Beer Good! Coffin Keezer Build

[rwc_617]

The Lights.

Just as racing stripes are known to increase the horsepower of a car, so do multicolored blinking lights drastically improve the taste of beer dispensed from a kegerator. So I had to include waterproof LED lights and an eBay LED light controller with remote. The controller is small and easily fit inside the project box. I drilled a small hole in the side of the project box for the IR remote sensor. I used the router to cut a groove in the facia boards to light up the front and two sides of the keezer. I covered the top of the collar, the insides of the facia boards, and the gas struts with shiny aluminum tape to help the photons escape and hopefully reach the main panels of the keezer.
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Lesson learned here. The stickyback of the 3M LED strand will not strick to silicone caulk at all and doesn't hold well to polyurethane. That meant I had to smear silicone caulk on top of the strands to hold them in their grooves.

The leads for the facia lights come out of the project box, through the collar, up into the main lid, out to the perimeter, then out of the lid to the lights.
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Of course I had to light the backsplash. Because the lights won't stick to the silicone covered plywood that is above the backsplash, I found some clips online that are designed especially to hold this style of LED lighting in place.
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[rwc_617]

The What's On Tap Sign.

The downside of my coffin design means that I can't close the lid if tall tap handles are in place. On my 2-tap kegerator I've always used the tap handles to indicate the beer type, but I don't want the hassle of taking them on and off every time I want to serve beer. So I decided to go with a lighted menu board on the inner face of the coffin lid. I got a big piece of 3/8" plexiglass, cut it to size, build a wooden frame, installed LED lights top & bottom, and rigged some brackets to hold it in place.
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Lesson learned: the shape of the lid and the presence of the brackets made insulating the inside of the lid a pain.

To give a permanent framework for writing the beer styles I spray painted the back face of the plexiglass with automotive lens tint then used the Dremel MotoTool to grind a giant plus sign and the numbers 1-4. (Had to write them backwards, of course. ) I used one of the menu board fluorescent chalk markers to fill in the ground markings.
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Lesson learned. To maximize light transmission from the LED lights into the plexiglass, one is supposed to flame polish the perimeter of the plexiglass with a propane or MAP torch. When you are out of propane, do not substitute your feeble butane torch! Go the the hardware store and buy some damn propane! Flame polishing with a butane torch is crap and you won't get as much light as you wanted into your plexiglass!

 

[rwc_617]

The leads for the WOT Sign go out of the project box, through the collar, into the keezer, up into the coffin exhaust duct, into the coffin upper chamber, out through the front face of the coffin, and into the corner of the sign.
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[rwc_617]

Another Lesson Learned. When soldering leads for color LED lights, the "B" means blue and the "+" means black.
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Competent electronics technicians, please fee free to snicker at my crappy soldering job. I got better on later attempts.

 

[rwc_617]

More Electrical Pictures.
The knob for the blower speed controller sticks out the bottom of the project box where it is out of the way and less likely to allow water to reach the wiring.
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The overly-populated lighting remote control is held on the the side of the project box with Velcro. I hope no one walks off with it.
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I installed a 2-channel temperature display to compare the coffin temperature to the temperature at the kegs. The Channel 1 sensor is collocated with the Inkbird sensor and the Channel 2 sensor is in the middle of the coffin shank chamber. I also put an on/off switch for it on the project box in case I get annoyed by the display sequence. I think there must be some filtering and some logic going on in this little box. When I did an ice bath test the temperatures overshot by showing 31 deg before stabilizing on 32 deg. Also, it appears there is logic to "snap" the two channels to the exact same reading since I never see small differences, just zero and 1-plus degree differences. Regardless it was cheap, easy to hookup, and gives at worst a gross indication that the shanks stay close to the same temperature as the kegs.
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[rwc_617]

all i can say is dayum! that is such a legit build...you must be an engineer ; )

Guilty as charged! Thanks BK!

 

[John Paul Stoddard]

Can you do the same with a pane of glass?

 

[rwc_617]

Can you do the same with a pane of glass?

I would think so, but the edge need to be polished to get the light inside the panel. I'm too clumsy to be trusted with glass, however.

 

[rwc_617]

Temperature Sensors.

The Inkbird controller has an adjustable delay on the cooling cycle to prevent liquid freon from being ingested by the compressor and I have mine set to 5 minutes. Nevertheless, I made a little "layer cake" to increase the time constant of the controller sensor. The Channel 1 monitor sensor is collocated in the layer cake. The outer layer is a CPU aluminum heat sink. It has lots of little fins to maximize surface area and convective heat transfer with the surrounding air. The next layer is a silicon pad normally used as a conduction path from a CPU to its heat sink, but in my case it couples the heat sink to the third layer. The third layer is the pair of sensors which are flanked by crushed and folded copper pipe to add thermal mass. The forth layer is more silicone conduction pad, the fifth layer is crushed copper pipe for more thermal mass, the sixth layer is double sided tape to help hold the thing together, and the very bottom layer is foam insulation to isolate the sensor package from the keezer wall. Zip ties hold the whole stack together. Here it is with only one of the sensors and before I trimmed down the foam insulation.
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For now, I have it mounted with double sided tape on the compressor hump, which is very near the location of the OEM temperature sensor.
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The weather here has been ranging from mid-20s to mid-60s, so the system has yet to endure any Alabama heat, but after the first week it seems to be operating well.

 

[rwc_617]

Floor Structure.

To promote air circulation under the kegs, I ripped some pressure treated 1x6 lumber and assembled this open grating platform. Wire shelving and PVC pipes would work just as well, but I had the stuff for this on hand.
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Lesson Learned -- you can sort through dozens of pieces of pressure treated lumber at a big box store in order to find a straight board or two, but they will quickly warp into pretzels after you get them home. Not sure how anyone can build a deck out of this stuff.

 

[rwc_617]

The Heater.

I'm well aware of paint can heaters, but I'm a fan of the broad, gentle heat of a terrarium mat heater. I stuck a 24 W heater on a piece of flexible sheet metal, put car door trim around the perimeter to keep from cutting up my hands, grounded the metal sheet, then plugged it into a short power cord wired to the Inkbird and set the heater on edge between kegs. So far I've seen 24 degrees outside and the Little Heater That Could has maintained 40 inside the keezer with the Inkbird heating indicator light remaining off most of the time. (I have a 200 W Lasko heater waiting in the wings in case 24 W is not enough when the outside air temp drops into the teens or single digits.)
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There is also an 8 W heater behind the vinyl-covered metal back splash to help keep the tap section of the coffin from freezing. No pictures, and no measurements, so I have no confirmation that this is needed (the 4" Krome shanks ought to conduct some heat to the taps) or if it is adequate/sufficient. I should probably put a temporary sensor on one of the taps and see how warm or cold it gets during winter weather. Maybe after Christmas.

 

[rwc_617]

The Bar Top.

Even though I really like them, I wanted to do something a little different from a bottle cap bar top. SWMBO helped with the idea and the design for a beer coaster bar top. We wound up with a wide variety of coasters, sprayed them with clear polyurethane, hot glued them onto the plywood, then encased them under three layers of Pro Marine epoxy. My only regret is I don't have Belgian beer coasters.
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[UglyDude]

What size freezer?
I struck out searching on Craigslist for a descent chest freezer, so I got an 8.8 cu ft Kenmore on sale.

Why a coffin style?
Nothing against collar-mounted taps, but I couldn't figure a good way to prevent them from freezing on a cold North Alabama night. So I figured a coffin with an insulated lid could keep them reasonably warm. And with a lock, I can keep thirsty thieves from just helping themselves while I'm not home.

I like the locking top, Mine is outside too, although in Socal I don't have to worry about climate as much as marauding teenagers

That's a beautiful Keezer and I'll be stealing many elements from you!

 

[rwc_617]

Steal away, UD! That's how I got most of mine to begin with!

 

[rwc_617]

CO2 Supply.

I got a good deal on a 4-product secondary regulator. I originally planned to mount it on the short wall over the compressor hump, but it is too long for that space. So I mounted it under the lid on an angled bracket. To help send the gas lines toward the back of the keezer, I replaced the original hose barbs with 90-deg elbows. This regulator has no check valves (maybe why the price was good?) so I got some white plastic CVs and added them to lines. Not wanting a big rat's nest of tubing, I borrowed the spark-plug-wire-loom-with-zip-ties trick from the automotive world to group the gas lines near the hinge. Thanks, YouTube! I put an MFL swivel nut on each of the lines to allow swapping between commercial and homebrew couplers. Right now the gas bottle is just sitting on the compressor hump, but I plan to add a more secure anchor for it after Christmas. If I ever get serious about carbonating a 5th keg in this keezer (I have other fridges for that already) someday I may move the bottle outside the keezer and add a 5th regulator.
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Lesson Learned: Closely cropped zip ties leave sharp barbs that will rip your collar insulation to spreads every time you open and close the lid. I hid the damaged insulation with aluminum tape then used the beer lines to keep the killer zip ties away from the insulation.

 

[rwc_617]

The Beer Lines.

I cut four 11-ft lines using Accuflex Bev-Seal Ultra Barrier tubing. (Just like the knob for my electric boil controller, these go to 11.) I used this stuff on my old 2-tap kegerator, and it is still mega stiff and pain to work with. Lesson Learned #1: instead of wasting time with a swage tool and a heat gun to work this tubing onto barbed fittings, go ahead and get the John Guest plug-in fittings. Lesson Learned #2: the JG 5/8-in BPT tail piece adapter that I rejected as incompatible with my 7/8-14 Krome shanks does in fact have the same thread. Anywho, I learned both of these lessons after I purchased and installed stainless steel barbed fittings. No leaks after the first week.

Starting at the kegs, I used MFL swivel nuts for swapping out ball lock / pin lock / Sanke connectors. The beer lines are corralled using spiral cable wrap and a few cable anchors screwed into the wooden collar cap.
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[rwc_617]

The beer lines go up into the coffin through the coffin air supply duct.
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[rwc_617]

The beer lines enter the coffin shank chamber through the air supply duct and are connected to their respective shanks with 90-deg elbow tail pieces and hex beer nuts. Lesson Learned: if you are going to use easy-on/off wing nuts, make sure there is enough clearance for the nut to actually turn. A real Dammit Moment when I had to stop final assembly and order new hex nuts!
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[rwc_617]

Shanks & Taps.

The final few inches of the sweet nectar's journey is through 4" stainless shanks by Krome and then Perlick 630ss taps. I think the soft pine of the panel supporting the taps is too soft for the black plastic flanges because when I tightened a flange nut to point where the shank would no longer turn, the accompanying tension would warp the plastic flange to the point where the coupling nut would bind making it difficult/impossible to install/remove a tap. After much futzing around with varying degrees of torque and with LocTite, I drilled holes in the flange nuts, anchored them to the interior face of the pine with small screws, tightened the shanks just to the point where the coupling nut was free to turn, and then locked the shank in place with a lock nut. So far the shanks will not spin and the coupling nuts turn smoothly allowing for easy install/removal of the taps. Hooray! But there has got to be an easier way to achieve this! I must be overlooking something because I don't see much information about this subject online. Someone please enlighten me! Anyway, here is what I came up with:
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[rwc_617]

Other Factors.

Because I might bring this thing indoors some day, I heeded the InterWeb's warnings (mostly) about carcinogens outgassing from pressure treated lumber and used untreated lumber instead. It is certainly straighter and easier to work than the little bit of pressure treated lumber I used inside the keezer for the floor grate, but time will tell if it can stand up to our hot humid summers and cold winters.The keezer will mostly stay under cover on a north facing porch, so sun exposure and UV degradation should not be a factor. Rain should rarely (never?) reach it, but we like to host pool parties, and go figure, some of the participants consume alcohol, so occasionally the keezer might get splashed. To guard against water/moisture getting into the wood, I tried to cover ever square inch with MinWax Polyshades, and to cover every joint & blemish with brown silicone caulk. I am hopeful this thing will look good for 5 or more years when SWMBO is likely to decide that rustic is out of style.

To keep the conditioned air inside the keezer separated from great outdoors, I used weatherstripping where the lid sits on the collar, around the perimeter of the coffin tap lid, and around the perimeter of the shank chamber cover. I applied clear silicone caulk at every corner where two pieces of weatherstripping meet. Just in case any moist air gets inside the keezer, I have a large DampRid canister sitting on the compressor hump. I won't have any real data on how this all works until next summer. Fingers crossed.

I wish I had taken the time to work up the whole keezer in a CAD program, because it probably would have kept my 2D mind from making 3D mistakes like the too-short lid, the lack of room for the wing nuts, and the misplaced holes for the coffin air ducts. But overall, I had fun making this and I am very happy with how my keezer turned out. I hope to enjoy many pints from it with my friends and family. Many thanks again to the wonderful HBT community! Please feel free to critique and/or to borrow any of my ideas.

Now, enough with the keezer building and back to brewing beer with which to fill it!!!

 

[rwc_617]

Heater Update:

It's 16 degF in north Alabama this morning, but the 24W terrarium heater is still keeping the keezer & coffin at 42!
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[Cartman98]

I was wondering how that thing would be doing today. 21 degrees in San Antonio this morning. Did you ever have an issue with the taps freezing? Great build!

 

[rwc_617]

I was wondering how that thing would be doing today. 21 degrees in San Antonio this morning. Did you ever have an issue with the taps freezing? Great build!

Thanks! No freezing of the taps so far. Was successfully pouring beer in the low 20s last night, but closing the lid after every pour to be safe. Still no quantitative measurements inside the tap area. Might do that tomorrow morning.

 

[rwc_617]

One weather app says it's 19 this morning, but another weather app says it's 23. My thermometer agrees that it's 23 on the back porch.
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Meanwhile, my other thermometer says it's almost 39 where the taps live.
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I will declare victory for today, but will recheck should we ever get down into single digits.

 

[rwc_617]

Tap handle update

Bought some wooden toy number blocks on Etsy, distressed and aged the wood, installed EZ-Lok threaded inserts (the Lok part may be accurate, but EZ, not so much), and sealed them with polyurethane. I wanted something to fit the theme and they had to be short enough to fit underneath the coffin lid when it is closed. Mission accomplished.
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[BrooklynTom]

I enjoyed this build from the beginning. Great job. Mine still looks like $h!t, but I did start collecting parts for a rebuild this summer.

 

[rwc_617]

Thanks, BT!!

 

[MaryB]

In something like this redwood would be a better choice than pressure treated. Yes it is more expensive but it is naturally rot and UV resistant.

Sweet built otherwise! Lot of engineering to survive outdoors.

 

[rwc_617]

Except for the keg support grate, there is no pressure treated wood in this build. Pine for the framing and poplar for the coffin. Redwood would have been great, but it's very hard to get here. Also, I would have had a much harder time beating the crap out of such expensive lumber to make it look distressed! Cheers!

 

[rwc_617]

The Beer Good! Brewing Company keezer has been in continuous operation on my back porch for over eight years. I’ve been very satisfied with it and I plan to keep it going another two or three. But nothing is perfect, so here are some Key Observations and Lessons Learned to share with the community:

• The cooling performance of the Kenmore freezer is as good as new.
• The InkBird temperature controller is still working great.
• The coffin, taps, air cooling passages, beer line routing, gas line arrangement, pressure regulators, and gas springs for the keezer lid have all worked out pretty well. However, cable tie downs will rip the foil right off the face of foam insulation, so the lines are not quite as neat as they were 8 years ago.
• Except for one board that has warped and needs some extra silicone caulk, all the wood structure, coffin, and pine framing are holding up very well.
• The epoxy bar top has yellowed a bit, but otherwise it has held up and still looks good.
• About every two years, the bilge blower starts shrieking then dies in about a week. Then it must be replaced entirely. Maybe the bearings on this model are designed for the blower spin axis to be horizontal and my vertical orientation is bad for them. Or maybe nobody has a bilge that needs ventilation 24/7. I’ve searched for a better model or a different arrangement, but haven’t found a better answer yet for preventing stratification.
• The blower speed controller had to be replaced after about 5 years. New one is similar. Fingers crossed.
• The 12v power supply had to be replaced after about 6 years. The new one is higher capacity. More fingers crossed.
• The heavy duty polyurethane wheels disintegrated after about 7 years. The new ones are wider but lower, so who knows? Toes crossed.
• I’m not disciplined enough to regularly swap out the Damp Rid, so I’ve given up on even trying to use that to prevent our summer humidity from turning the floor of the keezer into a Giant Petri Dish. I try not to look at anything below the compressor hump.
• Covering over the freezer drain plug helped to make the keezer look good, but that was a big mistake. Draining the Giant Petri Dish with a shop vac works, but it is a real pain. I should have turned it around, put the keezer lid hinges at the freezer front so the freezer drains plug would be on the back of the keezer.
• Using a pressure washer to cleanup after the Petri Dish has been drained is a great way to damage the keezer’s soft, foil-covered foam floor. Great stuff and foil tape to the rescue!