Sanyo 4912 Kegerator Conversion

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SilkkyBrew said:
Good summary - I'll be doing my conversion in about a week when I receive my shipment from Kegconnection as well... I plan on leaving the door on, as you say, in order to store some vacuum packed hops, yeast, etc. and a few "vintage" bottles that I've been cellaring - an Otto's Imperial Stout, a 3 year vintage DFH WW Sout, a 1+ year old DFH 120 IPA, and a few belgians/lambics...

Be careful!!! When you keep bottles that cold for extended periods of time, the cold temps can dry out and compromise the rubber seals on the bottle caps, leading to flat, oxidized beer. I don't know what temp you plan on keeping your kegerator at, but I'd be very careful about putting 'special' bottles in there for extended aging.
 
Evan! said:
Be careful!!! When you keep bottles that cold for extended periods of time, the cold temps can dry out and compromise the rubber seals on the bottle caps, leading to flat, oxidized beer. I don't know what temp you plan on keeping your kegerator at, but I'd be very careful about putting 'special' bottles in there for extended aging.

Evan - good point, hadn't thought about that. I do have a 'ground cellar' where they've been for now. I may just keep them there.

Would these seals dry out if I dipped the bottle-tops in brewers wax you think? The cellar will work fine, but just curious...
 
TWilson said:
Would someone care to post pics of the modifications needed so that you can fit a 10# CO2 and 2 cornies in there? I am considering this model, and have a 2 keg kit with 10# tank on the way from kegconnection.com. Thanks in advance.

You just fish the gas line through the back, since the 10# tank doesn't fit into the 4912 with two cornies; it's the diameter of a corny itself.
 
I know I had a couple of Sam Adam's in another refrigerator for about a month and when I opened it, dang glass had cracked and cut my finger. Do a search on here, there is a picture of the "shelf" that one member made from plywood I think and fit it on the back. I did the same thing, but don't have a way to upload the pictures.
 
Ol' Grog said:
Do a search on here, there is a picture of the "shelf" that one member made from plywood I think and fit it on the back. I did the same thing, but don't have a way to upload the pictures.

Here's how I did it:
5923-100_0498a.jpg
 
Does anyone have a link to a source for railing on the top? I know I saw a link and a few pics a couple of months ago, but I can't seem to find either right now.
 
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I saved a space for a kegerator unit on the far right. I would like to cut the hole in the top of the fridge and bring the lines up through the top of the bar to a brass tower with two taps. Again.......someday.
 
Evan! said:
hey, so, where did you get all your equipment from?

Micromatic for the tower and regulator, Northern Brewer for most of everything else. Got a few odds and ends at Lowes and Radio Shack. Lee Valley for the rails. Kegs from Adventures in Homebrewing. The kegs were not rebuilt, just as-is old kegs, and they were a pain to get cleaned up. I'd recommend getting already rebuilt/refurbished kegs; it's actually cheaper considering you may need to replace parts on an as-is keg, and the cleanup work is already done for you.
 
Where did you guys get the dry erase board to replace the door panel? Everywhere I've checked online has ridiculous prices for something the right size.
 
I got a bigass sheet of Mark-R-Board wainscot at Lowes and had them cut it in the store to the right dimensions. I think the sheets are around $12. I got two door panels out of it, so I have a backup if I need it.

You can find the stuff back where wall paneling is. Guy at the store said the only people who ever seem to buy it are teachers.
 
Orpheus or anyone else who's done this conversion already - what size are the machine screws and tee nuts that you used?

I've got the fridge, and kegging stuff will be here Friday, so I went to Lowe's at lunch to get everything that I needed. I left out the screws and tee nuts because I wasn't sure what size to get. I'd imagine that it depends on the size of the holes in the tower, too so I'll probably just have to wait.

Couldn't one just use self-tapping screws and cut off the excess rather than predrill and use tee nuts?
 
Depends on the size of the countersunk holes in the tower. My ACU stainless tower had smaller c'sunk holes, so I went with #10 stainless flatheads (countersunk design), and #10 stainless t-nuts, from West Marine. 1/4-20's would have stuck up in the c'sunk holes of the tower. They have a hardware section like a hardware store, with serve yourself single pieces. Was pretty cheap. I went long and cut them off flush with t-nut/board when assembled.

You don't need a lot of strength in the bolts- the pressure is minimal, but stainless is tough, too.
 
Evan! said:
you beat me! I hate you! ;)

My conversion kit from kegconnection is out for delivery as we speak! :ban:

Should be able to get the fridge converted next week or the following.

Can't wait to be in the 4912 club and tap some tasty homebrew out of my perlicks... mmm... :mug:
 
If you got a Hobby Lobby in your area, the white marker boards are a dime a dozen. You can use the same screws, just don't torque them down too much.
 
Ol' Grog said:
If you got a Hobby Lobby in your area, the white marker boards are a dime a dozen. You can use the same screws, just don't torque them down too much.

You don't need to remove the door for marker board correct? You can still fit 2 corny and a 5# tank? I was planning on keeping my door on to store yeast and other items...
 
Evan! said:
you beat me! I hate you! ;)

Don't hate the playa...

If you order soon you'll probably have your conversion done before me, so no worries. I've got 3 more weeks of doctor ordered, post-surgery restrictions of no lifting more than 10 lbs, no bending and no twisting so while I have everything that I need to do the conversion, it won't be done for a few weeks.

I also don't have any brew to keg yet, so I'm not in a hurry. I went ahead and got all the stuff because there a sale.... oh my God... that sounded like something my wife would say.

Evan, if we both start kegging, how are we going to swap 20+ brews a year?:drunk: I guess it's time to read up on BM's bottle filling method.

Dude, feel free to PM me if I can help you at all with buying all the stuff that you'll need for the kegerator conversion.
 
ohiobrewtus said:
Don't hate the playa...

If you order soon you'll probably have your conversion done before me, so no worries. I've got 3 more weeks of doctor ordered, post-surgery restrictions of no lifting more than 10 lbs, no bending and no twisting so while I have everything that I need to do the conversion, it won't be done for a few weeks.

I also don't have any brew to keg yet, so I'm not in a hurry. I went ahead and got all the stuff because there a sale.... oh my God... that sounded like something my wife would say.

Evan, if we both start kegging, how are we going to swap 20+ brews a year?:drunk: I guess it's time to read up on BM's bottle filling method.

Dude, feel free to PM me if I can help you at all with buying all the stuff that you'll need for the kegerator conversion.

Are you kidding me? First off, I'm not doing anything until the new year re: kegging. Well, I did buy a couple Ventmatic faucets because they were cheap as hell on ebay, but that's it. I've got 4 cornies already. And I just got a 10% off Best Buy coupon, which will knock about $20 off the 4912. But the wife and I agreed, nothing till after new years.

As for bottle swaps...you know how much I brew, and you know that just having 2 batches on tap at a time isn't gonna cut it for me. So I'll probably keep a few on tap at any given time, and continue to bottle the rest of them.

Thanks for the offer on the help...I'm sure I'll need it!
 
Evan! said:
Are you kidding me? First off, I'm not doing anything until the new year re: kegging. Well, I did buy a couple Ventmatic faucets because they were cheap as hell on ebay, but that's it. I've got 4 cornies already. And I just got a 10% off Best Buy coupon, which will knock about $20 off the 4912. But the wife and I agreed, nothing till after new years.

As for bottle swaps...you know how much I brew, and you know that just having 2 batches on tap at a time isn't gonna cut it for me. So I'll probably keep a few on tap at any given time, and continue to bottle the rest of them.

Thanks for the offer on the help...I'm sure I'll need it!

I'll be doing the same. Eventually I'll be adding 4 more taps when the homebrewpub is done but that could be a ways off.

I'm doing two 10 gallon batches this weekend so if that goes well I'm guess that will be my norm and when I can I'll keg 5 gallons and bottle the other.

Even if I had 20 kegs I think I'd still bottle from time to time.
 
would anyone happen to know the dimensions the dry erase board will need to be cut to?
 
SilkkyBrew said:
You don't need to remove the door for marker board correct? You can still fit 2 corny and a 5# tank? I was planning on keeping my door on to store yeast and other items...
That's correct. With the 5lb tank sitting on the ledge in the back, you can still fit in two kegs so long as they are pushed all the way back. If they aren't sitting just right, the door won't close.

I'm glad I kept my door shelf. I use the can holder for soda, and the shelves for yeast and a few bottles of beer. Plus, the interior light still works.
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I went ahead and removed the door molding. You can do all that without removing the door, but it's a LOT easier without it on. The door is really easy to take off.
 
Thanks for the How-To Orph! Just finished my conversion today! And drew my first pint (yes, I admit I shook, but it worked! - the beer was also aged 6 weeks so its not green):

5841-KegeratorinBasement.jpg


5841-Firsttap-SpecialBitter.jpg
 
Bulls Beers said:
I'm converting my sanyo fridge tomorrow and can't find a 2 3/4 hole saw. All I found was a 2 1/2.Is that large enough?

Yes, 2 1/2" will work just fine.
 
Finally got around to taking a couple pics:



kegerator002.jpg



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It's dangerous playing online poker at my desk with that much beer 5 feet behind me.
 
I'm getting my Sanyo fridge on saturday! A friend of mine works at Best Buy. During the Christmas shopping rush I was in there and noticed they had a floor model with a dented door. The manager is letting me get it for a steal. I already have the faucets, now I just need to convert it.:ban:
 
Brewsmith said:
I'm getting my Sanyo fridge on saturday! A friend of mine works at Best Buy. During the Christmas shopping rush I was in there and noticed they had a floor model with a dented door. The manager is letting me get it for a steal. I already have the faucets, now I just need to convert it.
Outstanding, congrats. You're going to love it!
 
This will be a "portable kegerator." I already have a 4 tap fullsize fridge, but this one will be able to go places.
 
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