Drilling kegerator for gas lines. Little help

I decided to move my CO2 and beergas tanks outside of my fridge to make more room for kegs. I needed some advice on sizing.

After reviewing a lot of posts here, I decided to go with simply drilling holes slighter larger than my gas lines, installing rubber grommets and running the lines through the side wall of the fridge, rather than using bulkheads. I have a dual body regulator for CO2 and another single body for the beergas. All in all, I need to drill 3 holes to have the 3 lines all at different pressures.

I am not very savvy at DIY stuff when I don't have any past experience at it, and so this may be a dumb question.

If my gas line has an OD of 9/16, what is a common sized drill bit and grommet diameter that will form the best/snug fit for the gas line?
Thanks

Starting here and drilling down into Grommets, then set the filter for Grommet ID = 1/2" to 47/64" and Panel Thickness to Less than 1/8", you can then spot the specs for a standard push-in grommet with a 9/16" ID, their sku 9600K21

It looks like you need a 3/4" panel hole for that size grommet.

Honestly, consider the SS bulkheads. They need a MUCH smaller hole, are self-sealing, and allow separation of the plumbing if ever needed. I have them on my keezer and both of my brewery fridges.

You can even mount gas posts on them so you can hook your regs up using gas QDs. I've done that on my keezer as I use its tank & reg to do CO2 pushes in my shop...

Cheers!

If I went the bulkhead route, is this similar to what you are using?
http://www.homebrewing.org/Bulkhead-adapt-14-mfl-2-78L_p_3576.html

They have a 4" size but its probably bigger than I need.

And you're saying that on the outside you add a ffl post that you can pop a QD on or just do a barbed end with a clamp. Is this the post you would add?
http://www.homebrewing.org/Plug-Adapter-14-FFL-x-1932_p_4637.html

Thanks

Yup - the specific 1/4" FFL to gas post thread is dependent on the specific gas post (there's like three different threads that were used) - but otherwise you nailed it.

I used the 4" SS version to go through the back walls of my fridges, and a panel version (around an inch and a half long iirc) to go through the back edge of my keezer lid. That one has the adapter and gas post so I can borrow its tank when needed. The lines on the fridges use swivels and barbs.

Don't forget the nylon flare gaskets! You need those at each end of the bulkheads...

Cheers!

Cider123 said:

If I went the bulkhead route, is this similar to what you are using?
http://www.homebrewing.org/Bulkhead-adapt-14-mfl-2-78L_p_3576.html

They have a 4" size but its probably bigger than I need

Thanks

Click to expand...

That's exactly what I did about a month ago to move my tank out of the fridge. I'm glad I did it this way. Yes I had to buy an extra line but it's worth it to do it right the first time.

I think I got everything I need from adventures in homebrewing. They had swiveled and flared nuts at 3/8" with barbs which they say fits the 1/4" bulkhead. They also said that flare gaskets aren't needed with a flared nut, but I'm gonna use them anyway.

I truly was going to go with the QD's but was already spending over a hundred (those bulkheads are $18 bucks each) with the extra gas line, parts and shipping. I don't see me needing to disconnect the lines in the future anyway, but I can always add them next time I'm upgrading.

Thanks for your help