Minfridge guts to cool keg space

[Feurhund]

Looking for some insight. I have a nice kegerator under my bar currently with a tower that holds 3 cornies. I want to up my capacity.

The only way I can think of is insulating the space under the bar which would gain me space for another 2-3 cornies and then using the cooling plate from the kegerator on the inside with the compressor and heat exchanger in the adjoining under sink space.

Is this a crazy endeavor? I wish I had planned this in advance, but when I built it I couldn't imagine needing more than three taps. I am serving 9 different beers now out of the bar and keezer in the brewery. At least my brewery is future proof!

Let me know your thoughts, ideas and concerns. I was thinking 1.5" foam board but could maybe go bigger. An I use a love controller for the compressor. The kegerator is a nice Haier one from Kegworks with castors and the cooling part is the big rectangle plate on the back wall.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Cyclman]

Look @ keezer posts, lots of them, lots of great builds.

 

[Feurhund]

Thank you. I have looked at them and already have a keezer. This is a specific situation if you read through, I want to make a custom insulated area out of an already determined space to maximize storage.

I did not find any useful info or advice on isolating safely and using the guts of a minifridge. I also can't just place one on the side of the chamber like some builds. That is why I posted the question.

 

[biohaz7331]

I would go with 1.5 to 2" foam and try to mount the hot coils so they are not directly touching anything. Is this going to be in a closed sink space? I am unsure about how it would do in a closed space because the fridges can normally dissipate heat or use a fan to remove excess heat.

 

[Feurhund]

The minifridge is already venting heat in that space fine. There is alot of space under the sink and a non airtight door so that should be fine. Do you have any experience taking apart a fridge like this a repurposing the elements?

 

[biohaz7331]

No sorry I don't have any personal experience but I did look into building a keezer. it is not as difficult as it seems as long as you have some tools and a little skill with your hands.

 

[nab911]

What i have seen a lot of people doing is to remove the door on the fridge and insulate that area with foam panels all of the way around to the front of the mini fridge. You are basically expanding the interior volume of the fridge. I would Do some testing ot make sure it has the efficiency to cool that large enough of area withtout running constantly and using a lot of power or burning up.

 

[Feurhund]

Thought of that too. No room for a fridge expansion setup. I will try to take some pics as I don't seem to be getting the situation across.

 

[Feurhund]

Well I hate when people don't update their threads so here goes. Pictures are worth a thousand words.
Disassembled kegerator put guts in insulated space. Built a door and threw a 6 tap tower on top. 3 different pressures of the regulators to the manifolds in the space. Works great and I have 6 on tap right now!

 

[wilserbrewer]

Impressive work! So I gather you hacked apart your kegerator, put the cold side bits on the cold side, and put the motor and hot side heat sink outside your new box?

Way to get it done...no easy task I imagine!

 

[Feurhund]

Yes it was monumental. About 3 times the work I thought it would be. The hot side is in the under sink area so the whole thing is invisible from the outside and I went from two taps to six which is great and hopefully future proof as the under bar space is completely maximized now.

 

[Odin_Brews]

Awesome post, thanks. Im working out plans to do the same. How big is that space you have and are you pleased with the fridge gut's ability to keep things cool without working too much overtime?

 

[Feurhund]

The space holds 6 Corny kegs and is tight. I used two inches of foam board, so it is efficient. I actually froze a keg that was closest to the coils the other day! I also use a love controller that has a feature to protect the compressor and won't turn in and off too much.