My first kegerator! Lots of questions, expert advice needed

[bgs8884]

The exterior of the fridge is in rough shape. One side has been spray painted silver, and the front is dirty and has stickers on it. I want to repaint it to match my regular fridge. I figure I can wash, sand, prime, and paint with appliance paint. Seems easy enough...any tips?

check this out and see if it helps you. i just did this a few weeks ago. Buy "Goof Off" spray from home depot. its about $7 a bottle and will take anything off the interior and exterior of the refrigerator, including any overspray from your appliance spray paint.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-kegerator-rehab-project-time-lapse-342120/

 

[60sd]

Done with another week of work, so hopefully I can wrap up this project this weekend. I just picked up my shiny new (full) 20# co2 tank and will be putting it to use to carbonate a batch of brown ale. I dont recall if I posted this yet, but I used a roll on appliance epoxy to paint the fridge. I also determined that the smell was, in fact, coming from the rotting grain in my green waste can. I pretty much took everything apart and found that it was clean and dry. The can was within 3' of where I was working and when I lifted the lid I discovered the problem.

One of the previous replies showed several pictures of the gas and faucet set up. I'm wanting to store the gas bottle outside the fridge and run a bulkhead through the side or back. I figured I'd do it the same way that I built my cooler mash tun...use a brass nipple with some washers and barbed adapters on either side. Is there anything I should be aware of when drilling holes in the main body of the fridge? I obviously dont want to drill through something critical, and I'm not completely familiar with the inner workings of a fridge.

Thanks again for the help!

 

[60sd]

here's some before and after pics, or before and during...

 

[60sd]

I dont think you can see in the pic's but there are some blemishes in the paint. There's a few spots where the crust from the roller stuck in the paint, and a few spots where you can see a line where the paint went on extra thick. I used a foam roller and applied two coats. I had enough left out of a quart can to probably do one more coat on the doors and maybe another coat on the sides. I decided that I don't need concourse quality, so I'm calling it good. If I wanted to really step it up, I would have wet sanded and done one more coat.

 

[60sd]

My kegerator is nearly done! I decided to put it in the kitchen and was surprised to see that it's actually a little bigger than my regular fridge!

I havent figured out the best way to post the pic's, so I'll explain first:

I made new handles for the fridge out of oak.

I made a "Bulkhead" (for lack of a better term) for the co2. I used a 1/4" mpt x 3" long brass nipple with barb fittings on either side and a few washers. If anyone is planning on doing this, the wall thickness on the side of my fridge was 2-1/4". I had no idea it would be that thick, so I had to go back to the store for a longer nipple

The co2 manifold is mounted to a piece of plywood and screwed to the racks on the back of the fridge.

I made a plywood base to help better support and distribute the weight of the full kegs. For that I used 3/4". I got a 2'x4' piece rather than a full 4x8 and it was plenty. I covered the top of the base with a plastic/rubber non-slip mat. I used spray adhesive for the mat, but the adhesive was for upholsterey and it didn't work very well (it was all I had and didnt want to buy another can)

I centered the faucets as best I could on the hole that was already there. I put them pretty close because I anticipate adding at least one more faucet, perhaps two or three. I made cardboard templates to represent a keg footprint; I should be able to get 5, and 6 seems possible. (Of course that would mean another co2 manifold or a couple of Y fittings.

All I have left to do is finish the drip tray. For that I'm using a piece of vinyl rain gutter and I will make an oak trim for it to match the handles.

Here it is:

 

[NewBrewB]

Did you take any pictures of the back (co2 rack)?

 

[60sd]

Did you take any pictures of the back (co2 rack)?

Not completely sure what your referring to... I have my co2 bottle on the side of the fridge, I didn't do anything to the back, other than clean it up. I used a 4 way co2 manifold from midwest. I have it hooked up now and it's working great.

Earlier in this thread I mentioned wanting to be able to regulate pressure at each line. My brother, who has the same manifold as me, bought a regulator from Napa auto for use in his kegerator. It looks like a solid unit and if it works well, I'll probably add one or two to my set-up so I can serve and carbonate at the same time.

Anyway, here's my co2 setup. If you want to see any other pics, I'm happy to oblige, just keep in mind that I'm no expert, just a guy who likes to drink and is kinda handy

 

[60sd]

I'll probably end up putting a longer line from the "bulkhead" to the manifold on the inside of the fridge. It need a little more slack to be pushed out of the way to make room for more kegs.

 

[NewBrewB]

Ahhh At first I was going to suggest some sort of rack to hold the bottle on the back so it is out of sight in the kitchen. I see now that it is already against the wall. Maybe you can build a wooden cover to sit down over the bottle and "sexy" it up a bit?

 

[60sd]

Ahhh At first I was going to suggest some sort of rack to hold the bottle on the back so it is out of sight in the kitchen. I see now that it is already against the wall. Maybe you can build a wooden cover to sit down over the bottle and "sexy" it up a bit?

Yes, that is definitely in the works; i'm not completely sure about the design yet, but i plan on making something.