Keezer collar questions

[Lurch69]

Hi, I'm planning on building my keezer at some point soon and had a few questions about the construction of the collar. It seems like there are many different ways to get the job done.

I'm not sure yet if I'm going to attach the collar to the lid or to the body. It's going to be an 8" collar so I can fit another corny on the hump and while that's a high additional distance to lift a keg, I think it's probably better than trying to get the hinges to lift the lid and an 8" collar. Does anyone have any experience attaching a collar that big to the lid?

Also, many builds mention using an outer collar to hold the whole collar in place. Why not just build a single collar and attach it to the body using glue, epoxy, etc? Is it so you can easily remove the collar if you want to turn the freezer back to stock or is it just tough to seal the collar to the freezer body?

Thanks!

 

[aeviaanah]

If your using standard sized framing wood plan on your 2 x 8 being 7 5/8" tall.

 

[webby45wr]

I attached the freezer lid to my collar, but I've seen pics on here of folks attaching collar to lid.

I did the outer collar/inner collar build you mentioned. Yes, one reason is it can be lifted off and basically be a freezer again. A second reason is I felt like the "mechanical" lock would make a stronger bond. That way if I lean on it putting a keg in, I don't have to worry about just the glue holding the collar in place.

While kegs are heavy, for some reason the taller/skinnier keg and two hand holds makes it feel easier to lift the keg up and over (as compared to an ale pail when I did a lager).

 

[ChuckO]

I picked up a second pair of freezer hinges and used them to mount the collar to both the freezer and the lid. I lift the collar and lid to put in the cornies but lift only the lid to arrange hoses and pick out bottles of either beer or wine.

 

[Lurch69]

aeviaanah: Why would it be only 7 5/8"? I was going to get some wood at Home Depot labeled 1x8. Is a 1x8 really only about 7 5/8"?


webby45wr: So your setup has the collar resting on the body and just the lid opens up, correct?


Also, does anyone know how much taller you outer collar needs to be compared to your inner collar? If I get a 1x8" for the inner collar but its only 7 5/8" tall, I'll probably need to add a 1x1" or 2x1" piece of wood as a lip on the bottom of the inner collar. That'd only leave me w/ just over an inch between the inner and outer collar heights. Do you think this would be enough to get a good mechanical lock between the collar and the freezer?

 

[webby45wr]

Yep. I pretty much followed this: http://billybrew.com/kegerator-collar

 

[E_Marquez]

I attached the collar to the lid.. and the lid hinges from collar to freezer.

1: I did not want to add the collar height to the distance I had to lift 5 gal of beer in a bucket over, and later full kegs.
2: It was easy to use a few existing holes in the lid to mechanically attach the collar to the lid in addition to using construction adhesive. The lid gasket was simple stapled to the wood collar.

Lifting the lid is now of course heaver then before and the hinge springs were not enough to hold the new lid assembly up.

Two very cheap gas struts fixed that issue.

 

[E_Marquez]

I attached the collar to the lid.. and the lid hinges from collar to freezer.

1: I did not want to add the collar height to the distance I had to lift 5 gal of beer in a bucket over, and later full kegs.
2: It was easy to use a few existing holes in the lid to mechanically attach the collar to the lid in addition to using construction adhesive. The lid gasket was simple stapled to the wood collar.

Lifting the lid is now of course heaver then before and the hinge springs were not enough to hold the new lid assembly up.

Two very cheap gas struts fixed that issue.

 

[joshjv]

aeviaanah: Why would it be only 7 5/8"? I was going to get some wood at Home Depot labeled 1x8. Is a 1x8 really only about 7 5/8"?

Correct, a 1x8 is not 1x8, it is actually 3⁄4 in × 7 1⁄4 in..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumber#Dimensional_lumber

 

[aeviaanah]

Correct, a 1x8 is not 1x8, it is actually 3⁄4 in × 7 1⁄4 in.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumber#Dimensional_lumber

Yea I knew this before making my keezer I just simply didn't think of it when allowing for clearances. I had to space my collar up by 1/4" for the proper clearance. It actual gave the keezer a nice look with the addition of some caulking. The gap at the lid matches the gap below the collar

 

[J98NY]

I have a big collar on mine, and I attached it to the Freezer. The lid is so heavy, it took 3 people to lift it. I used the factory freezer hinges and its working fine, I reinstalled them with lag bolts.

 

[DrunkleJon]

I built my collar to be just smaller than the outer part of the top rim, used L brackets to shore up the corners, lined with 2 inch pink board, and put a strip of weatherstrippping on the bottom rim. The weight of the collar holds it on well and seals nicely and allows me to remove the collar as I wish. I didnt even reattach the hinges and let the lid sit on top with its built in weatherstripping (I keep empty mugs on the lid for easy access) and I get minimal leakage. So long as your collar is square and you have enough clearance do it however you want to.

When I rebuild the collar I think I may build it to set over the lip, With the 2 inch foam getting kegs in and out can be a touch tight. Lifting 5 gallon kegs up the extra 8 inches is not so bad, 1/4 kegs are a little harder, but 1/2 kegs kinda stink (though they already are a pain to get over the rim as it is).

 

[Hang Glider]

suggestion - like DrunkleJon said in his.. insulate the inside of the collar ...Wood does not have a very good R factor.


I used 3/4" oak for my collar, so it would stain and poly nicely. With good clean cuts, glue and screws, you can end up with a good strong box to go between the lid and body. Then you have room for some good insulation wrapped around the inside.

That 7" extra height is difficult for me, I'm of shorter stature, so I have a nearby step-stool for the occasional keg transfer.

 

[Lurch69]

Thanks for all the info. So it looks like I'm going to go with a 1x10" collar mounted to the lid and add some insulation to the inside. I have a Holiday 5 cubic foot freezer that apparently needs a 7 3/4" collar to sit a corny on the hump. Now that I'm educated that a 1x8" is really only 7 1/4" (rip off ), I've gotta go with the 1x10" to have the clearance.

Mounting it to the lid seems easier since I only have to construct one collar, plus it's less distance to raise the kegs over, and it gets the taps and lines out of the way when I raise it up.

My only problem now is that 1x10"s are hard to find and HD only has "whitewood" in the 1x10"s which is pretty cheap lumber. Finding that size in oak or anything similar is proving difficult. I guess I'll choose the best piece I can find and get to work! Thanks again!