Building a mini fridge kegerator

[odie]

Started putting my el cheapo kegerator together. 4.4 class GE. $20 Facebook special
Holds 2 kegs after cutting out door panel and shaving shelf supports

 

[odie]

3” draft tower came with a thin insulation sleeve. I got a foam pipe insulation to go inside and notched the top to fit around the faucets. I had to spray the insulation with 409 type cleaner to get it to slide together and then spray again to insert into the tower

 

[odie]

 

[odie]

Going to try passive tower cooling with copper pipes. 5ft pipe and a couple Ts and elbows to extend pipe down behind the chiller plate

 

[odie]

 

[odie]

Mounting the CO2 distribution to the tower mounting bolts.

The tower is a triple but the fridge only holds two. It’s a temporary replacement since the real kegerator I was gonna use suddenly died. It held 3. I will eventually find another and use this stuff for it. That’s why there is not a copper pipe yet for the third beer line. More pics to follow

 

[odie]

 

[Positronic_Matrix]

I assume your copper pipes are a heat sink to move heat from the outside of the tower that makes it through the insulation down into the cooler. I have to tell you, that is absolutely inspired.

I have a three-tap tower as well, which I heavily insulated. The quantity of beer in the lines is small relative to a full pour, so I never notice a temperature issue. However, I do have a burst of foam with the first beer from the tap and wondered if cooling the line might solve that issue.

Glycol lines are too much work but a copper pipe is easy. I’ll give it a try on one of my lines and see if I notice a difference in temperature or foam. Thanks!

 

[odie]

Yes a heat sink. Not as effective as a tower fan but requires no power or ducting. The copper cost about $10-12 bucks. There was 2 kinds of pipe. Thin and thick wall. I choose the thick walled for a couple bucks more. I think “thermal mass” will help

 

[odie]

As you can see, I had to relocate the thermostat and use some jumper wires. The chiller plate was pushed down and against the back wall. Done outside in the sun with a heat gun to get the freon tubing soft to avoid kinks or breakage. If u find a mini fridge with the plate already on the back wall that would obviously be better.
CO2 access is thru the back. Tiny exploratory hole looking for freon tubes before going big.
It is intended for nitro so tower cooling not that critical I think.

 

[NickTheGreat]

I also like the copper pipe idea

 

[odie]

Gas manifold and the supply line going outside. The disconnect is for fuel injection so it should hold the nitro PSI.

 

[odie]

The tank is in an unusable tight corner. Line feeds under the stairs thru a storage crawl space.

 

[Timothy Woodard]

All the magic of Nitro coffee is in 1.) Temp 37 or under, 2.) pressure 45psi or over, and 3.) a sparkler.

And a carbing stone in the keg helps too.