It's gonna be a keezer.

[Bender]

I really wanted a kegerator, but after my disappointment with the Home Depot Kegerator and reading about similar experiences with the Sams Club Danby I’ve decided on a keezer. I wanted 3 kegs anyway and I don’t want to lop the handles off of my cornies (Santa gave me 3 more for Xmas).

I think I have my inventory for building this below. Am I missing anything? Any opinions on my questions?

Freezer: Lowes Holiday 6.8 cu ft (4 cornies).
Thermostat controller: Probably a digital unit from Johnson Controls.
Manifold: 4 port w/ backflow valves.
Collar: Parts TBD
Drip pan: TBD
CO2 canister: Two 5 lb and two 20 lb. <--- I'm only using one canister.
Regulators: 4 from canisters above: I plan to chain at least two together.

So far so good. From here I get a lot less sure of myself.

Ball valves: I have barb connectors. Is there any reason to invest in threaded?

Shanks: I plan to serve cider through two of four so I need plastic for those. Is there any reason I wouldn&#8217;t use plastic for all four?

Taps: I&#8217;ll be serving ciders and ale for now. Some day I&#8217;d like to serve lager. Any recommendations?

Gas line and beer line: Right now I&#8217;m using spare 3/16" vinyl tubing from the local HBS. I suspect I should invest in better line. How do I calculate length or is it just cut to fit?

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

Shanks: I plan to serve cider through two of four so I need plastic for those. Is there any reason I wouldn’t use plastic for all four?

I would suggest staying away from plastic. I've never heard of "needing" plastic for cider before. I've served a few kegs of cider through SS no problemo.

Taps: I’ll be serving ciders and ale for now. Some day I’d like to serve lager. Any recommendations?

Forward sealing taps all the way

CO2 canisters: Two 5 lb and two 20 lb.
Regulators: 4 from canisters above: I plan to chain at least two together.

It's good to have back ups, but why use all at once? Why not have one going into a secondary regulator splitting it 3 or 4 ways or just have one going into a 3 way manifold? You mention having one already.

 

[Bender]

It's good to have back ups, but why use all at once? Why not have one going into a secondary regulator splitting it 3 or 4 ways or just have one going into a 3 way manifold? You mention having one already.

I meant that I was going to take the regulators from two bottles and chain them together like this (pic lifted from Bobby M).

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

Gotcha....

 

[Bender]

I would suggest staying away from plastic. I've never heard of "needing" plastic for cider before. I've served a few kegs of cider through SS no problemo.

Thanks. SS is worth the few extra bucks.

Forward sealing taps all the way.

Thanks again. The Perlick look really nice. With 3 or 4 kegs and a light drinking wife this is another good investment.

 

[kirscp]

A few things:

Plastic tap for Cider: plastic is preferred over brass, since the acidity of the wine or cider can leach lead from the brass.
You will want to make sure you get SS and not Chrome plated.

I don't understand why you want 4 co2 tanks .. or am I missing something (you already have them?). The picture you posted is of 3 secondary regulators. If you are planning on using the regulators connected to the tanks, those are primarys and will NOT work the way the picture is posted. Primary regulators need to be connected to the tank.

 

[Bender]

I don't understand why you want 4 co2 tanks .. or am I missing something (you already have them?). The picture you posted is of 3 secondary regulators. If you are planning on using the regulators connected to the tanks, those are primarys and will NOT work the way the picture is posted. Primary regulators need to be connected to the tank.

I have four tanks (three were free). I plan to use one tank. With the four tanks came four regulators (three were free). I plan to use two so I have a dual pressure setup. The picture was just an example. It was late at night and it was the first multi-regulator pic I stumbled upon.

 

[IrregularPulse]

You will also need small items such as hose clamps, 1/4" barbs, Shank nuts, Tap Handles, Beer and Gas Ball Lock fittings (I think this is what you meant by Ball Valves) Spare oring kits, Keg Lube, Drip Tray.

And I don't believe you just take the reg off one tank and put it in line with the other to turn it into secondary reg. You will at the very leaset need fittings to adapt and I believe they are different regulators. One designed to work (primary) with the High pressure (~800psi) come from the tank, and the secondary for lower pressures.
oh and check valves so beer doesn't back up into your regulators. I would sell 2-3 of the primary regs and buy a secondary. Then you could have 2 serving pressures.

It's the little stuff mentiong at the top of my post that breask you after you think you're done!

 

[Jonnio]

And I don't believe you just take the reg off one tank and put it in line with the other to turn it into secondary reg. You will at the very leaset need fittings to adapt and I believe they are different regulators. One designed to work (primary) with the High pressure (~800psi) come from the tank, and the secondary for lower pressures.

No, I am running all "primary" regulators and the picture that he posted is as well. A primary regulator is just as capable at putting out 10 psi from the high pressure side as a secondary regulator is at pushing out 10 psi from a 30 psi input.

The only reason to run secondary regulators is if you want to keep the tank outside and run a single low pressure hose into the kegerator. You need a primary outside to get it down to your highest pressure (say 30 psi for carbing) then a secondary for each additional pressure below that.

There is also some debate on if a primary/secondary is actually different or just named such based on its location in the setup (primary being fed high pressure vs. secondary being fed from another regulator)

 

[ajwillys]

If you daisy chain the regulators the way that Bobby has in his picture, you will essentially have two primaries because they will both be getting the same pressure on the high pressure side. If you do this, you will need to get a left hand threaded pipe to connect the two. I know micromatic sells them. If you daisy chain by making the output of one go to a splitter and then one end goes to another reg, then you can use regular hose. Only thing to remember in that setup is that the first regulator must always have the higher pressure of the two.