Added a collar to my kegerator

[treacheroustexan]

I have had this mini fridge for years, and always had two taps, but could only fit a 5 gallon keg and a 2.5 gallon keg. I don't like brewing 2.5 gallon batches because I brew a lot of kits from stores so I wanted to add on to my fridge so I could fit my second 5 gallon ball lock keg in there. Total cost was $9 using a 2x6x12 cut into 4' pieces from Lowes, and some brackets & screws I had laying around.


Took the door off and everything out of the fridge.


Started piecing together the collar using L brackets on the inside.


Attached the door to the collar and then the collar to the fridge using brackets. I had to use my multi tool from Harbor Freight on the top right of the door and collar (might be able to see in the full scale view). Eventually going to add caulking to seal the cracks and insulation on the inside, but my kegs are full so I wanted to get this done before they got warm. I used HVAC tape for the time being.



Success!



I put the door on a little crooked and it doesn't look the prettiest, but hey. This is only going to last me until the fridge dies and I can build a keezer, so it's worth it for now! I may eventually paint the collar but we will see. Plugged my inkbird in a few hours ago and it's sitting at 42 F. I'll report back how the temperature holds up.

 

[Mic Carp]

I have a mini fridge too and was so bummed that I couldn't use it for much except soda/beer. this is GENIUS!
I'm gonna do something similar. perhaps a fermentation chamber.
thanks for the post!

 

[Tippy_Toes_Tom]

I am considering doing this. How did you get the magnetic seal from the door to attach to the wood?

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

I am considering doing this. How did you get the magnetic seal from the door to attach to the wood?

You're responding to an old post (2018) so you might not get an answer.

To seal your door I would look for some foam gasket like they use for camper tops on a truck bed rail. That stuff is a couple inches wide and fairly thick plus it's sticky on one side. Put that on the wood collar edge. Also make sure the corners are tight. Make sure you get a good seal.

 

[treacheroustexan]

You're responding to an old post (2018) so you might not get an answer.

To seal your door I would look for some foam gasket like they use for camper tops on a truck bed rail. That stuff is a couple inches wide and fairly thick plus it's sticky on one side. Put that on the wood collar edge. Also make sure the corners are tight. Make sure you get a good seal.

I'm still hanging around haha. I agree you can use the foam gasket, but for this, I didn't use anything. I just bought a gate latch to attach to the door to hold the door shut.

If I were to do this again today, I would spend a lot more time on it compared to what I did in 2018. But for that time, it served its purpose!