Tower cooler

[redrocker652002]

I am wondering about these fans that they sell that have the hose that goes up into the keg tower to cool the beer as it goes thru the tower during a pour. My question is, do they need to stay on? I am guessing they do to recirculate the cool air thru the tower and back around the kegerator, but just curious. They seem to be easily available for about 30 bucks, which isn't too bad. Input? Thanks.

 

[day_trippr]

I have a home made cooler blowing up into my keezer's t-tower and it runs 24/7/365...

Cheers!

 

[redrocker652002]

I have a home made cooler blowing up into my keezer's t-tower and it runs 24/7/365...

Cheers!

Cool. Thanks. Was it cheaper and easy to do? Just kinda curious. Seems 30 or so bucks for one isn't that much if it helps with beer temps coming out of the tap.

 

[day_trippr]

I'm away from home this week but I have multiple posts regarding my cooler on HBT. Here's one pic I've found that shows most of it...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/tap-tower-cooling-with-air.682839/#post-8937442
Cheers!

 

[redrocker652002]

I'm away from home this week but I have multiple posts regarding my cooler on HBT. Here's one pic I've found that shows most of it...

View attachment 830362

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/tap-tower-cooling-with-air.682839/#post-8937442
Cheers!

Wow, very cool. Way above my knowledge. Going to go with the already done deal I think. Thanks for posting. Looks very cool.

 

[Broken Crow]

I set up my first commercial kegerator in the summertime, and a year later I replaced it with a Series-X. Since I could switch the fan between constant-On/Auto, I tried both for about a week... Temps in my house would get into the 80's and without it ON, pours would be foamy..also: The compressor cycled a lot more frequently with it OFF and temp swings were broader. Both units exhibited the same, so I leave it on 24/7 and always have cool shanks.
Note: The standard insulation with most tower leaves gaps..I have the same foam from packing material so I made extra pieces to insulate the cap and bare areas and it noticably reduced run times.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

I am wondering about these fans that they sell that have the hose that goes up into the keg tower to cool the beer as it goes thru the tower during a pour. My question is, do they need to stay on? I am guessing they do to recirculate the cool air thru the tower and back around the kegerator, but just curious. They seem to be easily available for about 30 bucks, which isn't too bad. Input? Thanks.

My $0.02 - You can leave them on all the time. The power consumption is negligible. If you wanna be a little more energy conscience, you can plug it into a timer that turns it on an hour or so before it's beer time and off after beer time is done. Beer time intervals depend on the drinker.

I have found that I definitely need it during the summer months when room temp is warmer than the tower likes. In the winter, it's not really needed.

 

[day_trippr]

you can plug it into a timer

...which needs power 24/7/365

A 40mm 12VDC fan draws around 80ma...

Cheers!

 

[FloppyKnockers]

...which needs power 24/7/365

A 40mm 12VDC fan draws around 80ma...

Cheers!

Oh, for sure. When I had the set-up I was talking about, I had a 2.4w computer fan and only pulled from the taps on the weekends. I think my timer used ~1w of vampire power. The old mechanical timers? Fugetaboudit... Might as well leave a 600w bulb burning all day.

What size fan do you have that only uses 80 MA?

 

[day_trippr]

As I wrote, a 40mm 12vdc fan. Max draw is spec'd at 120ma but they run well under max...

Cheers!

 

[FloppyKnockers]

Ahhh... Rating vs consumption. So if a normal computer fan runs at about 65% it's rated output, you're saying my 2.4w draws the same amount of power running vs not running on a ~1w timer "off"?

 

[day_trippr]

No, I was only pointing out that a timer would need power all the time, not actually comparing consumption as I didn't have the necessary data...

Cheers!