Draft Tower Help
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ill.literate
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search 4912 and tower... plenty of reading material there
Well, I know that Austin has a pretty good deal on Shirron forward sealing faucets. They're not cheap compared to basic chrome, but I'm sure many folks hear will rave about them. Apparently they don't get all goopy between pours.
ill.literate
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Austin claims it's the lowest price in America, FWIW.
Buford has some sweet rails on his kegerator, I'm sure he could be some help. I think he posted some pics of his.
EDIT
Pics of his setup : http://community.livejournal.com/homebrewing/413981.html
Buford has some sweet rails on his kegerator, I'm sure he could be some help. I think he posted some pics of his.
EDIT
Pics of his setup : http://community.livejournal.com/homebrewing/413981.html
My recommendations will not be the least expensive route, but IMHO will give you the best results for both looks and quality. First, forget about buying one of those cheap plastic or chrome plated pre-assembled towers. You will be much better served buying an unassembled tower and building it yourself with parts that are readily available.
Start by getting an unassembled stainless steel, two faucet tower from ACU. They don't list prices on their website, you have to call them for a quote. They are great people to deal with. You should expect to pay around $60-70 for it.
You will then need to purchase some elbow shanks. I recommend the stainless steel elbow shanks from Micromatic. They are a little pricey, but worth every penny.
My recommendation for faucets are to definitely get the forward sealing style, whether it be Perlicks or Shirrons. I've had both and personally prefer the Shirrons. Both of them are available at most of the bigger online brew supply retailers. I got mine from eBay, but the cheapest price I have found for them is at Austin Homebrew Supply. You will also need to get two lengths of 3/16" ID thick walled, smooth bore beverage tubing. I would recommend going with at least 10' of tubing for each tap. You can always cut some off if it is too long. Depending on what type of kegs you have you will need the QD's and fittings that mate up to the kegs you have. I recommend going with the flare fittings over the barb fittings. It makes disassembly and cleaning much easier.
Here are a few sites that will provide a lot of info on kegging, from balancing the system to cleaning the kegs.
Soda Keg Maintenance
Draft System Line Balancing
Balancing FAQ
Kegging & Carbonating
Bulk Keg O-rings.
There are more, but that should keep you busy for awhile. Here is a photo of the end result. Of course mine is a three tap but you get the idea.
Start by getting an unassembled stainless steel, two faucet tower from ACU. They don't list prices on their website, you have to call them for a quote. They are great people to deal with. You should expect to pay around $60-70 for it.
You will then need to purchase some elbow shanks. I recommend the stainless steel elbow shanks from Micromatic. They are a little pricey, but worth every penny.
My recommendation for faucets are to definitely get the forward sealing style, whether it be Perlicks or Shirrons. I've had both and personally prefer the Shirrons. Both of them are available at most of the bigger online brew supply retailers. I got mine from eBay, but the cheapest price I have found for them is at Austin Homebrew Supply. You will also need to get two lengths of 3/16" ID thick walled, smooth bore beverage tubing. I would recommend going with at least 10' of tubing for each tap. You can always cut some off if it is too long. Depending on what type of kegs you have you will need the QD's and fittings that mate up to the kegs you have. I recommend going with the flare fittings over the barb fittings. It makes disassembly and cleaning much easier.
Here are a few sites that will provide a lot of info on kegging, from balancing the system to cleaning the kegs.
Soda Keg Maintenance
Draft System Line Balancing
Balancing FAQ
Kegging & Carbonating
Bulk Keg O-rings.
There are more, but that should keep you busy for awhile. Here is a photo of the end result. Of course mine is a three tap but you get the idea.
NewBrewer25 said:
I have seen people use drawer pulls for the rails of their home build kegerators. Here is a link to some Stainless Steel Bar Handles
Buford
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I was going to post that link to the rails I used but ya beat me to it!
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AGBrewer
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Yeah I get impatient waiting for answers, plus the swmbo agreed to buy the whole kegerator setup, had to hurry before she changed her mind, I can still add forward sealing faucets to the shanks that I will have, right?johnsma22 said:
Buford
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The forward-sealing faucets fit any US standard shank, just like regular faucets.
sirsloop
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I ended up getting a preassembled NSF approved chrome tower off ebay for 80 bucks, which included a pretty solid feeling tower, standard chrome faucets, elbow shanks, 3/16" beer hose, and gasket. Its definitly not cheap feeling, and I think I got my money's worth for it. I dont know how long these faucets will last with normal wear and proper maintanence , but you can also put shirrons on there later for 40 bucks a pop. I stopped at home depot and picked up some 10-32 3/4" stainless steel bolts with matching t--nuts for the 8x8 board.
As far as the drip tray, I decided to get a shaker mat for the time being. They will cover the area of a 2 beer draft tower and are shipped for less than 10 bucks. Its not as bling as the stainless ones but it gets the job done. Simply soak in hot soap water to clean it out.
http://www.barproducts.com/media/shakermat.htm
Going the ACU way, plan on spending ~220 for the tower... plus another 75 if you decide on a chrome drip tray.
See my other thread about the rear shelf in your kegerator (kegging forum)... you can probably use the spare MDF/baprd to cover your 4912's glass shelf as seen on page 3.
As far as the drip tray, I decided to get a shaker mat for the time being. They will cover the area of a 2 beer draft tower and are shipped for less than 10 bucks. Its not as bling as the stainless ones but it gets the job done. Simply soak in hot soap water to clean it out.
http://www.barproducts.com/media/shakermat.htm
Going the ACU way, plan on spending ~220 for the tower... plus another 75 if you decide on a chrome drip tray.
See my other thread about the rear shelf in your kegerator (kegging forum)... you can probably use the spare MDF/baprd to cover your 4912's glass shelf as seen on page 3.
