From Keezer to the wall. HOW?

[user 40839]

Okay folks, beggin' for tips and tricks here. With the arrival of our firstborn, my man cave was lost with it being converted into an office. Which meant, no room for my keezer... sniff!

BUT WAIT! After some thinkin' and plannin', I realized I could move the keezer into a storage area (wine closet/cellar) off the office, and run the lines through the wall. No space lost, and still have access to my tasty brew.

So began formulatin'. Cut the drywall in the only place it could be cut, and installed an 18x12x5 box to house the shanks and tubing. Obviously, even though the wine closet is air conditioned to 58 or so, some line chilling of some sort will still be needed. At the VERY least, I still need to run the lines from the keezer to the box.

With the shape of the closet, and stud placement, there was only ONE place I could install the tapbox. (Guess it's basically a coffin). Unfortunately, it's not the ideal spot, here's a couple of photos showing the situation.

Ideally I'd like to keep it against the far wall, as in the first picture, so would run the lines out of the side collar, and into the box. Problem is though, can't figure out what to run the lines and cooling through - I snagged some flexible 3" HVAC duct, but it's way too rigid to work in that narrow space. Same deal with the second location, I could run it through the lid and into the box with a simple 90 degree, but again, lack of flexibility means I wouldn't be able to open the lid without removing the lines.

Any suggestions?

 

[milldoggy]

can you cut into the stud cavity of the wall and run the lines in there. You could insulate it and have it all snuggly in the wall.

 

[badandy519]

Without overthinking it... and if appearance doesn't matter - I would probably just build a small insulated tunnel for your lines from the tap box across the short wall and then half way across the back of the far wall where you prefer to keep it.

Something like a 2x4 on the top and bottom and a 1/2 or 3/4 x 6 piece of plywood or whatever on the face and 1/2 in foam board to insulate. Double the width or so down to your collar with maybe a 10 inch face. Cut three holes into your collar - one for your lines and two 3" with 80mm USB PC fans. You can either run the USB line through the collar with an A/C adapter or just use a USB plate/coupler and a power surge with USB to make it cleaner.

Or just do it really fugly and run PVC...

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

I have a 12" tower on top of a kegerator with the line in a copper tube and an internal fan.The first beer is still kinda foamy.Thats 12",it looks like your looking at 3 ft.Thats gunna be tough.

 

[badandy519]

I have a 12" tower on top of a kegerator with the line in a copper tube and an internal fan.The first beer is still kinda foamy.Thats 12",it looks like your looking at 3 ft.Thats gunna be tough.

Is yours insulated though? Two 80 mm fans at the collar should be enough, but you could even run another one across the wall at the first 90*... all of them in line off one USB/AC plug and have a small exhaust right near the top of the tap box if you want to ensure proper airflow. The fans would be running constantly but won't draw any power at all. It shouldn't take that much to keep things cold provided it's insulated and sealed well.

 

[milldoggy]

Look up insulated trunk line. They what I run 25 ft, you will need a glycol reservoir and a cheap pond pump

 

[milldoggy]

http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer/glycol-cid-131.html

 

[user 40839]

Urgh, mornin' folks! Pardon me while I slurp coffee and attempt to be coherent, after another AWESOME night of sleep with a nine week old baby. (Anyone got tips on shutting that @#$#$ up would be appreciated, too!)

So the rigid construction is out - need to be able to get at the back of the keezer to access the CO2 when it fills, so it does need to be able to move around, at least a little bit. And the 18x12 hole you see above is the only - ONLY - wall modification SWMBO would allow, so some sort of flexible hose is the only way I can go. I did think about glycol, but my concern would be condensation. (That, and I really don't want to pay $12 a foot for 5-product line!!)

The shanks will be going through drywall, although will be going through 1" PVC to protect it there, so was going with a forced air via an intake fan on the return end, and a homemade version of this on the output end (Sorry, digital homebrew, no WAY I'm paying almost $70 for a muffin fan, an enclosure, and a length of hose!):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/161643139260

Wondering about vacuum hose as an option, maybe getting something like this: http://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-R...e-for-RIDGID-Wet-Dry-Vacuums-VT2520/100016791

 

[swanwick]

What hose did you end up with?