Kegerator upgrades

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Greynolds16

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Hey everyone! I treated myself to an edge star dual tap kegerator, (currently on back order) for Christmas. I’m wondering what additional things or upgrades you might recommend? I’m thinking one, likely two, ball lock corny kegs...maybe a regulator? Any advice appreciated to fill out that holiday wish list.
 
Maybe a silly upgrade for some, but I really like the return springs in my Intertap faucets. I know the 304 Perlicks that I think your kegerator come with have this as an option.

Might actually be one of the cheaper add-ons you end up with kegerator wise.
 
A second CO2 tank never hurts that way you never run out of gas and have to wait for a refill
A beer line cleaner
Keg cleaner
You may want more than 2 kegs so when one in the kegerator goes empty you have another ready to go
Chalkboard or dry erase tap handles to show off what's on tap
Keg lube
Tower cooling fan
A temp control if your model doesn't have one built in
Dual split regulator so you can set kegs to different pressures or if your unit comes with a single regulator already a secondary dual split to go after the original one
 
Hand pump to clean the beer lines so you don’t need a spare keg and have to waste CO2 to push cleaner through.
 
Definitely need a way to clean your lines. I made an electric pump from a pond-style pump (I got the Ridgid pump at an outlet mall store for $5) some fittings and one of those carb caps that are supposed to thread on a bottle. The only reason I have a female GHT fitting and a Male-Male GHT adapter is because that's what I had lying around. I just drop it in a 1 gallon pitcher, hook it up, and go.

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Maybe a silly upgrade for some, but I really like the return springs in my Intertap faucets. I know the 304 Perlicks that I think your kegerator come with have this as an option.

Might actually be one of the cheaper add-ons you end up with kegerator wise.
I hate that my springs didnt last long, my taps leak now also.
 
I hate that my springs didnt last long, my taps leak now also.

Well...that is the suck. I’ve only had mine for about 6 months, and no troubles yet.

I second using a pond pump or something to clean out your lines. I still use my bug sprayer for prepping the lines prior to hooking up the keg (flush out distilled water, push star san through) but that is a PITA when cleaning out lines. Now I can just let BLC run through for 20 minutes hands free. So nice.
 
Well...that is the suck. I’ve only had mine for about 6 months, and no troubles yet.

I second using a pond pump or something to clean out your lines. I still use my bug sprayer for prepping the lines prior to hooking up the keg (flush out distilled water, push star san through) but that is a PITA when cleaning out lines. Now I can just let BLC run through for 20 minutes hands free. So nice.

Can you not just hand pump the cleaner into the lines and then let it sit for 15-20 minutes and then drain?
 
Can you not just hand pump the cleaner into the lines and then let it sit for 15-20 minutes and then drain?

Yes, I probably could. Long story short, I changed up a lot of my line cleaning routine due to a beer that went bad as time went on while being served out of kegerator. May have started at fermentation, but now I’m just paranoid and cycle cleaner for 15-20. I’m usually cleaning the kicked keg while it is running anyways, so no big. A little piece of mind goes a long way too.
 
You definitely want more kegs than taps, so you don't need to wait for a keg to drain before packaging another brew.

When you say regulator, I would think the kegerator would come with one as the kegerator can't be used without it. A secondary regulator for having different pressures in different kegs is not something I would recommend unless/until you hit a point where you wish you had it - which might not ever come, to be honest.

Some store-bought kegerators I've seen come with beer lines that are way too short, leading to an unbalanced system and foaming. This is a cheap and easy fix - just get some longer tubing (10-15 feet per keg, depending on serving pressure and line I.D., etc.) and coil it up inside the kegerator.

I've also seen a lot of cheap taps on kegerators, so upgrading to all-stainless, front-sealing taps would be a nice improvement. Flow control is another nice feature, although I'm not sure it's really needed on a simple direct draw setup.

Having more than one CO2 tank adds such a crucial level of convenience that I would not even consider it optional.

While not immediately urgent, you definitely want to get a plan in place for line cleaning ASAP and not wait until your beer starts to taste like ass.
 
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