Just snagged Kegerator, advice?

[yukonhijack]

So I just snagged this off Craigslist:

http://albuquerque.craigslist.org/app/5051938499.html

First I will likely have to take it apart and clean it (looks like it is pretty dusty/dirty), but mostly I am wondering if there is anything else I should be doing other than replace the lines, and start pouring beer!

I also have another smaller chest freezer that I modified into a one tap keezer. Thoughts on what I should do with that? Fermentation chamber perhaps? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Greg

 

[SnakeRidge]

Looks like it needs a little clean and polish. I would have to paint it, but I have to 'personalize' everything. I'd get it home, plug it in and see what kind of temp it holds. If it holds temp and don't smell too funky, I think you're in business!

 

[yukonhijack]

Any thoughts on how best to paint a kegerator?

 

[SnakeRidge]

There are others on here that could tell you more, but the first step in painting is always sanding. You don't have to get down to bare metal, but you want to rough up the surface so the paint will stick. After sanding, clean well and get all the dust off. Follow with primer and several coats of paint.

 

[hifidelity]

Definitely clean and replace at the very least the beer lines, possibly the CO2 lines if they're particularly dirty or old.

A small chest freezer makes a great fermentation chamber. A 5 cubic foot model will usually hold 1 carboy and a 7 cubic foot model will usually fit 2.

The key to a nice paint job is in the prep. Sanding, making sure everything is clean, priming, then several light coats. You'd be surprised at how nice a spraycan paint job can look if it's done right.

Congrats on your purchase!

 

[yukonhijack]

Awesome, thanks for the tips!

 

[yukonhijack]

I tackled this project this weekend. I pulled all the fittings off (including the handles for the doors). I took the taps completely apart and dumped the taps and associated hardware into a super hot bath of oxyclean to make sure they were nice and clean. I took the doors off, scrubbed the inside, and sanded the entire thing down with a random orbit sander and 80 grit paper. The most time consuming part was masking the insides of the doors and the fridge.

With all that prep work done, I started spraying on the chalkboard paint. It took 7 cans! I used that Valspar stuff because I could not find the other brand that people mentioned. It didn't go on very evenly and it took a LOOOONG time to paint. I may have used too much, but at least it will be durable. BTW, make sure you lay down drop cloths over a very large surface of the floors. even with my drop cloths, I ended up having to mop my entire garage because the dust from the chalkboard spray went everywhere.

I finished cleaning the taps and hardware, reinstalled those, put the doors back on and let my wife have the first go at testing out the chalkboard paint. I need to get the gas lines and liquid lines installed, and build a shelf. That will come this week and next weekend. Then I can move over from my keezer to the kegerator and start working on my keezer to fermentation chamber project

BTW, anyone know how to clean the chalk off the paint? It seems pretty rough as far as the surface goes. I may wet sand it lightly just to knock it down a bit.

 

[phug]

grab a wet shammy? that's what the janitors at school always used for cleaning off the chalkboards

 

[yukonhijack]

Thanks, didn't want fuzz to stick to the fridge when I cleaned it.

Now my new problem....with the ferm chamber, kegerator and another fridge in the garage running, my GFI keeps popping! Anyone have a similar issue? I am going to try plugging one or more of them into a power strip and see if that helps even the power load.

 

[phug]

you need to make sure they are on different circuits.

The startup load of multiple compressors it tripping your overload protection most likely.

When that compressor kicks on it draws lots of amps. If you get two that kick on at the same time, or even two that are running comfortably when the third kicks on, that'll overload you.

 

[yukonhijack]

you need to make sure they are on different circuits.

The startup load of multiple compressors it tripping your overload protection most likely.

When that compressor kicks on it draws lots of amps. If you get two that kick on at the same time, or even two that are running comfortably when the third kicks on, that'll overload you.

That could be tough. All the garage outlets run off that circuit. I guess there is no way to upgrade that circuit or isolate it in some way?

 

[phug]

If your wiring and outlets and everything were rated for higher you would already have a higher amp breaker. You could run a new circuit from the panel, or you could shell out for a ups and run one off that, but not all ups are designed the same and not all would buffer that startup load

 

[SevenOaks]

The ceiling lights and garage door opener outlets in my garage are on a different circuit from the GFCI wall outlets. Now that I am about to plug in a new keezer next to my existing fermentation freezer box (that is plugged in the wall), I'm thinking I'll share the garage door opener outlet with the keezer to avoid this same issue.

 

[yukonhijack]

I figured out that I have two circuits in my garage, each on their own GFI. For now I plugged the kegerator into the other side of the garage using an extension cord and it seems to be fine. Now I need to completely reorganize my effing garage!!!!!

 

[phug]

The ceiling lights and garage door opener outlets in my garage are on a different circuit from the GFCI wall outlets. Now that I am about to plug in a new keezer next to my existing fermentation freezer box (that is plugged in the wall), I'm thinking I'll share the garage door opener outlet with the keezer to avoid this same issue.

Just be careful as the garage door motor can also crank a lot of amps when it starts. It won't be fun if you come home to open te garage door at the same time as your compressor turns on. That could mean throwing a breaker and having to get out and open the door by hand