My Sith Kegerator Build

[NYCHomebrewer]

Not as glamorous as some but here is my kegerator in progress.

I've been gathering the pieces for this for a while and finally found a used refrigerator that was in my price range (free) that seemed to be in pretty good shape. Here are the various pieces:

The fridge was fairly clean but still needed a good strong scrubbing:

The door gaskets were shot on the refrigerator door so I decided to take the doors off to facilitate the replacement and painting of the refrigerator. While they were off I decided to paint the hinges/handles etc.

With the entire fridge disassembled I sanded the entire outside, primed it and painted it with black chalkboard paint (x2 coats). I really liked the way the chalkboard paint went on and looked after it was dried. One small can was enough to coat the entire fridge twice (full size).

The hardest part of the entire fridge refurbishing was replacing the gaskets. I watched multiple youtube videos that made it look like it would just slide right on. Lies. It took nearly 3 hours and my fingers were all sore and bleeding by the end. It was late in the day on Sunday when I was finished and the Superbowl was about to start so I reassembled the refrigerator and called it a day. I'll install the taps etc. this weekend and will update the thread then.

Here is a final shot of the fridge before the taps are installed:

Now if I can just find a place on Staten Island that can fill a CO2 tank at a time that I can actually get there...

NYCHomebrewer

 

[hockeybrewer]

Sub'd. I have a fridge in my basement that I'd love to do something like this too. Right now I use it for my bottled homebrew, yeast, hops ect. I just need $$ for the conversion. Did you buys your pieces desperate or a kit? BTW the paint job looks bad @as!!!

 

[NYCHomebrewer]

I have to say the paint job turned out really good. I plan on using this both as a kegerator and a lagering refrigerator/storage for yeast and hops as well. I bought all the pieces separate but a kit would have been much easier.

I think the key to getting a good paint job is to take your time, clean and sand all the surfaces, and then to do the "extra" work of priming it.

 

[NYCHomebrewer]

Drilling the holes and installing the taps was the easiest part so far. This drill bit went through the fridge door like a hot knife through butter.

Next weekend will be spent installing the tubing etc.

Can't wait until my first pour.