Fair Price for Kegerator?

[TheCADJockey]

I found someone who is selling a dorm fridge converted kegerator. Comes with all the fixtures, keg and CO2. He also just filled the keg from the local brewery a day or two ago. Price set firm at $325. I'm kind of giddy about finding this, but I do not keg yet and really want to. Is this a fair price and a good place to start the switch from bottling?

 

[Homercidal]

That's not bad if it comes with the kegs, regulator and tank. You'd spent nearly that much in parts and still have to build it. Add in the beer and it's a nice bonus.

 

[TheCADJockey]

Comes with one keg. Everything else I've seen in the classifieds are at least $25 more and never include the keg. Not overly worried about the beer either, but the fact he just filled it up leads me to believe it should be in proper working condition. It just seems too good to be true.

 

[TheCADJockey]

Well I finally heard back from the guy. I told him I do want it, asked if it was still available and when I could pick it up. His answer was, "I can make one for you."

What? This is why I don't trust craigslist.

 

[dmcman73]

If he can make you a new one at that same price with everything he listed included (minus the beer), what difference would it be if he was selling you his used one or a new one he just built? A keg alone is anywhere from $40 for a good used one to $120 for a new one. A draft tower is around $70 for a single draft and over $110 for a double draft. The fridge is variable, depending on where and when you purchase it. They are priced low during the "back to school season" and you can snag one for $50 or more. The CO2 tank is about another $60, regulator is about $50-$100 depending on the type you get then there is the cost of all the hoses and time to build it.

So, if he will sell you a brand new one he just made with all of those items included and at that same price, jump on it.

Come to think of it, he may have already sold the one he listed and was just being nice in saying he can make another one for you.

 

[TheCADJockey]

If he can make you a new one at that same price with everything he listed included (minus the beer), what difference would it be if he was selling you his used one or a new one he just built? A keg alone is anywhere from $40 for a good used one to $120 for a new one. A draft tower is around $70 for a single draft and over $110 for a double draft. The fridge is variable, depending on where and when you purchase it. They are priced low during the "back to school season" and you can snag one for $50 or more. The CO2 tank is about another $60, regulator is about $50-$100 depending on the type you get then there is the cost of all the hoses and time to build it.

So, if he will sell you a brand new one he just made with all of those items included and at that same price, jump on it.

Come to think of it, he may have already sold the one he listed and was just being nice in saying he can make another one for you.

Yea I gotcha. After explaining, he was just offering to help me put one together if I purchased everything and brought it over. I could just as easily draw something crazy for the machine shop to build. Oh well. It was an exciting find. Threads dead baby.

 

[dmcman73]

Yea I gotcha. After explaining, he was just offering to help me put one together if I purchased everything and brought it over. I could just as easily draw something crazy for the machine shop to build. Oh well. It was an exciting find. Threads dead baby.

Well then that sucks, he was going to charge you $300+ to help you build one? There are quite a few very detailed build threads on this board showing you how to build one step by step, which is how I built mine.

 

[TheCADJockey]

Well then that sucks, he was going to charge you $300+ to help you build one? There are quite a few very detailed build threads on this board showing you how to build one step by step, which is how I built mine.

$300+ yeah... his original cost was out the window when he gave it away. Now it was just, I buy everything, bring it by with some beer and he would help me put it together. I could do it myself if I had the time. The convenience and price was just drool worthy. I guess it was a nice gesture, I just rather learn/get into kegging from someone I know at least a little bit. Really need to find some homebrewers in the area to hang with.

 

[TheCADJockey]

I do have a dorm fridge/freezer combo that my wife and I bought a couple years ago. We used it for one party and unplugged it; it has not been touched since. Brand new condition. I wish that stupid thing was big enough to convert, I just don't know if it is. It has a real unfortunate "step" on the bottom that really cuts a decent chunk of room out of it. It would be sweet though, little freezer on top to keep my hops in... oh well.

 

[dmcman73]

I do have a dorm fridge/freezer combo that my wife and I bought a couple years ago. We used it for one party and unplugged it; it has not been touched since. Brand new condition. I wish that stupid thing was big enough to convert, I just don't know if it is. It has a real unfortunate "step" on the bottom that really cuts a decent chunk of room out of it. It would be sweet though, little freezer on top to keep my hops in... oh well.

Almost all of them have that hump in the back because of the compressor, mine does as well. If it's high enough to fit a 5 gallon Corny keg in it then it should fit. Do you have specs/picture of the fridge?

If the fridge is not tall enough for a 5 gallon keg then you may be able to throw a 2.5 gallon or 3 gallon keg in there and bottle the rest, have best of both worlds while cutting down the amount of beer you have to bottle.

EDIT: You would have to keg the beer first BEFORE adding your sugar/carbing additive into the beer for the rest of the bottles in your bottling bucket. You can use the CO2 tank in the kegerator to carb the beer in the keg.

 

[TheCADJockey]

Almost all of them have that hump in the back because of the compressor, mine does as well. If it's high enough to fit a 5 gallon Corny keg in it then it should fit. Do you have specs/picture of the fridge?

If the fridge is not tall enough for a 5 gallon keg then you may be able to throw a 2.5 gallon or 3 gallon keg in there and bottle the rest, have best of both worlds while cutting down the amount of beer you have to bottle.

EDIT: You would have to keg the beer first BEFORE adding your sugar/carbing additive into the beer for the rest of the bottles in your bottling bucket. You can use the CO2 tank in the kegerator to carb the beer in the keg.

We took this picture hastily on the way out the door last night; only later realizing that we should've taken the shelves out for a more accurate picture. My wife said its ~23" from bottom to top, ~10" to the step so it likely cuts the depth in half. That's if she read the tape correctly. I wish I could use this, it would make it worth having this thing take up so much space in our small apartment.

 

[dmcman73]

We took this picture hastily on the way out the door last night; only later realizing that we should've taken the shelves out for a more accurate picture. My wife said its ~23" from bottom to top, ~10" to the step so it likely cuts the depth in half. That's if she read the tape correctly. I wish I could use this, it would make it worth having this thing take up so much space in our small apartment.

Hmm, a full size 5 gallon corny keg is ~23" so it wouldn't fit, you have to also account for the ball lock connectors as well. You can go the 3 gallon corny keg route which looks like it would fit in there. Then instead of a draft tower (it looks like you have some plastic trim or something at the top of the fridge) you can drill a hole int he door and install a shank and draft faucet into the door. Doing that also prevents you from accidentally drilling into one of the cooling lines for the Freon that they embed into the body of the fridge. Then hang a drip tray onto the door, use a 5 lb CO2 tank with a regulator inside the fridge and you'll be set. The only tricky part with a kegerator is sizing the length of beverage tube from the keg to faucet. If it's too short you'll be pouring a lot of foam. between 6 and 10 feet of 3/16" tubing. If you go beyond 10 feet then 1/4" tubing. The excess tubing is then coiled up and placed onto of the tank.

Going with a 3 gallon keg also allow you to take it on the road with you to by using a picnic tap and throwing it into a 70 QT cooler and taking your 5lb tank with you.

Here is a place to find some good prices on parts: http://www.ritebrew.com/

And here is an excellent place to get a brand new 3 gallon keg from that are NSF certified and only have "blemishes" for $49: https://bvrgelements.com/product/Ball-Lock-New-3-Gallon-Blemished/ I bought two of them from them and I'll tell you, I can't tell what blemishes they are talking about unless you count some very minor discoloring from the weld seams and if that's what they are, no one is going to see the keg.

 

[TheCADJockey]

Hmm, a full size 5 gallon corny keg is ~23" so it wouldn't fit, you have to also account for the ball lock connectors as well. You can go the 3 gallon corny keg route which looks like it would fit in there. Then instead of a draft tower (it looks like you have some plastic trim or something at the top of the fridge) you can drill a hole int he door and install a shank and draft faucet into the door. Doing that also prevents you from accidentally drilling into one of the cooling lines for the Freon that they embed into the body of the fridge. Then hang a drip tray onto the door, use a 5 lb CO2 tank with a regulator inside the fridge and you'll be set. The only tricky part with a kegerator is sizing the length of beverage tube from the keg to faucet. If it's too short you'll be pouring a lot of foam. between 6 and 10 feet of 3/16" tubing. If you go beyond 10 feet then 1/4" tubing. The excess tubing is then coiled up and placed onto of the tank.

Going with a 3 gallon keg also allow you to take it on the road with you to by using a picnic tap and throwing it into a 70 QT cooler and taking your 5lb tank with you.

Here is a place to find some good prices on parts: http://www.ritebrew.com/

And here is an excellent place to get a brand new 3 gallon keg from that are NSF certified and only have "blemishes" for $49: https://bvrgelements.com/product/Ball-Lock-New-3-Gallon-Blemished/ I bought two of them from them and I'll tell you, I can't tell what blemishes they are talking about unless you count some very minor discoloring from the weld seams and if that's what they are, no one is going to see the keg.

Man, thanks so much for the specifics. Since it is my first time with kegging, I really don't mind going smaller. I honestly don't even drink a ton at home, I normal take it with me. So the option to have a picnic tab on the go would be sweet as well. I actually do want the spout on the door like you mentioned as well, I just think that's a cool look and the extra on top that you were referring to is actually the door to the freezer portion of the fridge. Going out the top is not an option with this. I can't wait to browse your links on lunch break. So, say I did get all the right equipment and what not... how tough of a task is it to install all this and make the actual conversion, for someone who is not much of a handyman / plumber ?

 

[dmcman73]

Man, thanks so much for the specifics. Since it is my first time with kegging, I really don't mind going smaller. I honestly don't even drink a ton at home, I normal take it with me. So the option to have a picnic tab on the go would be sweet as well. I actually do want the spout on the door like you mentioned as well, I just think that's a cool look and the extra on top that you were referring to is actually the door to the freezer portion of the fridge. Going out the top is not an option with this. I can't wait to browse your links on lunch break. So, say I did get all the right equipment and what not... how tough of a task is it to install all this and make the actual conversion, for someone who is not much of a handyman / plumber ?

Actually, in your case, very easy. Only requires one hole in the door for the shank to be installed (go all stainless, not the chrome plated) and a faucet.

The only special tool you may need will be a bi-metal hole saw to get through the door for the shank. The other tool you might want to pick up that is "specialized" is a faucet spanner wrench (listed below). It just makes it easier to install and remove the faucet from the shank without scratching/damaging it.

- Size the shank by the thickness of your door, make sure the shank is an inch or more longer. Again, go for stainless, some people have stated that they have a metalic taste in their beer from the chrome plated ones when the beer was sitting: http://www.ritebrew.com/category-s/1915.htm

- 3/16" Tail piece for the shank (where the tube attaches too): http://www.ritebrew.com/product-p/843453.htm

- Rubber washer that goes between the tail piece and shank: http://www.ritebrew.com/product-p/843468.htm

- Hex nut that holds the tail piece to the shank: http://www.ritebrew.com/product-p/843462.htm

- Faucets (I recommend the Perlick ones): Stainless one: http://www.ritebrew.com/product-p/843165.htm

Chrome plated one: http://www.ritebrew.com/product-p/843162.htm

- These faucets don't come with a handle so a basic one for now is good or you can shop around for a nice one: http://www.ritebrew.com/product-p/843240.htm

- Spanner wrench for the faucet. It may look weird but it's easy to use. The collar on the shank where the faucet gets attached to has holes around it, the very tip of the spanner wrench goes into one of the holes to turn the collar to tighten it, just don't over tighten: http://www.ritebrew.com/product-p/843431.htm

- 3/16" Beverage tubing, go with 10 feet. If you get longer than 10 feet (not needed) then you need a different ID size: http://www.ritebrew.com/product-p/843532.htm

- 5/16" Gas line, the length all depends how far the CO2 tank will be from the keg and there is no Minimum length like the beverage tube: http://www.ritebrew.com/product-p/843553.htm

- 5lb CO2 tank, if you are going to force carb in your keg, I wouldn't recommend anything smaller. The smaller ones are for just pushing the beer through and not carbing, you can go bigger but will make it a bit cumbersome to take with you to travel with: https://bvrgelements.com/product/New-Aluminum-5-lb-CO2-Tank/

- A regulator: https://bvrgelements.com/product/Taprite-Dual-Gauge-CO2-Regulator/

- Gas side ball lock: http://www.ritebrew.com/product-p/843382.htm

- 1/4" thread to 5/16" barb to attach the gas line to the gas side ball lock: http://www.ritebrew.com/product-p/843413.htm

- Liquid side ball lock, the barb is 1/4" so the hose will be a tight fit, you can just place the hose it hot water to soften it up a bit if you need too: http://www.ritebrew.com/product-p/843385.htm

- 3 gallon keg, when you get this keg, for some reason the posts are not marked In (gas) and Out (liquid). Once you open the lid and you can see inside, the post that has a long dip tube on it will be the liquid post, mark it with a sharpie on the body of the keg or scribe it in with a nail: https://bvrgelements.com/product/Ball-Lock-New-3-Gallon-Blemished/

- Drip tray, a 6 inch one without a drain should be perfect for a single faucet setup: http://www.ritebrew.com/category-s/1939.htm

- Enough clamps for all the hoses (two for the liquid, two for the gas). Get the worm drive ones, you'll just need a screw driver to tighten them. If you get the stepless pinch ones then you'll need the tool to install them: http://www.ritebrew.com/category-s/1908.htm

- Keg lube, use this on the rubber seals on the posts of the gas and liquid side on the keg as well as the rubber seal under the lid: https://bvrgelements.com/product/Edible-Lube/

That's all that the items you'll need to set your fridge up as a 3 gallon kegerator.

If you want to make it portable, then just grab this: https://bvrgelements.com/product/Pigtail-Ball-Lock-Liquid-Line/

Attach that to the liquid side, throw the keg into a cooler and bring the CO2 tank with you, just be careful with the regulator they can be easily damaged.

You'll also want a kegerator line cleaner which you can make yourself for a few bucks. This is an electric one: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/diy-recirculating-beer-line-cleaner-493884/

This is a manual one: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f254/diy-beer-line-cleaner-226497/

Either work great and you can buy the liquid post from here: https://bvrgelements.com/product/Ball-Lock-Post-Poppet-__-Liquid-__-Cornelius-Type/

You can get your CO2 tank filled at any welding shop, there is no "food grade" CO2, it's all the same.

When you'r ready to keg, just sanitize the inside the keg, pressurize it a bit with CO2 to push some of the sanitizer through the dip tube and liguid posts. Relese the pressure by pulling up on the pressure relief valve that is on the lid of the keg (very important). Dump the sanitizer and then start syphoning your beer into the keg. Make sure that the tube you use is long enough to reach the very bottom of the keg, you don't want the beer to splash around into the keg. Once the keg is filled, use just a little keg lube on the seals of the lid and pop the lid on. Place a little lube on the rubber seals of the posts, spray some sanitizer into the liquid side connector and on the liquid side post and connect the gas and liquid sides. The keg I listed has tight posts, you ay have to press down the connectors a little more and keep the spring loaded release collar on the connectors up while doing so. You'll want to purge your keg by turning on your CO2 and then pulling up on the pressure relief valve on the kegs lid to allow the Oxygen that was in there to be pushed out my the CO2 that is going into the tank, hold it open for about 30 seconds or so.

Once that's done, you can set the regulator to about 10-20 PSI, put the keg into the fridge and wait until it carbonates. The colder the fridge is, the faster the CO2 will get absorbed into the beer.

The trick when your ready to pour is to adjust your CO2 pressure to a point where the beer won't come out all foamy. You can start out at around 10 psi (or to really get technical, follow this chart: http://beerismypassion.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/co2-chart.jpg as JustLooking linked too), pull up on the pressure release valve on the keg to lower the pressure in it and make your first pour and see how it comes out. The first pour will always be foamy and a bit gritty from any material settling out at the bottom for the keg. If the beer comes out to fast and foamy, lower the pressure, too slow and no head, raise the pressure very slightly.

Hope this helps!

 

[JustLooking]

Once that's done, you can set the regulator to about 10-20 PSI, put the keg into the fridge and wait until it carbonates. The colder the fridge is, the faster the CO2 will get absorbed into the beer.

The trick when your ready to pour is to adjust your CO2 pressure to a point where the beer won't come out all foamy. You can lower it down to about 4-5 psi, pull up on the pressure release valve on the keg to lower the pressure in it and make your first pour and see how it comes out. The first pour will always be foamy and a bit gritty from any material settling out at the bottom for the keg. If the beer comes out to fast and foamy, lower the pressure, too slow and no head, raise the pressure very slightly.

Hope this helps!

Some bad information here. Carbing and serving pressure are the same and are determined by carbonation charts and the volumes of CO2 needed for the style. You should not have to drop your pressure to serve if your line length is enough to balance the system (usually 8-10 feet).

 

[TheCADJockey]

Woo...thats a lot to take in, I'm sure it would make more sense once it can be hands on. Thanks, guess its time to start shopping.

 

[dmcman73]

Some bad information here. Carbing and serving pressure are the same and are determined by carbonation charts and the volumes of CO2 needed for the style. You should not have to drop your pressure to serve if your line length is enough to balance the system (usually 8-10 feet).

I've been doing it like this for almost two years now and this is what works for me, force carb high so it takes a few days to carb versus leaving it low to carb over a week or two. There are posts and articles to the high pressure and keg shake to carb it faster and then lowering the pressure down to serving pressure once it's done or set it at serving pressure and wait a few weeks for it to carb.

 

[dmcman73]

Woo...thats a lot to take in, I'm sure it would make more sense once it can be hands on. Thanks, guess its time to start shopping.

Once you have all the parts in hand it will all make sense.

 

[TheCADJockey]

Once you have all the parts in hand it will all make sense.

I hope so. I'd really like to make my own, especially after looking up prices to just buy one. Looking at $700 to get a single tap kegerator from a local store? No thanks, I'll keep bottling if that is my cheapest option.

Your links make it look like the keg, regulator and faucet are the only prices with some weight. It looks promising.

 

[dmcman73]

I hope so. I'd really like to make my own, especially after looking up prices to just buy one. Looking at $700 to get a single tap kegerator from a local store? No thanks, I'll keep bottling if that is my cheapest option.

Your links make it look like the keg, regulator and faucet are the only prices with some weight. It looks promising.

You can also keep looking here if you're not in a rush: http://www.homebrewfinds.com/

Sometimes a CO2 or other items come up as a special from one of the vendors and the guy who runs that site will post the deal there.

The keg is the cheapest I was able to find anywhere and new. I've seen used 3 gallon pin lock kegs for $29 but then required a conversion kit to ball lock and a new lid which made it climb to the $49 price for the new "blemished" ball lock keg i listed. Pin lock kegs are different than ball lock, the pin lock connectors sit higher than the ball lock and the ball locks are more "popular", either way they function the same you just need to make sure you use the right connectors.

 

[dmcman73]

Oh one word of caution, I would highly suggest purchasing the CO2 tank new and check the hydrotest date on it. If it's past it's hydrotest then no one will fill the tank until it's had a new hydrotest and sometimes, those can be just as expensive as the tank itself, at least that's what I've been told.

 

[JustLooking]

[...]You can lower it down to about 4-5 psi, pull up on the pressure release valve on the keg to lower the pressure in it and make your first pour and see how it comes out.

I've been doing it like this for almost two years now and this is what works for me, force carb high so it takes a few days to carb versus leaving it low to carb over a week or two. There are posts and articles to the high pressure and keg shake to carb it faster and then lowering the pressure down to serving pressure once it's done or set it at serving pressure and wait a few weeks for it to carb.

The merits of burst carbing aside, if you have to drop your pressure to 4-5 psi to serve, you're doing it wrong.

 

[dmcman73]

The merits of burst carbing aside, if you have to drop your pressure to 4-5 psi to serve, you're doing it wrong.

My serving pressure is around 10 psi. I drop to 4 psi for bottling so that was my mistake in the description, I'll go back and correct it.

 

[TheCADJockey]

You can also keep looking here if you're not in a rush: http://www.homebrewfinds.com/

Sometimes a CO2 or other items come up as a special from one of the vendors and the guy who runs that site will post the deal there.

The keg is the cheapest I was able to find anywhere and new. I've seen used 3 gallon pin lock kegs for $29 but then required a conversion kit to ball lock and a new lid which made it climb to the $49 price for the new "blemished" ball lock keg i listed. Pin lock kegs are different than ball lock, the pin lock connectors sit higher than the ball lock and the ball locks are more "popular", either way they function the same you just need to make sure you use the right connectors.

Oh yeah I appreciate it buddy. I almost just added that blemished one to shopping cart. Aesthetics mean nothing to me and that size almost seems perfect. It would allow me to still bottle a little bit, best of both worlds. Love it. I just wasn't sure, once you listed ALL the other parts necessary if I was ready to commit. I should probably just do it.

 

[wilserbrewer]

I would remeasure as well, check the light / thermostat at the top of the fridge, might be possible to unscrew it and relocate it to give you the inches you need?


Wilserbrewer
Http://biabbags.webs.com/