CrowsNest Keezer

[TheCrowsNest]

With 2 weeks off and about a month's worth of PTO, the time (and money) have finally fallen in my favor. What better to do with this time than to spend it building a keezer!

Just got this 14.6 cuft GE off Craigslist. The inside is clean, but note the dents. I got excited and paid $300 for this freezer. I should have paid a lot less.

I'm going to attaching a collar to the lid and the current plan is 3 faucets. I decided to go with a collar over the tower for 2 reasons. First, I have no intentions of ever selling this but I didn't want to drill holes anywhere in the freezer. And two, a freezer this size can hold plenty more kegs than 3 and I plan to expand the tap selection at a later date. Either way, the hinges are off. Those springs are under A LOT of tension.

Temp control is obviously a big thing here. I saw a post (that I can no longer find) regarding a screw that you could turn on the freezer itself...? No clue. If you know what I'm talking about please let me know, this kind of thing intimidates me too much: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/ebay-aquarium-temp-controller-build-163849/. Here's what I'm working with at the moment and I can't find the screw (you see all that corrosion? can not believe I spent $300 on this thing).

Any thoughts, input, guidance, or moral support is appreciated! I'm looking forward to my final product!

 

[newtonjason]

Hey crowsnest, Like the freezer, I also hurt at the 300 dollar bill so lets try and make this as painless as possible.

I am currently building a temperature conroller as detailed in the threadhttps://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/ebay-aquarium-temp-controller-build-163849/

But as you mentioned, if you dont want to build your own, you can buy a temperature controller for your setup for about $50.
http://www.amazon.com/Refrigerator-Freezer-Thermostat-Temperature-Controller/dp/B000EXROSE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314738144&sr=8-1

Hope these work for you

 

[certaut]

sometimes the screw is under the knob inside the hollow shaft sometimes it is glued.
when you adjust it give at least 12 hours before the next adjust

 

[TheCrowsNest]

That SOB was hiding under the knob and behind a small piece of white tape. Now I can skip that $60 analog temperature controller.

On a side note, I just ordered all my hardware. I got 2 quotes, one from MoreBeer! and the other from BeverageFactory.com. BF got me all the same stuff PLUS a new 10lbs co2 tank for more than $100 cheaper. Would have been $200 cheaper if I hadn't gotten the co2 tank.

 

[TheCrowsNest]

After a lot of fiddling with that tiny screw I think I've got the temp where I want it. Some threads have said to keep your thermometer in a glass of water to get a more concise reading. That takes an eternity. Measure the temp of the air to get in range, and then fine tune it using a glass of water.

The wood is cut and I'm getting ready to drill the holes for the shanks. Once that's done it's time for some serious gluing, drying, and painting!

 

[TheCrowsNest]

I'm glueing (gluing?) the wood with a heavy duty construction adhesive. I went this route because I didn't want to be able to see any screws. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the joints will be able to hold the weight of the lid, we'll see how that goes though.

While the adhesive was hardening I used this strap vice and 2 90 degree angle vices to hold the joints in place:

That might seem like overkill, but my cheapo mitre box didn't cut 45 degree angles very well:

I was worried I'd end up with an uneven rectangle as a collar. 3 different vices pulling in multiple directions should avoid that issue though.

 

[TheCrowsNest]

I received all the hardware in the mail earlier this week. I'm getting all the lines attached now and was expecting to see some of those metal tighteners - the ones you tighten with a flathead - but I ended up with this opaque plastic things. The quality doesn't seem as good, but I'm going to go with them for now. If they break I'll just replace them with the metal ones.

 

[TheCrowsNest]

Hey crowsnest, Like the freezer, I also hurt at the 300 dollar bill so lets try and make this as painless as possible.

I am currently building a temperature conroller as detailed in the threadhttps://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/ebay-aquarium-temp-controller-build-163849/

But as you mentioned, if you dont want to build your own, you can buy a temperature controller for your setup for about $50.
http://www.amazon.com/Refrigerator-Freezer-Thermostat-Temperature-Controller/dp/B000EXROSE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314738144&sr=8-1

Hope these work for you

Good luck with the temp controller build newtonjason! I ended up tracking down that screw and I think I got it dialed in after about 5 days. It probably won't be as accurate as one of those external controllers, but I've gotta shave those costs!