Industrial Keezer build

[Chuggles]

I've been lurking around here for long enough getting inspiration from all the builds people have documented, I figured it's probably time I share something I've done. Below are just a few of the in process pictures I took while assembling my industrial themed Keezer the past few weekends:

Freezer itself is GE 7 cu ft and can hold 4 cornies. It will live in the garage so I liked the industrial look. Made mostly out of 2x4s some scrap wood I had lying around and 2" steel pipe. Let me know your thoughts or if anyone had any questions.

 

[Chuggles]

Pictures posted out of order. Hahaha such a rookie move!

 

[beerlover77]

like this a lot.... great job!

 

[day_trippr]

Agreed, nicely done

 

[George Chamberlain]

Love it. Still researching how I will do this. Mine will be on the lanai by the pool, so I'm getting a lot out of seeing builds that don't just look like a freezer.

 

[gtslate]

Nice! That looks really sharp!
How happy are you with the steel pipe tower? How easy is it to work with? Is it expensive? Are you using any fans to circulate through the pipe? Are you using any insulation in the tower?

Here's the one I'm working on. I'm trying to go more rustic. I need to trim it out still and stain the wood. I haven't quite made up my mind if I want to go with a coffin box or a pass-through tower like yours. It would be a shame to cover up all the work I did with a coffin box, but it seems like it would be the easiest, least expensive route.

 

[Chuggles]

I really like that fishbone look you've got going there. I'd be interested to see how it turns out when you're done and completely agree, I wouldn't want to hide that with a coffin either.

How happy are you with the steel pipe tower?

I'm really happy with it so far. I absolutely love the way it looks. That said, we're just starting to get 80 degree weather here in the Carolinas, so I'll reserve final judgement until September when we're through plus 100 degree days.

How easy is it to work with?

It's easy enough to install the unit to the freezer top.

Running the lines is a complete PITA. Because you have to attach the faucet to the bushing first (otherwise your line will twist and likely break when screwing the bushing into the tee fitting) you're forced to work from the faucet backwards. I have two lines running through each side so I started with the two interior taps. Attached shank to bushing, attached beer line to shank, ran beer line through tee fitting and screwed bushing into tee while ensuring line didn't get too twisted. Then proceeded in the same fashion all the way back.

If you look at the pics I added I initially only had 2 faucets set up and because you have to assemble this from the faucet back I had to complete disassemble the entire thing when it was time to install the other pair...this isn't entirely true, but I wasn't careful when I installed the first set and needed to fix the line.

I dread the day I need to do this again.

Is it expensive?

It wasn't cheap.

Let me do my best to part it out:

4 bushings 2"NPT male to 1" NPT female @ $10.76 (Amazon) -- $43.04
4 tee fittings @ $9.98 each (from Lowe's online store) -- $39.92
3 3" pipe @ $4.51 each (Lowe's online store) -- $13.53
2 90 degree street elbows @ $22.22 each (Amazon) -- $44.44
2 8" pipe @ $10.02 each (Lowe's online) -- $20.04
2 floor flanges @ $9.99 each (Amazon) -- $19.98

$180.92 + tax (as that's the first time I've actually added that up...let's hope my wife never finds this site)

Are you using any fans to circulate through the pipe?

Not as of now, but it is something I've been considering. We'll see how bad the condensation gets this summer. I do plan on getting @day_trippr's temperature logger in there fairly soon so that should provide me some good data to help make a decision too.

Are you using any insulation in the tower?

Yes! I have the beer lines running inside copper pipe and the copper is inside insulation.