Coldplate in a mini-fridge, question about hose legth.

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madewithchicken

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So I have a mini-fridge that I converted to a kegerator. I can (just barely) fit 2 corny kegs in there at the moment. It is a real bootleg design, but I guess that part is not important to this post.

Now I just got this 3 tap coldplate. It was used for soda in a previous life and I am going to have a hell of a time cleaning it. I am thinking of putting it in the fridge submerged in water. Then I would be able to fit one keg in the mini-fridge and 3 outside of it.

I have read a few posts about people who are "going to do" this. But I could not find anyone that uses this regularly. I only drink 1-4 beers a night so I do not think that volume is a problem. And if I am entertaining I could always throw ice in the water that the coldplate sits in.

1. Does a coldplate really work in a fridge? Or does the coldplate just plain need to be in an ice bath?

The temp of the finished product is not the only problem. Another is problem here is pressure. Working from memory I think that at 30 psi and 70 degrees (temp in my basement) I should get about 2.5 volumes of co2.

I know that a lot of hose can be used to counter this. And there is some complicated math involved in calculating this. My taps are only about 2 or 2.5 feet above the center of my kegs.

2. Can you just coil the hose up and throw it in the fridge? (This would be ideal because it would have a little more time to cool before it hit the coldplate.)

3. How much hose is used? I guess we will assume I am using 1/4 inch hose.

4. Does the coldplate itself count as part of the hose? I guess if it does I will have a hard time calculating how much hose it counts as.

I hope I can work this out. It will be great to have 3 beers on tap and have room for a cola or root beer.
 
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