Kegerator with keg outside of fridge?

[Geoff430]

Hi Guys- been lurking around for a while- lots of good stuff here.
So I'm thinking about building my first kegerator- got plenty of spare couplers and taps hanging around at work so that's nice.
But I really want to know if it's possible to keep the keg outside the fridge, run the line through a cooling tray inside the fridge - or maybe the freezer, to the tap mounted in the door. Main reason is so I can still use the fridge. I'm thinking this is definitely possible as the other week our glycol system went down at the bar, so we hired a keg system, which was pretty much what im talking about but it used an ice box instead of a fridge - and the beer was ice cold.
But what's the life of a keg at ambient temp? And how are you guys sealing the holes in the side of your fridge for the lines?

Any advice, or links to parts would be great.
Thanks in advance,
Geoff.

 

[birvine]

Hmmm - interesting. When I made my kegerator a few months ago I was concerned about condensation at the point where I drilled into the top of the fridge. I used metallic tape - kind of like duct tape but much stickier and firmer and I think would do a better job sealing. You might also consider a bit of thermal caulking where the lines pass through as well.

B

 

[pdxal]

You might try googling "Jockey Box", because that is what you are describing.

 

[Geoff430]

Aha- thanks, thats what I needed to hear...now to track down cooling plates