Need help with keezer part list

[sadbuttrue1982]

Hey all,

This is my first post here. I'm trying to repurpose a 7 cu ft chest freezer into a keezer.

I don't want to do the collar things + faucet on the side. This is mainly due to not seen a huge advantage + the faucet on the side are going to make it harder to move the keezer through doors (I plan to keep it on wheels so I can move it around the house for parties).

I know the tower has the issue of getting chilled beer at the faucet, I plan to overcome this with insulating the tower + adding a fan to force air through the tower to cool it down.

So far I have this part list:

• Tower: 3 Faucet Homebrew Tower, Assembled with following options
  • Stainless Steel Shank (SK501SS-Kit-3)
  • All faucets CMB V3S, Forward Seal, Creamer, SS Faucet, Compact (FA50 10-3150-80-H).
    • Is there any advantage to bent nozzle vs standard one?
  • No connectors at the end of the hoses.
• CO2 Tank. 5 LB CO2 Cylinder, Aluminum
• CO2 Regulator. CMB CO2 Beer Gas Regulator, Double Gauge
• CO2 Distributor. Air Distributor - 3 way, With Check Valves
• CO2 Line 5/16. Clear Gas or liquid Hose, 5/16 ID, 9/16 OD, Per Foot
• 3 D Sanke Tap. "D" Sanke Tap with MFL Tailpieces - SS probe - ALL STAINLESS!
• Tower fan. Beer Tower Cooler Kit
• Temperature controller. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HXM5UAC
• Additional hardware/stuff: mainly swivel nuts, a pipe to route lines into the tower so I can add insulating material between the tower itself and the inner pipe.

Am I missing anything? Any ideas?

I plan to fit three 1/6 barrel kegs inside.

 

[3 Dawg Night]

The main benefit I see to using a collar and front-facing faucets is that it makes it easier to open the lid of the keezer. If you have it backed up against a wall, the tower will hit the wall every time you open it. Also, it will just make the lid heavier. I would think a collar and faucets would be cheaper than a tower as well, but I haven't added it all up.

 

[day_trippr]

I would think a collar and faucets would be cheaper than a tower as well,

Collar has to be cheaper, as the faucets would cancel out as well as the tubing and fittings, and most of the shank cost (tower shanks could be cheaper as they are shorter). Meanwhile ss towers are not cheap, especially t-type towers...

Cheers!

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Not sure what the OP's ideas are, but in my case I had a collar on my chest freezer keezer just for the extra keg head space, like just about everyone. But I ran my one CO2 line in to a inside distribution block, then five beer lines out to taps on the back wall. My bar is on the opposite side of the wall where the keezer sits.

Why couldn't beer lines run through the collar to a remote tap tower, coffin, or any kind of serving spot? The serving taps wouldn't have to be a tower mounted on the lid or through the collar. Just another idea.

 

[micraftbeer]

I saw that he doesn't want the taps on the side because he wants to be able to roll this party barge from room to room. While I have a collar and taps on the side and wouldn't do it differently for myself, this idea of a rolling kegerator because you party in so many different rooms of your house, sounds like a blast!

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Maybe those picnic taps are the solution then. Like maybe something retractable like those air line reels. Just a silly idea, but it might work?

 

[Yesfan]

The main benefit I see to using a collar and front-facing faucets is that it makes it easier to open the lid of the keezer. If you have it backed up against a wall, the tower will hit the wall every time you open it. Also, it will just make the lid heavier. I would think a collar and faucets would be cheaper than a tower as well, but I haven't added it all up.

When I still had my freezer, I did a split top. Instead of the tower being centered on the lid, I moved it to the left. I made the left lid open from that side of the freezer instead of hinged from the back. This kept the tower from hitting the wall and made loading/unloading kegs easier. The right side of the lid opened from the back like a regular lid. I put my freezer's basket there to make commercial beer retrieval easier. Also, this gave me a "work surface" for bottling or space for a small bucket for recirculating cleaner through the beer lines.

 

[Deadalus]

If you have wheels on the keezer you don't have to worry about hitting the wall with a tap tower, just move the keezer away from the wall. It will add weight to the lid and perhaps stress to the hinges.

The sleeve itself on those SS towers is roughly around $50 or so.

If you went with Evabarrier tubing for both gas and beverage lines it is more compact and bends easier than the tubing you have picked. However, if your shanks have built in barbed tailpieces, the barbs are not sized for outside diameter. Otherwise, the push to connect fittings you would use are available to attach to the shank and there is a street 90 PTC you can use to make the turn in the tower.

If you don't have a collar, I am not sure about mounting the 3-way distributor to the insides.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

I built my first keezer with two towers on the lid.

It worked, but it was pretty stupid. The towers weighed a lot, and you want to be able to raise your lid without problems. They also bumped into the wall when the lid was opened too far. Drip trays were very difficult to put in, so I didn't do it. I had to wipe beer up a lot. Mounting a tray on my collar was simple, and I can pop it off and put it in the dishwasher. Running various types of wires and lines through a collar is very easy.

A collar is great. You're going to have a Chinese freezer, and it's not going to last as long as a real freezer like the ones our grandparents had back when America was making things. When your disposable freezer dies, it will be very convenient to be able to move the collar to one just like it.

 

[day_trippr]

When your disposable freezer dies, it will be very convenient to be able to move the collar to one just like it.

I have yet to read of anyone who successfully executed a keezer collar transplant...

Cheers!

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

I wonder if that's because people are still gluing them on. As long as I can get a freezer like the one I have now, I will be able to do the surgery in about 20 minutes.

 

[day_trippr]

As long as I can get a freezer like the one I have now

And there is the answer to your wondering.

I also found it surprising but in The Real World it seems there is little motivation for chest freezer manufacturers to maintain any dimensional standards. Indeed, my 1st, 2nd and 3rd keezers are totally different and not by choice - I could not find dimensionally identical (or even "near 'nuff") replacements along the way to salvage my invested efforts.

That related I actually enjoy builds - all kinds of builds - so it wasn't actually A Bad Thing that I had to start from scratch each time...

Cheers!

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

If you can get the same model, you're all set, and many models are continued for very long periods. Moving a collar is a lot easier than customizing a new lid. You just pick it up and put it down, and then you fix the hinges and maybe fix the wiring for the light. Another great thing about a collar is that you can fiddle with the taps, kegs, and gas while the lid is open. You can adjust your flow and pressures and operate the taps to check. You also increase the internal height of the freezer when you add a collar. Very helpful when you need room for features.

Altering a collar to fit a new freezer is easier than altering a lid with towers. If your new fridge is smaller, it's two to four cuts. If it's bigger, building an entirely new collar is simple. It's four pieces of dimensional lumber held together with screws and glue, with a few holes. The only time-consuming part is waiting for the paint to dry.

A collar also gives you a very easy way to mount a tray. You just hang it from screws that go into the collar. I also hang my temperature controller on the collar.

I was also able to mount a secondary regulator to the inside of my collar with two screws. It's really great. The regulator is suspended on two simple pieces of bent flat bar with keyhole-shaped holes in them. I lift the regulator and it comes right out. If I didn't have the collar, I wouldn't have room for the regulator, and hanging it would be pretty difficult. The way it is now, I can open the lid and look down at my dials and adjust the pressures.

The keezer I built is really simple, and it looks like what it is: a modified appliance from Home Depot. No one will ever want to see it in a living room. But the practicality has turned out to be wonderful. It's a pleasure to work with. Never a problem.

I intended to build a fancier collar and seal it to the freezer with silicone or something, but I never got around to it. My temporary collar turned out to be such a pleasure, I couldn't be bothered. The collar never moves even without being glued. I can push the keezer around by pushing on the collar, and nothing happens.

When I first heard about collars, I thought they were ridiculous shortcuts, so I stuck to my guns and made my life harder than it had to be. I got a much better result by listening to people who had gone the common sense route.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

I'm afraid it sounds like I'm saying everyone should do a collar. Not at all. Do whatever you want. I figured I was giving good advice for someone new who might not foresee the potential hassles of going through the lid. Day_trippr's keezer is really something, but building and operating a Ferrari is tougher than going with a Ford.

 

[Deadalus]

When you are building a keezer it pays to think ahead critically about when your freezer will die. Because that's what's going to happen first most likely. I built a full surround for instance with space inside for variation of the size of the freezer as well as for airflow. I do have a collar on the inside for increased height. I screwed the collar together and any caulk on the corners can be cut if needed to separate the collar parts. My collar just sits on a foam gasket with the lid of the freezer reattached with screws.

If the front width increases, you could put a veneer of some kind perhaps over the seam that you might need to widen that face. I've never had much luck with puttying a wood seam but that's also an option. A strategically place raised design could hide a seem as well, molding of some sort is an option. Ask a woodworker or carpenter for ideas if necessary.

If the OP is still working on this, you have to get the fan air inside of the the envelope that the tower insulation forms along with the tubing. You mentioned another pipe. I am not sure that is necessary for your tower configuration. If you ran your fan tubing up to about the top with your bev lines next to it, the airflow would then be forced back down into the keezer alond a path outside the fan tubing. This is if the tower is attached directly to the top of the freezer with a good seal and if there is a gap around all the tubing. The fan would also need to be strong enough to overcome the friction of the bev and fan tubing on the way down. Not likely an issue unless everything is crammed inside the tower. Slight drawback might be that the air is traveling up first and perhaps not cooling the bev lines as much before it starts to return and more fully envelopes the bev lines. I think you would get a decent loop though. This has probably been covered. Your tower is a straightforward commerical kegerator design.

Personally, I found a good deal on a pair of computer fans. They are attached in series together but I have enough cord in between to use one for the tower and one for moving air near the bottom. I'm pretty sure the other one I have on the hump. I ran the bev lines inside the fan tubing on my own tower and since my tower is U-shaped, back down the other side. But I have a gap between the freezer lid and surround top that needed bridging and that complicated the design.

 

[Yesfan]

Here is a pic of my old keezer @Clint Yeastwood . Crude af compared to the "ferrari keezers" on here (man, some really talented woodworkers here on HBT!), but functional for what I needed it for. This was my second build. At the time, I wanted a bigger space and I hated how I had to pull the v1 out from the wall to keep the tower from hitting the wall. This version, I shifted the tower to the left and add a trap door to the right. When, closed as seen, it gave me the perfect work space for bottling from the taps.

 

[Yesfan]

I have yet to read of anyone who successfully executed a keezer collar transplant...

Cheers!

Here's your first one (and probably only one). A few years ago, a friend in my brew club had a keezer that died. He had mentioned he was going to have to craft a new lid for the new one he bought for the reasons you stated. I still had my old lid from my first keezer, so I asked if he wanted to see if it would work first. If not, just chunk it. It was a perfect fit! If anything, he might have plugged the top hole so he could run the taps out of the collar vs a tower on top, but it was a perfect fit.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

That's really nice. Is the old lid under there or did you get rid of it?

Here some pics of my old keezer @Clint Yeastwood . Crude af compared to the "ferrari keezers" on here (man, some really talented woodworkers here on HBT!), but functional for what I needed it for. This was my second build. At the time, I wanted a bigger space and I hated how I had to pull the v1 out from the wall to keep the tower from hitting the wall. This version, I shifted the tower to the left and add a trap door to the right. When, closed as seen, it gave me the perfect work space for bottling from the taps.


View attachment 832619

 

[Yesfan]

That's really nice. Is the old lid under there or did you get rid of it?

Are you talking about the stock lid that came with the freezer? If so, I put it up in storage in case I ever sold the freezer, which I did when I started scaling down.