Keezer Regulator Mounting question

Here's a picture of what I have done: http://i.imgur.com/ccQtX.jpg

So It's just a collar with 2" foamboard insulation around it. The problem is I didn't leave myself any wood surface to screw my regular or manifolds into. What are my best options? I know I can remove some of the foam easily enough but I will probably need another piece of wood and won't I lose a lot of insulation that way? Do I need to stain and/or polyurethane the board as well?

Thanks.

Not that it is a solution for anybody else, but I had some one inch stainless steel cubes that were tapped all the way through. I cut a square inch out of the insulation and ran carriage bolts through the collar and the cube, then used nuts and lock washers to mount the secondaries. The cubes were excess from armor kits in Iraq.

Xtant said:

Not that it is a solution for anybody else, but I had some one inch stainless steel cubes that were tapped all the way through. I cut a square inch out of the insulation and ran carriage bolts through the collar and the cube, then used nuts and lock washers to mount the secondaries. The cubes were excess from armor kits in Iraq.

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Any reason I couldn't do the same thing with some wood cut the same way?

I was thinking something the same - take a piece of 1x4 and screw through the foam to your collar to make a mounting board on the inside. . .

socalboomer said:

I was thinking something the same - take a piece of 1x4 and screw through the foam to your collar to make a mounting board on the inside. . .

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this won't work as well because the foam is 2" thick and my wood is under 1" thick I believe. If I took a few piece of wood cut to 1" x 1" x 2" I could cut 1" x 1" holes into the foam and place the wood through there and drive through that and into the collar I think..

I skipped the foam altogether in my keezer.. my kegs are all below the collar anyways, the cold air stays trapped inside the keezer walls. I don't find that it cycles very often. If I were you, I'd just cut a small piece out of the foam and mount your stuff - it's not going to make a difference in how often the freezer has to run.

garcara said:

this won't work as well because the foam is 2" thick and my wood is under 1" thick I believe. If I took a few piece of wood cut to 1" x 1" x 2" I could cut 1" x 1" holes into the foam and place the wood through there and drive through that and into the collar I think..

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Sure it will work. All you need is some longer screws. I would use something thinner though. Maybe a some 1/2" material and 2" X 8" or so. The wider board will provide better support against the foam. No need to make cut-outs in the foam, but there's nothing wrong with doing it that way either.

bruin_ale said:

i skipped the foam altogether in my keezer.. My kegs are all below the collar anyways, the cold air stays trapped inside the keezer walls. I don't find that it cycles very often. If i were you, i'd just cut a small piece out of the foam and mount your stuff - it's not going to make a difference in how often the freezer has to run.

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+1, but do you REALLY want to mount your regs inside the keezer?

GatorDad said:

+1, but do you REALLY want to mount your regs inside the keezer?

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Okay ... so now you have to tell my why that would be a problem, because I was planning to put mine inside my keezer also!

I have 2 inch board insulation inside my collar as well. I just used 2 1/2" screws.

2puttbird said:

Okay ... so now you have to tell my why that would be a problem, because I was planning to put mine inside my keezer also!

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I can't see how mounting the regulator(s) inside the freezer would be a problem so long as you have enough room to do so.

some people like to put the CO2 on the outside. Saves space on the inside, and also the gauge that tells how much CO2 you have left is accurate at room temp - but at colder temps it will read lower. I prefer to have my CO2 inside just for the cleaner look of having everything self contained and I'm used to the gauge reading low - I have a backup tank anyways, so I don't really pay that much attention to how much CO2 I have until the tank is empty.

bruin_ale said:

some people like to put the CO2 on the outside. Saves space on the inside, and also the gauge that tells how much CO2 you have left is accurate at room temp - but at colder temps it will read lower. I prefer to have my CO2 inside just for the cleaner look of having everything self contained and I'm used to the gauge reading low - I have a backup tank anyways, so I don't really pay that much attention to how much CO2 I have until the tank is empty.

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FYI, the high pressure gauge on a CO2 tank does not indicate how much gas you have left. It will read the same pressure (at a given temperature) until all of the liquid CO2 has vaporized and there is very little gas remaining in the tank. It's the same for a propane tank. The only way to know how much gas remains in the tank is to weigh it, which is what I do when I'm getting low. I no longer have high pressure gauges on my regulators at all and I don't miss them a bit.

Hangar bolts would let you mount your hardware inside without removing insulation. You would just have to drill pilot holes through the insulation and into the collar. Then you would drive the hangar bolts into the holes by jamming two nuts against each other on the machine thread end. Just google hangar bolt, you'll see what I mean. Good luck!

I went down the "mount on inside" route before doing a u-turn. I like "neat", and hose management became an issue. Plus, I like being able to see my gas pressures as I walk by...