Oster Kegerator

[storm1477]

I wish I had seen that earlier. It would have made my connections a LOT easier.

Thanks for the link.

 

[ethan]

Picked up the Oster at Best Buy this evening. It was marked $169 on clearance but a storewide 10% on clearance items brought the price to about $153.

I swapped the orientation of the door. The instructions for doing so were quite slim, so let me relay the following tip for removing the top cover: after removing the three screws in the back, peel up the back of the cover a bit and slide it toward the front; there are three keyhole fasteners underneath.

 

[bulletproof4age]

I have an oster and it fits two cornys with the 5lb CO2 tank resting on the shelf that covers the compressor.

No way you are going to fit a 10lb tank in there.

You could have it outside the fridge and just drill an additional hole.....

I was able to fit a 10lb tank in mine with little problems. I will post pictures soon. Entire conversion took a couple hours.

Edit: To clarify...that is a 10lb tank and 2 cornys.

 

[Jif]

I ended up running my co2 outside through the drain hole, worked really well and gave me room for fanbox and some extra room on the hump.

 

[EonBlue66]

I was able to fit a 10lb tank in mine with little problems. I will post pictures soon. Entire conversion took a couple hours.

Edit: To clarify...that is a 10lb tank and 2 cornys.

Good news there! looking forward to the pics!

 

[yuf]

Any confirmation if a 1/4bbl pony keg will fit in the Oster? Does it require a stand so that it will sit over the compressor in the back? Or removal of any part of the door insides?

 

[MikeG]

Two corny kegs, I think slight thinner than the 1/6 kegs barely fit and that's after the door switch/thermostat relocation. If my gas/beer tube get down below the top of thekeg they pinch, it's that tight.

 

[Joeywhat]

DOH! Wrong button...

 

[jsparks]

Just curious as to how the quality of this fridge is holding up...the reviews at Bestbuy.com are pretty bad. Anyone hear having issues with it dying after 6months?

 

[storm1477]

Can't say anything about 6 months, but the 2 that I bought 3 months ago are holding up so far. I guess it's time to go knock on some wood having said that.

Storm

 

[kcinpdx]

so far so good on mine. I think it has been 7 months and it has not had any problems at all. I don't even keep it all the way up - maybe at about 4 on the therm

 

[jsparks]

Thanks for the replies. SWMBO has finally agreed to letting me get a mini fridge for the beer. I figure that if I'm going to get one, I might as well get one that can be converted to a kegerator in the future!

 

[Jif]

I've got one working fine now, but it's not as cool as I'd like. 42 on coldest.

 

[tek210]

Picked up an Oster today at Best Buy on clearance for $145. Looking forward to doing the conversion soon.

 

[tek210]

Well I got the temp gauge moved up last night and got the extension cord wired in to allow for the computer fan to be connected. That comes in tomorrow. Does anyone know if on the Oster the main part of the top is open game for the hole. I know most have done it dead center, but I might do it a little bit towards the back, thinking about 2/3 of the way back.

 

[MikeG]

I've got the Oster and I looked for the same info. AFAIK there are no coolant lines on the top. No thread I've read has mentioned a "uh oh, there is a coolant line up top". I'm not positive about 2/3 the way back though that would probably look better and give you less lines directly on top of the kegs, it's tight in there.

I drilled my hole dead center and had no issues. Good luck!

EDIT: I can look for the post if you like but in these forums I saw an alternative to using a comp fan (which I'm using) which used copper for passive cooling. Thread your beer lines in the tower through the copper pipe down into the fridge kept the lines frosty. Copper was more expensive when I looked into that option, maybe it's worth while now.

 

[tek210]

I've got the Oster and I looked for the same info. AFAIK there are no coolant lines on the top. No thread I've read has mentioned a "uh oh, there is a coolant line up top". I'm not positive about 2/3 the way back though that would probably look better and give you less lines directly on top of the kegs, it's tight in there.

I drilled my hole dead center and had no issues. Good luck!

EDIT: I can look for the post if you like but in these forums I saw an alternative to using a comp fan (which I'm using) which used copper for passive cooling. Thread your beer lines in the tower through the copper pipe down into the fridge kept the lines frosty. Copper was more expensive when I looked into that option, maybe it's worth while now.

Appreciate the help, think I will stick with the comp fan to start, can always update later if the need arises.

 

[DougBrew]

I just recently converted an Oster 5.0 unit and I built a cooling system fan box after seeing a post on flickr. IMHO, it was a big waste of time....didn't keep my tower cool and took up a bunch of space.

 

[tek210]

I just recently converted an Oster 5.0 unit and I built a cooling system fan box after seeing a post on flickr. IMHO, it was a big waste of time....didn't keep my tower cool and took up a bunch of space.

Interesting, I think I still might give it a try, but I will do some temp testing to see if it helps in my case.

 

[Jif]

I built a cooling box because I got a thermometer with two probes, one in the tower and one in the box. The tower was consistently about 10-15 degrees warmer than the box, and now with the fan it's about 5 degrees warmer. Worth it IMHO.

 

[tek210]

I built a cooling box because I got a thermometer with two probes, one in the tower and one in the box. The tower was consistently about 10-15 degrees warmer than the box, and now with the fan it's about 5 degrees warmer. Worth it IMHO.

I already have the extension cord wired into the fridge so it is just connecting the fan to the adapter.

What are the wires that need to be connected to the power supply from the fan? Not sure if those are standard.

 

[MikeG]

Either either a 5V or 12V converter (I forget). The fan will have 2 wires and the converter will have two wires (after cutting off any connectors). One way the fan will spin, the other will not. You have a 50/50 chance of getting it right . If it doesn't work the first time swap the wires and try again.

 

[tek210]

Either either a 5V or 12V converter (I forget). The fan will have 2 wires and the converter will have two wires (after cutting off any connectors). One way the fan will spin, the other will not. You have a 50/50 chance of getting it right . If it doesn't work the first time swap the wires and try again.

OK in some of the pics I thought I saw 3 wires coming off the fan. I have a 12v adapter I will be using for this one.

 

[Jif]

I just spliced the wire going into the lightbulb (white I believe) and wired up a 115V fan I got from radio shack to it. I assume your process will be similar.

 

[KaptainWillard]

Hi All,

I'm finishing up my basement bar and I was hoping to buy a nice new shiny fridge to convert. It seams like the Sanyo or Oster may not be readily available. Best Buy has a couple but they have the metal freezer tray.

Anyone know of a current option that would work for the two 1/6s and a CO2 bottle?

 

[Sedge]

I just picked up an Oster 4.5 cu. ft. model on scratch and dent from Best Buy fr $85! I've already cut off the shelves and have a 6 gallon better bottle in there fermenting steady at 67F.

This model has the freezer tray, but it bends very easily out of the way. I only have one corny thus far, but it looks like it should hold two and a 5# CO2 tank on the back shelf pretty easily. Although it's working so well as a fermentation chamber I might try to find another fridge for the kegs.

 

[New2Brew3]

random.tard,

It seems your photo gallery link is no longer available....is there any way we can see your photo gallery/instructions for conversion? I am about to begin my own conversion and it would be helpful to see how you did it, specifically the caster additions.

Thanks