Mobile kegerator build thread

[lazybean]

Nice work! I was working on a Bender Tap, but this wins by a land slide.

 

[Prime]

This is awesome. Just making me dream of more stuff I don't have... thanks! haha

Very cool.

 

[nostalgia]

Woohoo! Getting closer...

-Joe

 

[Yooper]

That's awesome!!!!! I love it.

 

[MultumInParvo]

That is sweet. Beer in Bender... I am sure he would be happy!

 

[weirdboy]

The antenna is going to be the tap handle, right?

 

[WOP31]

That is pretty nice man. You should see if there is anyway you can run your beer outline down his arm and out to his hand, so it looks as though he is pouring your beer for you.

Good luck with it.

 

[nostalgia]

Thanks all. Glad you're enjoying

That is pretty nice man. You should see if there is anyway you can run your beer outline down his arm and out to his hand, so it looks as though he is pouring your beer for you.

That was my original idea, but I was concerned about the beer in the lines getting warm and causing trouble. Even with insulation in the arms, it's going to warm up pretty fast. Any input on that front?

-Joe

 

[FSR402]

Thanks all. Glad you're enjoying


That was my original idea, but I was concerned about the beer in the lines getting warm and causing trouble. Even with insulation in the arms, it's going to warm up pretty fast. Any input on that front?

-Joe

run the smallest ID line you can. Then there may only be a few ounces in there.
Even at that it wont be bad.

I take kegs to party's and serve out of a 10 foot line that's just sitting out in the open and don't have any problems. If you're drinking it fast enough it does not warm up.

 

[WOP31]

Thanks all. Glad you're enjoying


That was my original idea, but I was concerned about the beer in the lines getting warm and causing trouble. Even with insulation in the arms, it's going to warm up pretty fast. Any input on that front?

-Joe

I don't think it will be too much of a problem. The first couple of kegs I had (before I got my kegerator converted) I just kept in a bucket of ice with a picnic tap and about a 6 foot hose. We never really had a problem, I think if you insulate it you will be golden. I don't see how it is any different then running it out of his mouth, other then it is a little shorter.

Plus if you run it up his arm, there is less chance of the beer getting light struck in the tube if there is any lag between beers being poured from it.

Cheers

 

[ReeseAllen]

Don't forget the square pupils!

Also, one more vote here for running the line out of his arm. That would be SO damn cool. Just make sure you make it easy to pull the line out for cleaning.

As everyone's been saying, chilling the line is probably not gonna be an issue, but if you really wanted to be hardcore, you could jacket the line with a much bigger plastic tube, toss a $20 aquarium pump into the bottom of the chamber, and have that pump ice water through the jacket. Of course, you'd need to plug it into a wall outlet, so that might ruin the "mobile" aspect of this build, but it'd only cost about $40-50 in extra materials to build.

 

[Rad-Rabbit]

As a former Mobile audio specialist I offer you this bit of information.

In the event you (or any one reading this thread) ever make another project using fiberglass. When you reach the body filler stage where you are creating a smooth finish, don't use strait body filler. Instead, use a 50/50 mix of body filler and liquid fiberglass resin with the appropriate amount of both catalysts. By doing this you will make a Paintable/Brush-on mixture that is much easier to apply and ultimately finish do to it's self leveling quality.

By the way you Bender looks great!

 

[ReeseAllen]

I'm a bit surprised you didn't turn bender's head on the lathe. It looks good as is but it could have been perfectly shaped if you'd turned it out of a big block of balsa or something like that.

 

[jtrainer]

I'm a bit surprised you didn't turn bender's head on the lathe. It looks good as is but it could have been perfectly shaped if you'd turned it out of a big block of balsa or something like that.

I agree, you should start over..... Remember to post pics...

 

[nostalgia]

Ever try to turn a wood as soft as balsa? Believe me, it wouldn't have been much better than the foam.

-Joe

 

[Loweface]

I vote for the beer to come out of his finger... and plus one on the antenna being the tap handle...

 

[nostalgia]

I vote for the beer to come out of his finger... and plus one on the antenna being the tap handle...

That's the direction I'm going now. I've just got to figure out how the antenna will activate the tap/valve.

-Joe

 

[Foamenter]

I'm thinking you could use a bike brake lever to mount the antenna on, and run the cable to the faucet in the hand. Of course you would need to put a spring on the faucet to close it, and return the antenna to upright.

 

[nostalgia]

That'd be pretty clever But I've decided to go electrical. I've got a solenoid valve on order that I'm going to put in his hand. There will be a button in his antenna to activate it. It will run off batteries.

Should be exciting

-Joe

 

[Loweface]

Sweet!!!!!!

 

[Foamenter]

That sounds too cool, since it's electrical you could hook the button up to a sound module.

I can hear it now, " kiss my shiny metal ass!"

:cross:

 

[dunnright00]

I read this whole thread hoping that I would be the first to say "Drink my Shiny Metal Keg!!", right after Foamenter said that! :cross:

-Joe

 

[nostalgia]

Latest news: solenoid valve showed up today. A quick test was in order:

[youtube]Z-18GaJ-uk0[/youtube]

It quickly settled down to beer, but I'm going to tinker with it and see if we can't improve on that.

-Joe

 

[elmetal]

may have to do with line length? or hot beer (since it was out of the fridge)

I don't know.... maybe at 8 psi it pours too fast for the valve and you have to have a diff serving pressure? I don't know...

looks amazing though!

 

[SowegaBrews]

may have to do with line length? or hot beer (since it was out of the fridge)

that would be my guess as well.

 

[nostalgia]

Well, the beer was outside the fridge for less than 5 minutes when that video was shot, so I can't imagine it having lost more than a degree or two. The line was also empty to start, so there was no warm beer sitting in it.

It's possible that since the solenoid is rated for 24v, the 12v supply couldn't open it all the way and was cavitating the beer badly. I'll have to find a 24v one and see what happens.

The output line could be longer, too, but I don't want to make it too long since it'll drip an awful lot then.

I'll also be experimenting with lower pressures. When I run a picnic tap I go with 6psi so I'll start there.

-Joe

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

Awesome thread, Awesome idea...just plain AWESOMNESS!

PROST!

 

[brandonjonesVW]

wow. I have no idea how I missed this build. friggin awesome. good luck with the rest of the build.

 

[Brewin_CRAZY]

You are quite possibly my hero!!! I love Bender!

 

[nostalgia]

Ok guys here's what I just tried:

- Used a proper 24v power supply
- Increased the length of the output hose from 3" to 8"
- Lowered the input pressure from 8psi to 6psi
- Forced a stainless spout into the end of the output hose. Yes, I stretched the 3/16" hose up to 1/2" Boiling water, pliers and patience
- Pulled a second pint, in case the problem was just the first pint
- Left the keg in the fridge to make sure it wasn't beer temp

I got two pints of foam. They did settle down to a nice beer after a few minutes, but I'd still rather have a normal pour.

To make sure it wasn't just me disturbing the keg, I hooked it back up to my faucet and pulled a perfect pint when I was done.

So I'm open to suggestions. What have ya got for me, HBT?

-Joe