are. I'll probably drill a small hole and poke a toothpick through to feel for coils. Once the CO2 is out, there will be tons of room for bottles or a carboy, even with the drop tray there.

Drill from the inside first!!! The coolant lines are stuck to the outer skin, you can drill with a 1/8" drill bit and still hit one from the outside.

You can drill a 1/2" hole in the inner plastic and stick your finger through the insulation to find the coolant lines.
 
option 1: go to the back of the fridge, look near the top for rubber plugs for running an ice maker water/power line. you can pop those out and run the gas line. i have power for my temp controller running through one of these.

option 2: the "hump" near the compressor on the bottom is usually a place there are no coolant lines running against the liner. i drilled control lines in my mini fridge this way.

open your freezer, see if the "floor" of the freezer comes up. my bet is that there's a giant radiator/heat exchanger in there for the cooling... meaning there's only 1 small "out" line and one "return" line from the compressor... so the odds are on your side if you find that radiator in the freezer floor. =)
 
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