Kegs, now what?

[Gigemags05]

Okay, I've been trying to decide whether its cheaper to just get one of the starter keg kits off of midwest or from my local homebrew store or if its cheaper to piece one together myself.

I know I need kegs and a co2 tank.

Is there a detailed list of the exact pieces I need to complete a 2 keg set up?

what type of lines?
type of regulator?
faucets
any other hardware?
shanks?
nuts, bolts? anything else?

 

[mosquitocontrol]

Its possible to piece it all together, but requires lots of planning. Pieces are easy to forget. If you end up buying it all retail anyway (versus piecing it off CL) it won't cost much different then buying a kit with it premade and guaranteed to have ALL the pieces you need.

I just spent time upgrading from 2 to 4 tap kegorator. Even though I understand how kegerators are set up I still ended up having to order at least 3 separate times to finally get all the pieces I needed. Maybe its just forgetful me,. And that's not including the 10+ trips going to Home Depot for other miscellaneous stuff I kept forgetting.

 

[carter840]

I think it would be helpful for me too. I am putting my setup together now and am worried I am missing parts.

So far I have:
Regulator
CO2 tank
Beer Tower with facet and handle
5' of beer line
1' of air line
pin valve keg
the valve for each side of the keg (i forget the names)
and some hoes clamps

Is this a complete list?

 

[malkore]

you can always go with picnic taps, and faucets/tower later.
3+ years kegging and I still run 5 picnic taps.

 

[nebben]

I have three chrome faucets, and still recommend that anyone starting out should get picnic taps initially. They are still so useful to have around, especially if you think you might ever want to move the kegs outside in an ice-filled garbage can, or to serve wine or cider from your draft setup.

 

[Mcbobs]

With as cheap as beer line and air line is, I would recommend getting much more line than you need. There's always uses for extras, but 1 foot of airline is definitely not long enough to have the versatility you'll want when moving things around. I would get 10ft of airline and beerline each so that you have some extra to play with.

 

[solbes]

One tip I have is to start with 10 feet of 3/16" liquid line to control foaming (10' for EACH keg). You may get by with 7 or 8, but you can't make a line longer. Also you might want more than 1' of gas line as sometimes you want to move the keg out of the fridge with gas on. Again go with 3/16". Use 1/4" barbed fittings and you will not need hose clamps in most situations. Just heat the end of the line in boiling water and place over the fitting. It will be really tight when it cools down.

Another tip is to buy Perlick faucets if you are skipping right over picnic taps. The standard faucets stick hard when left alone for a week or so.

Single regulator if all beers are carbed and dispensed at the same pressure. Dual regulator if you want to carb or dispense a lower psi beer like english and higher psi for a belgian or wheat.

 

[carter840]

Yeah I made the error already in short beer and gas lines.

I should have read this forum before my order. Will likely made another order or give me LHBS a call to see what they have in stock.

 

[Gigemags05]

I ended up ordering this system from midwest:

Brew Logic Dual Tap Draft System w/ Pin Lock Kegs - 5 Gallon Systems - Kegging Systems - Kegging

it comes with 2 kegs, co2 tank, regulator and gas lines, and 2 picnic taps.

Other than faucets and shanks, what else will I need to convert it into a kegerator? I already have the freezer and temp. controller.