Danby DAR125SLDD Kegerator Build

[BansheeRider]

I have very similar cuts in my door, and two ball-lock kegs fit no issue. I used the ugly aluminum tape over the silicone though as added protection (mostly due to paranoia about the silicone having a small gap somewhere). I am still using picnic taps though, hoping to get a tower soon. Is the fridge hard to drill through? Any recommendations on a hole saw?

The metal was a bit tough to drill. I had to use some motor oil on the hole saw because it was smoking and getting too hot. I used a 2 1/8" saw which is a good size hole IMO.

 

[EHV]

I just did my conversion today on the Danby. Aside from the door being the biggest mother of the situation (took a few hours the day before). the rest of the job went along fairly easy. I went with the 1 3/16'' hole and used 1 inch pipe about 2 foot long. Its too long but I will see how it goes. I used the foil tape to seal up the insulation at the location of the hole. I also used small spacers to shim the plastic from the top of the fridge so the tower mounts securely. I am very pleased with the outcome. Now if only my 2 brews would finish on the primary.

 

[Walking_Target]

The new model being sold in Canada at Costco doesn't have screws attaching the door panel, they just seem to be glued in place and the door gasket fits into a molded groove around the edge of the door panel.

I think that I can get around this with a dremel tool and patience....

 

[EHV]

Thats what I did. It makes a mess but take your time. You will have to do some leveling out with the insulation to at least get it somewhat flush for a panel to be placed inside of the "frame" however its worth it if you want the whole panel out. Good luck.

 

[Walking_Target]

Meh. I was just gonna use a straight edge and dremel with cutoff wheel to remove everything inside of the gasket channel, then replace with plexi and secure with a combo of sealant and gorilla glue. Last I checked, gorilla glue was safe for insulation foam.

 

[EHV]

I used a liquid nails which was safe for foam board to secure the plexiglass then used some clear silicone to seal the edges of the plexiglass to the remainder of the plastic trim and to seal out any moisture from the foam. Allowed all that to dry then followed up with black vinyl for the large area for aesthetics, then foil tape over the seams as another layer of protection followed with black duct tape.
I don't know overall if this was the cheaper route, however, using quality parts, and starting from nothing, I am happy and sure it will serve its purpose well for years to come.
Also, wear eye protection if you are using the brown cutoff wheels like I used on my Dremel. Catastrophic failure at high speed equals flying shrapnel.

 

[mr_rogers]

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Danby-Designer-Compact-Refrigerator/5893621

Model #DAR440BL

Fits two pin locks with the inner door removed, as illustrated in this post. I have two with a 5 lb. co2 in there now. Hope this info helps someone out there....

Thank you so much Wobbegong! this is exactly what I was looking for!
:rockin:
Do you know if you can throw taps through the front door? i know it will be tight...

 

[jeffersonjames]

Thank you so much Wobbegong! this is exactly what I was looking for!
:rockin:
Do you know if you can throw taps through the front door? i know it will be tight...

I put 2 taps through the front without any issues.

 

[jeffersonjames]

Ooops...sorry for all pics. I was adding them on the android app and it kept saying it crashed.

 

[kombat]

I'm having a major problem with my build. I'm getting a lot of ice buildup on the coils in the back of the inside of the fridge. I unplugged it the other day to defrost it, and I was unaware that there's a drain hole and a drip pan to catch the melting ice. Consequently, my drain pan overflowed and caused water damage to my hardwood floor.

Has anyone else had this problem? Should I turn the thermostat up? Down? My wife is NOT HAPPY. The next step is to buy a big ugly metal pan to set the fridge in to catch any errant runoff, like the kind you put under an unreliable washing machine.

 

[opusx11]

Kombat,

condensation in a keezer/kegerator is pretty common, and not usually a big problem. If cleaning out the drip tray regularly (thanks for reminding me to go check on mine) is an issue, a lot of people have used the following wireless dehumidifer inside their kegerator with good results:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000H0XFD2/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

i'm thinking about picking this up myself, except the canadian price on it is double

 

[fergusyarrow]

Here is my one Just waiting to get the 2nd keg in there

 

[mtnagel]

Just bumping to say I'm in the middle of my conversion. I picked up the Danby DAR440BL on craigslist for $70. It was new, but had a dent on the back corner. It turns out it's the old style one with the screws so it was easy to remove the front door panel (except they used like 30 screws!!). Unfortunately, I have 2 pin locks, so the kegs don't fit, but they should be alright if I just trim down the shelf supports on the side. We'll see. Might have to get 1 ball lock corny to make it fit. Anyway, thanks for all the pictures in here. It helps to know what I should do.

 

[DeNomad]

Welcome mtnagel, enjoy the kegerator! Let us know how trimming the shelf supports go.

 

[V1king]

Does anyone know if there are refrigerant lines running through the sides of this model, or are they all contained in the back. I would like to mount my gas manifold on the interior side of mine, but don't want to hit anything with the screws!

 

[DeNomad]

I used super glue to attach my gas manifold to the side. Works just fine, no risk of hitting lines.

 

[mtnagel]

Welcome mtnagel, enjoy the kegerator! Let us know how trimming the shelf supports go.

Trimming the shelves worked and the kegs, "fit." In quotes because they *just* barely fit. It is very tight, but appears it will work.

I drilled the hole for the tower yesterday and what a PITA. I was using a crappy hole saw bit and I was getting nowhere fast. After lots of heat generated, smoking, some sparks and maybe 20-30 minutes, I decided to use the metal bit on my jigsaw so I just drilled a couple small holes until I could get the blade in and used that. Done in a less than a minute with that. Should have just started with that. But, whatever, it's done.

I have to buy longer screws and I had to order a few more pieces, so I ordered a cutting board I will cut down for support inside the fridge. Hopefully that goes much better.

 

[landojeep]

Does anyone know if there are refrigerant lines running through the sides of this model, or are they all contained in the back. I would like to mount my gas manifold on the interior side of mine, but don't want to hit anything with the screws!

V1King,
Yes refrigerant lines do run through the sides. I found this out the hard way. I got one of these for $40 on craigslist and ruined it. depending on how your manifold is setup, you might could screw it to a board, and epoxy the board to the interior of your fridge.

I've got my own issues. I picked up a replacement fridge for about $60 on ebay, still haven't hit the cost of a brand new one, whew. I opted to remove the stock thermostat, with the intent of jumpering it to 'always on', and let my STC-1000 make the decisions. Time passed and I lost my notes on which wires to connect, has anyone taken a similar approach and can share some info here?

 

[403Brewer]

What is the difference between the Danby 044 and the 125? They're for sale at costco (canada) but the 125 is an extra $30 and I can't see much of a difference on the Danby site

Edit: Think I found the answer, looks like the 125 has the shelves mounted on the back which gives you more space...bought the 044 on kijiji for $75 so I'll just deal with that. Looks like 2 ball locks can fit according to other posts

 

[landojeep]

bump

 

[mtnagel]

Getting so close I can almost taste the cold, fresh beer

 

[squash1978]

I just picked up one of these from Costco and noticed mine is slightly different from the other pics other people have posted. Specifically, mine has the shelf supports built in on both sides rather than in the back. As a result, the space inside is about an inch or two too narrow to fit two ball locks flush with the back hump. One has to sit slightly in front of the other (see bottom pic).

Initially, I'm just going to use picnic taps with this setup so my goal right now is to do the least amount of work to get the door to shut with two ball locks inside. Aesthetics don't matter at this point so I'm not interested in cutting out the door panel and putting in plexi glass, whiteboard, etc.

Does anyone have experience with making modifications to get the door to shut without cutting out the shelf supports? If it was only the bottom shelf supports like the back-mount units I probably would not hesitate but this one has them going all the way up on both sides.

 

[mr_rogers]

Have you tried pulling back the fridge seal to see if there are screws? If your fridge is like mine it's as simple as unscrewing the inside panel off. Otherwise you've got to cut...


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[BansheeRider]

I just picked up one of these from Costco and noticed mine is slightly different from the other pics other people have posted. Specifically, mine has the shelf supports built in on both sides rather than in the back. As a result, the space inside is about an inch or two too narrow to fit two ball locks flush with the back hump. One has to sit slightly in front of the other (see bottom pic).

Initially, I'm just going to use picnic taps with this setup so my goal right now is to do the least amount of work to get the door to shut with two ball locks inside. Aesthetics don't matter at this point so I'm not interested in cutting out the door panel and putting in plexi glass, whiteboard, etc.

Does anyone have experience with making modifications to get the door to shut without cutting out the shelf supports? If it was only the bottom shelf supports like the back-mount units I probably would not hesitate but this one has them going all the way up on both sides.

Looks like your kegs fit fine. You just have to cut the shelving on the door like I did mine....



It is not difficult with a dremel tool and some silicone sealant. I left the side shelf so that the dome light still worked. I cut the bottom out about a foot so that the keg closest to the door wasn't interfering. The whole project took about an hour.

 

[squash1978]

Unfortunately, mine does not have screws. I've got to cut

Have you tried pulling back the fridge seal to see if there are screws? If your fridge is like mine it's as simple as unscrewing the inside panel off. Otherwise you've got to cut...


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[squash1978]

That would be sweet if that is all I had to do. Did you have to make the cut on the bottom of the door b/c your left keg has to sit a little forward of the right one in order for them both to fit inside the fridge?

That's a really good point about leaving the left side shelf for the light. Thanks!

Looks like your kegs fit fine. You just have to cut the shelving on the door like I did mine....

It is not difficult with a dremel tool and some silicone sealant. I left the side shelf so that the dome light still worked. I cut the bottom out about a foot so that the keg closest to the door wasn't interfering. The whole project took about an hour.

 

[BansheeRider]

That would be sweet if that is all I had to do. Did you have to make the cut on the bottom of the door b/c your left keg has to sit a little forward of the right one in order for them both to fit inside the fridge?

That's a really good point about leaving the left side shelf for the light. Thanks!

Yes I cut about a foot off the bottom for the keg closest to the door.

 

[squash1978]

Well I modified the door like BansheeRider and both ball locks now fit with the door shut! It's a tight fit, it really couldn't get any tighter. At first I could not get the door to close because the top of the left keg was pushing on the door. However, I soon figured out that by tilting the right keg back a little, I could get the left keg to sit more upright.





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[BansheeRider]

Well I modified the door like BansheeRider and both ball locks now fit with the door shut! It's a tight fit, it really couldn't get any tighter. At first I could not get the door to close because the top of the left keg was pushing on the door. However, I soon figured out that by tilting the right keg back a little, I could get the left keg to sit more upright.

View attachment 178115
View attachment 178116


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Congrats bro!! Looks great and now you can enjoy a dual tap kegerator!

 

[squash1978]

I finally got around to adding the tower to my Danby :rockin:

I based my build on the following blog post, which I think was mentioned earlier in this thread.

http://fattonytcl.blogspot.com/2012/12/how-my-little-kegger.html

I drilled a 1 1/8" hole 5 inches from the back of the fridge top, which ends up being between the back plate of the fridge and the light. I then shoved a piece of 1" copper pipe in the hole to help keep the beer lines cool. The 1 1/8" hole is the perfect size for the copper pipe, it fits like a glove with just enough resistance that nothing is needed secure the pipe in place. However, because the fit was so tight, there was no way I was going to be able to line the hole with aluminum tape to seal the insulation. Instead, I used silicon caulk to seal the hole on the inside where the pipe comes into the fridge, which I think should be fine.

Not knowing how long the pipe should be I erred on the side of caution and cut my pipe long to 17" (I figured 9" for the tower, 2" to go through the fridge, and then another 6" to extend into the fridge). This proved to be too long so I'm going to have to cut 3" or so off the pipe. Right now I can't put my CO2 tank on the back hump because the pipe extends down too far and interferes with the regulator.

I also ended up gluing a piece of 1/4" plywood underneath the plastic top for more stability. A 14.5 x 17" piece with the corners rounded off fit perfectly underneath.

I was hoping to take more detailed pictures of the build but I was pressed for time. I did spend a lot of time measuring and remeasuring the dimensions of the fridge since it's a one time shot. I've attached those measurements to assist others in future builds--just be sure to verify the measurements with your own fridge!