Wanting to make a kegerator

Hey guys, I had a kegerator a while ago, got rid of it because I was on a health kick and the wife wanted the bar gone, but now i have gotten into home brewing and would like to start kegging my own beer for several reasons, mainly because bottling is a pain. My ultimate goal is to have a standing fridge in my garage with a 3 spigot tap because I usually have 3 styles ready to go. I have a few questions though...

Should I go with the ball lock corny kegs?

Where can I find good used equipment?

Any advice on what kind of fridge to get? I'm thinking an older 50 dollar one on craigslist, in case i mess it up the first time.

Any advice, notes, etc (especially warnings and cautions on what NOT to do when building one) would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Jim

Cornie kegs are the way to go. Whether you go ball lock or pin lock is a personnel preference (or more likely which ever kind you find first the cheapest.) Once you get the kegs you can buy all the fittings on line. You can find a lot of used stuff in the classifieds on this site, as well as the ole Craig's list. As far as a fridge, if it's sitting in your garage.....buy something cheap. Also, make sure it is big enough to hold the three kegs you want to put into it. You'll probably have to build some kind of shelf for the bottom, since most fridges slope for the veggie crispers and such, but that's no biggie. It's easier to put the taps in the door since you want to avoid drilling through any refrigerant lines. If you do need to go through the side (for CO2 lines or anything), I would suggest cutting a small piece of plastic from the INSIDE of the fridge and then poke around. Then you can drill from the inside with no worries. It's really not that hard of a project, you'll be fine.

You may also want to consider a keezer. I am in the midst of building mine and this is the best prices I have found for parts. http://www.ebay.com/itm/350534003321?_trksid=p5197.c0.m619#ht_500wt_922. Getting the used fridge takes patience and time. You can also check appliance stores for scratch and dent.

Thanks Guys,

I had a danby back in the day, it was neat. Then I had an old kegermeister i build my bar around, but that thing was so old it finally rusted out the bottom. Haven't had one in a while. I noted all the people saying don't drill in the sides, so I planned on doing the door. Not going for looks really, it will be in the garage, but yea just making sure I'm not missing anything. Glad to hear Ball vs other type of lock is a preference and not a big issue for fittings/styles of beer.

As for kegging beer....easier? harder? cleaning a pain?

Well, you have to think of a keg as one big bottle. I cleaned six of my kegs yesterday. Its a PITA because I strip them all the way down when I clean them. Took a couple of hours and I was complaining to myself. But then I thought, hell 6 kegs, is over 13 cases of bottles. That's alot of bottles to clean....so yes, it's easier.

copy all, i was wondering about that, thanks for the advice!

Once I bought the equipment it took me under 2hrs to convert my garage fridge. I have room for 2 ball lock kegs and a fermentor, but have to bring the temp up to 62 for a couple days during the fermentation process, after it slows I move primary to a closet and return the temp to 38.



Link to my build thread. Pretty simple even for me, and I'm generally the type to pay for something before attempting it myself (see evidence in thread).

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/kegerator-brown-ale-shower-314217/