Keezer around pets

[KookyBrewsky]

Hello,

This may be a foolish question, but do keezers have any sort of mechanisms that would be hindered by pet dander and/or hair? I want to keep the keezer in my room, mostly due to lack of space elsewhere, but we have a German shepherd that stays in there and she sheds a blankets worth of hair every week. Dust doesn't really affect electrical things, it makes them less thermally efficient, but I am worried about any mechanical issues excess hair might cause with a keezer. Do they have external fans? Anyone have experience with this?

Cheers

 

[mcmeador]

I’m assuming you’re dealing with a converted chest freezer? You’d have to look at it to determine whether it has a fan, but it should be easy to tell. Most chest freezers I believe dispel heat through the walls rather than through the use of a condenser fan, but they should at least have a vented area where the compressor is to keep the compressor from overheating. If you see a vent, it has a purpose, so keep the vent clear.

 

[Nate R]

I think the most 'danger' i've read about here is cats... some cats will jump up and open the faucets, causing beer to run all over.
For real... i wish i could find the links, but i swear i have read this a few times here. Guys were adding locks or spring-loaded faucets for this reason.

 

[BrewZer]

Google "pet hair clogged condenser" and see what comes up.

 

[Darwin18]

I think the most 'danger' i've read about here is cats... some cats will jump up and open the faucets, causing beer to run all over.
For real... i wish i could find the links, but i swear i have read this a few times here. Guys were adding locks or spring-loaded faucets for this reason.

This happened to me several years ago. I had an Imperial Russian Stout on tap that was carbing and was almost ready for serving. I heard an odd splashing sound from our living room and saw a dark brown stream flowing down the driveway from my front door. My dumb cat had a habit on laying on top of the keezer and his fat ass must have pushed the tap forward. I lost about 4 gallons from a 5 gallon batch.

 

[Nate R]

This happened to me several years ago. I had an Imperial Russian Stout on tap that was carbing and was almost ready for serving. I heard an odd splashing sound from our living room and saw a dark brown stream flowing down the driveway from my front door. My dumb cat had a habit on laying on top of the keezer and his fat ass must have pushed the tap forward. I lost about 4 gallons from a 5 gallon batch.

Do i "like" this post? I feel terrible for it! I knew i had read this though...
As a person who has a cat, i must ask you... what are the odds this was an accident vs. deliberate act?!?

 

[Darwin18]

I think it was really accidental. He never went near the Keezer again. He was a dumb, very fat cat but not at all malicious.

 

[KookyBrewsky]

I’m assuming you’re dealing with a converted chest freezer? You’d have to look at it to determine whether it has a fan, but it should be easy to tell. Most chest freezers I believe dispel heat through the walls rather than through the use of a condenser fan, but they should at least have a vented area where the compressor is to keep the compressor from overheating. If you see a vent, it has a purpose, so keep the vent clear.

Yes, converted.

If it's got a vent, maybe I'll buy a fine mesh to put over it. It shouldn't cause harm to thermal management but keep the pet hair out. Dander, not so much, hopefully at that point it should be a non-issue and not damage the keezer.

 

[IslandLizard]

Yes, converted.

If it's got a vent, maybe I'll buy a fine mesh to put over it. It shouldn't cause harm to thermal management but keep the pet hair out. Dander, not so much, hopefully at that point it should be a non-issue and not damage the keezer.

It's probably best to remove the vent grill periodically and vacuum it as well as the compressor cavity. A mesh filter may clog up faster, causing flow restriction much quicker.

 

[mcmeador]

It's probably best to remove the vent grill periodically and vacuum it as well as the compressor cavity. A mesh filter may clog up faster, causing flow restriction much quicker.

Yeah, that’s what I was going to say. You want to keep the vent free of obstructions so that it can dispel heat as well as keep pet hair from accumulating around any of the mechanical components. If it’s just a compressor behind the vent, then a clogged vent would probably sooner be a problem than too much hair accumulating around the compressor itself.

 

[KookyBrewsky]

I cannot see a relatively sparse mesh, tight enough to keep hair out, destroying something that is already covered by a vent but with long slits, negligible impact to air flow and therefore thermal management. You would have to be able to gather enough dander directly out of the air to make a blanket for the possibility of covering a single square on the mesh to occur. I see the points but they're just as run around as my solution.

It's no different than the three sets of mesh on my PC case that I vacuum weekly, it's excellent that what I vacuum is not inside the case...

 

[mcmeador]

I cannot see a relatively sparse mesh, tight enough to keep hair out, destroying something that is already covered by a vent but with long slits, negligible impact to air flow and therefore thermal management. You would have to be able to gather enough dander directly out of the air to make a blanket for the possibility of covering a single square on the mesh to occur. I see the points but they're just as run around as my solution.

It's no different than the three sets of mesh on my PC case that I vacuum weekly, it's excellent that what I vacuum is not inside the case...

No one is saying it’s going to destroy your keezer, just that a tight mesh will definitely accumulate pet hair more quickly than a more open vent would. If you’re religious about cleaning it (which you didn’t mention previously), then you have nothing to worry about.