New 7cuft Industrial Keezer Build

[Chris Evans]

After spending many hours (days) researching, I've started on my Keezer project...

Inspiration

• I like this general design, particularly the industrial towers: https://brewingwithalex.wordpress.com/2015/06/10/new-kegerator-design-reclaimed-wood-and-pipe/amp/
• Also I like the concrete work on the top and wood sides here: http://drewmcdowell.com/blog/9-uncategorised/81-kegerator

Design Overview

• Keezer: Home Depot had a 7cuft Magic Chef on special that'll work great. Inkbird temperature controller
• Siding & Frame: 2x4s and 2x2s for the frame, with some reused or nice dark weathered wood
• Counter: Will be 2x 0.75"x38"x26.5" MDF with a concrete finish (2 so that i can have a cutout for the drip tray to be flush with the top)
• Towers: 3 seperate towers of 2" industrial Anvil steel piping (amazingly all available on Amazon.com). Perlick 630SS faucets. 5x24x0.75 drip tray
• Drink setup: 3x 5-gallon pin lock corny kegs (2xbeer/1xsparkling water [for Marco the 3-year-old + the missus]).
• Drink delivery: Double regulator (to give higher pressure to the water keg), Splitter for the 2 beer kegs, 5/16 piping for CO2-to-regulator, 3/16 piping regulator-to-keg-to-tap. Metal couplings and clamps

Questions/Concerns/Worries (feedback welcome)

• Tower cooling? I plan to put the beer line through copper pipes (extending ~4" into the freezer), and that through foam insulation. Is that going to work? (other option is to lose the foam, and use a fan to cool the tower, but i worry that will cause lots of condensation...)
• Beer piping length? I've seen folks with really long beer lines from the keg to faucet...why is that & is it necessary?
• Siding? In Seattle...where to get the wood?
• Drilling through the top of the freezer? I assume there are no lines in there??...there is only a light that I've disconnected the wiring for and removed
• Piping size? Does the above 5/16 and 3/16 setup sound OK??
• General unease that I'm missing something vital!

Photos coming as it progresses...

 

[Chris Evans]

Freezer ready for framing...

Freezer

• Chris Evans
• Jan 25, 2019

 

[NathPowe]

After spending many hours (days) researching, I've started on my Keezer project...

Inspiration

• I like this general design, particularly the industrial towers: https://brewingwithalex.wordpress.com/2015/06/10/new-kegerator-design-reclaimed-wood-and-pipe/amp/
• Also I like the concrete work on the top and wood sides here: http://drewmcdowell.com/blog/9-uncategorised/81-kegerator

Design Overview

• Keezer: Home Depot had a 7cuft Magic Chef on special that'll work great. Inkbird temperature controller
• Siding & Frame: 2x4s and 2x2s for the frame, with some reused or nice dark weathered wood
• Counter: Will be 2x 0.75"x38"x26.5" MDF with a concrete finish (2 so that i can have a cutout for the drip tray to be flush with the top)
• Towers: 3 seperate towers of 2" industrial Anvil steel piping (amazingly all available on Amazon.com). Perlick 630SS faucets. 5x24x0.75 drip tray
• Drink setup: 3x 5-gallon pin lock corny kegs (2xbeer/1xsparkling water [for Marco the 3-year-old + the missus]).
• Drink delivery: Double regulator (to give higher pressure to the water keg), Splitter for the 2 beer kegs, 5/16 piping for CO2-to-regulator, 3/16 piping regulator-to-keg-to-tap. Metal couplings and clamps

Questions/Concerns/Worries (feedback welcome)

• Tower cooling? I plan to put the beer line through copper pipes (extending ~4" into the freezer), and that through foam insulation. Is that going to work? (other option is to lose the foam, and use a fan to cool the tower, but i worry that will cause lots of condensation...)
• Beer piping length? I've seen folks with really long beer lines from the keg to faucet...why is that & is it necessary?
• Siding? In Seattle...where to get the wood?
• Drilling through the top of the freezer? I assume there are no lines in there??...there is only a light that I've disconnected the wiring for and removed
• Piping size? Does the above 5/16 and 3/16 setup sound OK??
• General unease that I'm missing something vital!

Photos coming as it progresses...

Hey man - sounds like you've got a cool build in mind. Here's a few thoughts on your bullet list -

- Tower cooling: You might be able to get away with the copper piping to prevent foaming. I know that folks do, but I personally have had more luck with active cooling (i.e. a fan). You could always design/build so that if the copper isn't working out it's easy to add a fan later.
- Beer line length. Long beer lines provide the resistance needed to keep your CO2 pressure set at an appropriate level for maintaining carbonation in your beer without having your taps pour like fire hoses. Depending on the temperature of your keezer, typical pressure for maintaining carbonation is generally somewhere between 10 and 14 PSI. With 5-foot beer lines and that kind of pressure, you're going to have beer coming out of your taps pretty damn fast. Increasing the line length to, say, 10 or 12 feet provides resistance so you get a nice relaxed pour.
- No idea about siding in Seattle.
- I've not seen/heard of any chest freezers with cooling lines in the top, so I would think you're good there.
- Line size - 3/16 is pretty standard for beer, so you're good there. Not sure on the 5/16 for water.
- Just take your time with the design and ask questions on here. People are generally down to help out. Also some other things to consider in your design are how the kegs will be loaded, how lines will be cleaned, how the unit itself will be cleaned, how easy will it be to replace a bricked freezer unit in the shell, etc, etc. Down the road you'll probably be glad you've thought of some of those more logistical type things as you maintain/use the keezer.

Hope this was helpful. Keep us updated on the build.

Cheers.

 

[mongoose33]

The only thing I'd note is that the freezer cools through the sides. If you slap wood cladding on there the freezer will have to work much harder to shed heat.

If I were doing this--and it looks like a neat design you're planning--I'd make sure I had some space between the freezer sides and wooden cladding so you can get some kind of convection to carry the heat up and out. I've read of people using a computer fan to push air through there to allow more efficient cooling.

It sounds like you using 2x4s or 2x2s will allow for something like this.

At any rate, good luck and I'll enjoy watching this unfold.

 

[Chris Evans]

Thanks both of you for the advice, it is really, really helpful. Lots to think about here!

Worked on the framing over the past week or so, and I think it turned out great. Couple of quirks to work through, i) the lid and base has a lip, and so i used a small spacer (doubled over drywall shims) to ensure that all the framing was aligned to the lips, ii) i used a router to make a small indent for the vent cover so that it will be flush with the frame and not impact the siding, iii) the lid is slightly larger than the main unit, and so i used 2x1 around the top to ensure that I dont impact the ability to open and close. Kreg Jig Jr is my new favourite tool...so easy to make the pocket holes.

Bit concerned about the lack of venting on the side panels...maybe could have vent panels on both sides. Also, there is the min/max dial on the front that will be covered with wood siding, although I guess I set this in the middle and let the temperature controller do its job. More fun to think about...

 

[Chris Evans]

The countertop is made from 2 0.75"-thick plywood sheets, cut to overhang 1-1.5" over the wood siding. I have 2 sheets as i'm going to use a router to cut out the hole for the drip tray, so it will be flush(ish) with the top. Other holes will be for securing the towers (need to find the right screws still), and 4 holes (one each 6 inches from the corners) that will be drilled through the freezer lid to secure the top to it.

I'll have 3 towers, made from 2" pipe. The tube is 10-inches long. Lots more to come on these when the build there starts, but standard foam insulation fits well in these, i have a short shank and a perlick tap.

The drip tray is 24"x5", oriented along the center line of the countertop. This one has no drain...seems like more hassle than it is worth to have this...might regret this.

 

[Calfj60]

Take it from a guy who put the towers to far back. Double check the comfort before making the holes.

 

[MaxStout]

Looks good. The pocket hole joinery is a nice touch.

 

[SubmergedBrewing]

That looks great! Anxiously awaiting further pictures and explanations for completion. Could you possibly explain on how you're affixing the countertop to the keezer top itself? I just picked up a 7.2 cu. Ft. and looking to do the same.

 

[Chris Evans]

Through March things have been a bit slower between crazy snow, crazy toddler that has started to skip naps (2hrs each day at the weekend being my key time to work on this!) and other urgent projects around the house. Back on it now.

On fixing the countertop to the freezer. The short version is that I've used screws/bolts with nuts on the inside of the lid. I wanted to have something solid, but also wanted to pay attention to a comment earlier in this thread that mentioned that it would be a smart thing to be able to remove the countertop if the freezer died or other circumstance.

The steps have been:
1) Cut out the 5"x24" hole in one sheet of 3/4"-thick plywood for the drip tray
2) Cut 6x 1" holes in one sheet of plywood so that the screw heads would be sunk below the surface. You'll see there's more than six cut (13 to be precise!) as I ****ed up and miss judged where the holes would come through in the freezer - between the frame and the freezer wall there's 4 inches of depth. Thankfully I realized this prior to drilling through into the freezer!
3) Glue the two pieces of 3/4" plywood together
4) Align the plywood squarely on the top of the frame. I lined this up and then glued 5x 1.5x1x1 offcuts by the corners and middle front, so that it would not move around. I'm very happy how this worked out as I nudged and bumped it so many times...
5) Drill the screw holes through into the freezer. This was pretty straightforward. Put on nuts and washers...might need larger washers
6) Drill the holes for the taps. I drilled 2" holes to fit the pipe insulation. All was going well until I got to the point of drilling through the (metal) freezer top - lots of sparks and took some time, but it worked out.
7) Cut short lengths of 1" diameter dowel to fill the top of the holes to make the concrete top easier.

Now onto making the concrete countertop...