Salton Kegerator Conversion

[OCB tilly]

The Canadian Tire in my area no longer carries the Sylvania mini-fridge but they have replaced it with the slightly smaller Salton version.

The interior dimensions were virtually identical (with the depth and width being about 1" smaller on the Salton)... unfortunately that size difference meant that two cornies would not fit without some modification...

Unmodified interior:

So my plan was to shave off the 'ridges' on the side walls:

The 'ridges'

Post-grinding (simply used a power drill with grinding stone...took roughly 45 minutes to do both sides)

 

[OCB tilly]

Like the Sylvania the door on the Salton required modification...for this I used a utility knife to cut off the plastic shelves and drink holder...only took a few minutes and left me with a secure plastic border that I used to attach the rubber seal to the frame:

Unmodified door:

Modified door:

After grinding the ridges and cutting the door the fridge was large enough to hold both corny kegs with a 10lb tank:

In total it took me a few hours to complete the project; all works well and the fridge stays at about 8* with two kegs and the tank.

My next project is to find a two tap tower and drill some holes using the copper piping method (cooper pipes keep the lines cool).

 

[RadicalEd]

Woot! Nice mod there.

 

[BeerCanuck]

Just wanted to chime in on your Salton Conversion OCB tilly.

Thats coming along nicely

If you have any inquiries sourcing materials on a BM DIY tower or Predone tower let me know.

BeerCanuck

 

[bradsul]

Nice job on the conversion! That'll look great once you get a tower on top, but as long as the beer is flowing who cares eh?!

 

[OCB tilly]

Nice job on the conversion! That'll look great once you get a tower on top, but as long as the beer is flowing who cares eh?!

I hear that!

Just wanted to chime in on your Salton Conversion OCB tilly.

Thats coming along nicely

If you have any inquiries sourcing materials on a BM DIY tower or Predone tower let me know.

BeerCanuck

Sounds good, going to check the basement of the brewery and see if I can scrounge a tower and tap....seem to remember seeing one down there....

If that fails BM's DIY tower looks great so I'd probably do that....

 

[OCB tilly]

UPDATE

Just received an email about this conversion....here are the questions:

How did you take off the top of the fridge?
Did you have any problems drilling through the top?
Where are the hot sidecoils?

And here is my response:

Taking off the top, ah yes! forgot to mention that in the post....

Well anyways, I was worried that the top was screwed into the frame, but it's not. It's just glue. Start at one corner and pull up....use some force....it might feel like it's going to break, and it will sound like it's breaking but that's just the glue separating.......slowly work your way around the top and all will be well, there's nothing under the top that can break.

I haven't had a chance to drill through the top but I'm almost positive the cooling coils are not up there...once you pop off the top you'll see that there is only foam underneath, so if you're really worried about the cooling lines just poke around the foam with a narrow pin and make sure they aren't on top....

Does that make sense?

 

[BeerCanuck]

Nice works OCB tilly
I completed a second Sylvania conversion recently for my beer brewing buddy using a pre-manufactured tower;

Using Bradsuls PVC Tower Cooling Solution idea made it a simple tower installation.

Cheers
BeerCanuck

 

[RICLARK]

what are the dimensions of your mini fridge? I have a GE I would like to convert and dont know if it is big enough.

 

[OCB tilly]

what are the dimensions of your mini fridge? I have a GE I would like to convert and dont know if it is big enough.

Sorry for not getting back to you any quicker, but I'll go get them right now....

EDIT:

Ok here they are:

Front floor to beginning of hump in back - a tad under 10.5"
Side to side before modification: 16"
Side to side after modification: 17"
Floor to top: 29"

 

[RICLARK]

Sorry for not getting back to you any quicker, but I'll go get them right now....

EDIT:

Ok here they are:

Front floor to beginning of hump in back - a tad under 10.5"
Side to side before modification: 16"
Side to side after modification: 17"
Floor to top: 29"

Awesome thank you, My dimensions are the exact same, also did your fridge have the little freezer in the top of it? Mine has the freezer tray but it is only held in by 4 phillips screws.

 

[OCB tilly]

Awesome thank you, My dimensions are the exact same, also did your fridge have the little freezer in the top of it? Mine has the freezer tray but it is only held in by 4 phillips screws.

Hey, no mine did not have a freezer; the top is level with the back ledge being about 5 or 6" I'd guess.

How wide is your fridge? 17" is the bare minimum, as you can see I had to shave mine down...

 

[RICLARK]

Hey, no mine did not have a freezer; the top is level with the back ledge being about 5 or 6" I'd guess.

How wide is your fridge? 17" is the bare minimum, as you can see I had to shave mine down...

I measured mine and got 17 1/2 " Width

10 1/2" Depth to the hump

29 1/2" Height after I remove freezer Tray

Im sure I will have to remove the drink rack from the Door and Shave the Sides.

 

[bradsul]

...29 1/2" Height after I remove freezer Tray...

Be careful how you move the tray. In most fridges with a freezer the cooling coil for the fridge is actually in the freezer. I've read about some people carefully bending those down but I'd be too worried about kinking personally.

 

[RICLARK]

Be careful how you move the tray. In most fridges with a freezer the cooling coil for the fridge is actually in the freezer. I've read about some people carefully bending those down but I'd be too worried about kinking personally.

My tray is just a tray it is not attatched to anything there is just 4 screws and it comes out, I dont think I would even call it a freezer it is Pathetic.

 

[bradsul]

My tray is just a tray it is not attatched to anything there is just 4 screws and it comes out, I dont think I would even call it a freezer it is Pathetic.

Pathetic for someone who wants ice, good setup for you though.

 

[RICLARK]

Pathetic for someone who wants ice, good setup for you though.

My big Question about Converting mine is, What do I do with the Climate Control device? I dont really want to get rid of it because it has been very handy for Lagering.

 

[OCB tilly]

My big Question about Converting mine is, What do I do with the Climate Control device? I dont really want to get rid of it because it has been very handy for Lagering.

Just unscrew it....probably has one or two screws....

(big night last night, friends loved the beer and cider i have on tap :cross: )

 

[BeerCanuck]

Is that duct tape on top of the fridge?
Making all of us Canadians proud OCB

Cheers
BeerCanuck

 

[RICLARK]

I dug into my mini fridge today even more to see what has to be done, The tray can be romoved with the 4 screws like I mentioned above but with more close examination I realized that the tray as a cord that runs into the back of it and now that the Ice is melted I can see that the floor of the tray is nothing but cooling coils. Do I just cut that cord going into the tray or will it screw up the rest of the System?

 

[bradsul]

I dug into my mini fridge today even more to see what has to be done, The tray can be romoved with the 4 screws like I mentioned above but with more close examination I realized that the tray as a cord that runs into the back of it and now that the Ice is melted I can see that the floor of the tray is nothing but cooling coils. Do I just cut that cord going into the tray or will it screw up the rest of the System?

That tube is the entirety of the cooling for the fridge, so I wouldn't cut it or you'll have a pretty expensive repair. I've seen some pictures of people who had managed to bend the freezer down without kinking and breaking that line but it will take some guts to try it I think.

 

[jimmypager]

So, now that's it been a couple of weeks since you've had it up and running how is the Salton fridge making out as kegorator?

Any foaming issues?

Is 8-10 degrees adequate serving temperature?

The thermostat control...do you just have it dangling in behind one of the Kegs? It is not clear from the pictures.


It's on sale at CT right now....I'm debating rushing out and getting one.

 

[OCB tilly]

So, now that's it been a couple of weeks since you've had it up and running how is the Salton fridge making out as kegorator?

Any foaming issues?

Is 8-10 degrees adequate serving temperature?

The thermostat control...do you just have it dangling in behind one of the Kegs? It is not clear from the pictures.


It's on sale at CT right now....I'm debating rushing out and getting one.

Hey bud, the salton is great, no complaints.

The temperature is awesome but we all know that the temperature of beer is a personal preference: some liking it close to freezing while others like 'cellar' temps....I personally go for the latter, cellar temps. I find that close to freezing temps shocks my mouth too much and mask much of the flavour in the beer. But if you're looking for the former, this fridge will give you the temps you want.

And yes you're correct, the temperature control is simply dangling: there is lots of wire for it to move around and it only takes 2 screws to detach it...pretty simple design. Keep it simple!

And no, no foaming issues. Foaming issues are usually a product of dirty lines, improper gas settings and/or over carbonation. Rarely, if ever, is the fridge the culprit.

Hope that helps and hope it makes sense, worked late at the pub tonight and filled myself up with some brandy to keep myself warm for the cold walk home, haha.

cheers

 

[rsb]

Hello,

Has anyone drilled a hole into the top of the Salton fridge yet? Any surprises? I have a conversion kit and it is going to be my weekend project so I wanted to know if anyone has done this already...

Thanks

 

[bradsul]

It looks like Canadian Tire has these on sale again for a really good price, only 159.99!

 

[Rudeboy]

UPDATE

Just received an email about this conversion....here are the questions:

How did you take off the top of the fridge?
Did you have any problems drilling through the top?
Where are the hot sidecoils?

And here is my response:

Canadian Tire has them on sale again so I'm thinking of taking the plunge.

Why do you neeed to take the top off though? Wouldn't you just drill through all the layers?

Thanks

Rudeboy

 

[bradsul]

...Why do you neeed to take the top off though? Wouldn't you just drill through all the layers?...

Depending on the type of tower you're going to install, you may need to modify the underside of the plastic to fit in some sort of re-enforcement. Or in the case of my fridge, I made a DIY tower so I wanted to get the flange underneath the plastic for a nice clean look.

 

[rex]

Now the Salton is on sale for $149

Should I ....or shouldn't I???

I definitely want to mount a double tower.

 

[Rudeboy]

OK still haven't taken the plunge but today might be the day as Canadian Iron has them on sale again. Only place I can find a Sanyo 4912M is Costco.ca but it's more than twice the cost of the Salton.

But I have a few questions.

1. Bradsul yours didn't seem to have the steel "freezer" part but others did. If there is the steal "freezer" part can it be easily removed/bent?

2. OCB seems to say he can only reach "celler" temp with two Cornies. Is that other people's results? I'm not like some Coors Light guy you wants everything at close to freezing but depending on the style I'd like to get below "celler" temp for some brews. Especialy since I want to make the PVC tower is cooloing adequete for all range of styles?

3. Any nasty suprises on the top? How hard was it to remove?

4. How much grinding of the knobs is neccesary?

Thanks

Rudeboy

 

[bradsul]

...
1. Bradsul yours didn't seem to have the steel "freezer" part but others did. If there is the steal "freezer" part can it be easily removed/bent?

2. OCB seems to say he can only reach "celler" temp with two Cornies. Is that other people's results? I'm not like some Coors Light guy you wants everything at close to freezing but depending on the style I'd like to get below "celler" temp for some brews. Especialy since I want to make the PVC tower is cooloing adequete for all range of styles?

3. Any nasty suprises on the top? How hard was it to remove?

My fridge was different than the Salton (see the link in my signature for the Sylvania) but if your choice has a freezer, you definitely can't remove it, that is where the cooling coils for the fridge are located. I've read some people have had luck bending the freezer down and out of the way, I'm not sure I'd have the guts to try it. The good news there being that the one on sale this week doesn't appear to have a freezer.

I have my kegerator set at 8.5C and it holds that temperature extremely well. But again I have a different model. Check out the link in my signature for a good method for cooling your tower. The top on mine was extremely easy to remove, just 2 screws in the back and it slips right off.