Show us your Kegerator

[arturo7]

I love this thread. One of these days I'll finish my rig...

 

[Kplum]

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5166/5244559069_b77c2f2172_m.jpg[/IMG



I have room for 6 kegs in here.. It's not too bad, just trying to find something rubber for the bottom..

 

[Flomaster]

Micromatic sells a shut-off valve that can be fitted to sankey couplers to eliminate the need for untapping. They are a little pricy at about $25 dollars a pop, but worth it to prevent a disaster like I nearly had... One of my faucets spontaneously opened (from the weight of the tap handle, I assume). Luckily, I was home to catch it, or a half barrel of beer would have been flowing down the stairs, and through the floor into the lower rooms.

Perlick also makes a keyed lock that fits on the faucet itself. This is an option I may have to consider soon, as I have a teenager coming of age in my house.

I don't have to worry about that now as I scored some 3" perlick dual faucet towers from a member here on HBT.

-=Jason=-

 

[sensibull]

My wife was nice (and thirsty) enough to let me install ours in our kitchen counter.

 

[patricksprague]

My keezer project is nearly complete. I just need some misc. hardware, a drip tray, and some better gas line organization.

 

[Flomaster]

not much for now, just a stock magic chef,

im going to put a 2x8 collar on it so i can get a 5th keg on the hump.

its getting painted black and will have a granite tiles for the countertop
I am going to ditch the stock lid and just use a plywood with hardi/backer board to ad-heard the granite to.

this is going to have 2 perlick 2 faucet towers on it giving me room for 4 beers on tap.

SWMBO said why can't it just stay in the garage and I said this is going to be a thing of beauty its going in the kitchen. I won that time

-=Jason=-

 

[Quaffer]

Sensibull, I like that one very much. A neat and tidy installation that goes well with kitchen decor. It looks like it belongs there.

 

[Screw991le]

I like the counter top tower, nice.

 

[Flomaster]

what black paint are you guying using to paint the white Keezer black?

also im thinking about attaching my granite to face and sides of the lid instead of having it wood. do ya'll think that would look good?

-=jason=-

 

[jgourd]

Found a beer fridge for cheap. Fixed it a little, cleaned it a little. Had two draft towers, one with two taps and the other with three. I ripped them off and built my own. Five taps for now, up to 11 later. The fridge can fit about 12 cornies and 2 to 3 CO2 tanks. A friend gave me some exotic wood to make the draft tower. I chose African Padauk for the sides, front and back and African Teac (Afromosia) for the top and bottom. Did the box cuts myself with a router (had to make a jig), also did the rabbets for the top and bottom with the router. Varnished 7 times. Love it!

 

[Mirage]

That is really nice looking! Good work!

 

[starrfish]

I was about to post mine... but my fridge stopped cooling after 3days!!! makes a weird clink noise and motor is hot to the touch. no coolant lines in the top on the Danby. didn't nick any lines while cutting. voided warranty when I made my first cut and removed door self panel. Which had nothing to do with tap install...

I AM SOOO BUMMED! was hoping to have 2 on tap by christmas!!! Now I need to find a fridge repair guy locally to take it to. Worked before I did my cuts. worked while I was making cuts. installed last bit... no chill. Right now it's a pretty looking 2 tap door stop. AAARRRGGHHH!

 

[sensibull]

Sensibull, I like that one very much. A neat and tidy installation that goes well with kitchen decor. It looks like it belongs there.

Thanks. All our appliances are brushed steel, so I was pretty psyched to find the fridge for $35 on Craiglist.

 

[klyph]

I was about to post mine... but my fridge stopped cooling after 3days!!! makes a weird clink noise and motor is hot to the touch. no coolant lines in the top on the Danby. didn't nick any lines while cutting. voided warranty when I made my first cut and removed door self panel. Which had nothing to do with tap install...

I AM SOOO BUMMED! was hoping to have 2 on tap by christmas!!! Now I need to find a fridge repair guy locally to take it to. Worked before I did my cuts. worked while I was making cuts. installed last bit... no chill. Right now it's a pretty looking 2 tap door stop. AAARRRGGHHH!

Have you tried turning the motor by hand to see if it releases?

 

[starrfish]

how would that be done? I un plugged it and had to walk away... majorly frustrated. I can post a pic when i get home...

 

[Quaffer]

how would that be done? I un plugged it and had to walk away... majorly frustrated. I can post a pic when i get home...

There is a small chance that the fridge had short-cycled and liquid refrigerant got into the compressor and locked it up, especially if you have a different controller on it. This problem would clear after being unplugged for 10 minutes or so.

 

[masonsjax]

I had my freezer on it's side for a day or so while gluing wood to the sides. When I was ready to plug it in, I left it sit upright for 24 hrs and after a few days it was barely cool and the motor was hot. I let it sit for about a week unplugged, and after that it was good. It took a long time to cool down (presumably because the wood surround has no breathing room), so I mounted a PC heatsink and fan to the compressor motor, and a couple of other PC fans to vent the hot air out of the motor area. It runs nice and cool now, and cycles infrequently.

 

[1990dtgl98]

Had my own thread, but figured I'd contribute here:

So, my parents had an old chest freezer that they didn't use anymore, and I thought it would make a perfect kegerator. It's almost 15 years old, possibly even older than that. Made my Roper.

I was going to take pictures during the build, but once things get going...I kinda forgot. I got excited and it wound up getting finished over the course of 2 weekends.

Collar and rest of the wood is cherry from a tree that used to be on our property that we removed, kiln dried, planed and finished (yeah, me and my dad do a lot of woodworking).

Perlicks, 3-way reg from kegconnection and the assorted goodies.

Paint was Rustolium all purpose paint (not the appliance paint)

Pics:

 

[joety]

Very sharp. Love the cherry. I need to pimp mine out a bit.

 

[WAORGANY]

what black paint are you guying using to paint the white Keezer black?

also im thinking about attaching my granite to face and sides of the lid instead of having it wood. do ya'll think that would look good?

-=jason=-

I bought some chalk board paint to paint some of my freezer to use to label what beer is on what tap, worked great...can have your local hardware store such as Home Depot or Lowe's mix any color tint you want for this paint...my daughter selected Purple for ours turned out great...easy on fast drying, used two coats.

 

[kegtoe]

1990, that is one of the sharpest, nicest looking collar keezzers i have seen. The cherry and black is a real classy look. I also like what you did with the controller. The rounded corners on the collar and drip tray are a nice touch too.

What controller did you use?

 

[adamziegler]

8 CF Frigidaire Freezer
4 Corneys (with room for two more, or room for 6 gal lagering carboy)
2x8 Collar
Johnson Controls A419ABC-1C

I posted this a couple years ago, but never showed any pictures of the inside.

 

[1990dtgl98]

1990, that is one of the sharpest, nicest looking collar keezzers i have seen. The cherry and black is a real classy look. I also like what you did with the controller. The rounded corners on the collar and drip tray are a nice touch too.

What controller did you use?

Thank you! If there's one thing I know how to do, it's work with wood!

The controller is a Love TSS2 2-stage. Currently only have it for cooling, but I figured if I bought one, might as well make sure I could use it as a fermentation chamber if I wanted to. Might not ever do it, but it saves me about 30 bucks down the road if it comes to it.

 

[munkyhead8]

Work in progress. I have the colar complete. Just need to delete the lid, give it a paint job, and install the taps. I think I am also going to distress the copper, so it looks a little more "vintage". The wood is Spanish Cedar, and smells fantastic. I wish the smell would stick around. . . It's a 5 cft Kenmore, and with the colar, I can get four kegs plus the 5 lb CO2, if I take the regulator off of the tank. I'll have to find some high pressure line first though. For now, I'll keep it at 3.

 

[starrfish]

There is a small chance that the fridge had short-cycled and liquid refrigerant got into the compressor and locked it up, especially if you have a different controller on it. This problem would clear after being unplugged for 10 minutes or so.

That must have been what happened. cooling nicely now!

Kegging 2 batches this week.



will post picks when I get home pic on cell isn't good

 

[jaja]

Thank you! If there's one thing I know how to do, it's work with wood!

The controller is a Love TSS2 2-stage. Currently only have it for cooling, but I figured if I bought one, might as well make sure I could use it as a fermentation chamber if I wanted to. Might not ever do it, but it saves me about 30 bucks down the road if it comes to it.

I'd put some sort of cover the back wiring though. Keezers even mine with a fan and damprid in it are notorious for having condensation issues and that wont mix well with electricity.

 

[joety]

I'd put some sort of cover the back wiring though. Keezers even mine with a fan and damprid in it are notorious for having condensation issues and that wont mix well with electricity.

Plus, since you have the collar attached to the body and not the lid, you could end up banging it with kegs.

 

[ezzieyguywuf]

I've often wondered at what effect the wood collar has on the insulation of these things. I would imagine that heat would permeate through the wood a lot easier than through the insulation in the walls of the original freezer. For example, I would expect that looking through some thermal goggles at a running unit would show a major cold spot at the collar, as it would not be as insulated from the inside as the rest of the freezer. Is this addressed somehow in your guys' mods?

 

[adamziegler]

Wood acts as an insulator. Is it as good as foam insulation of the same thickness?... no. Is it as good as the freezer walls itself?... no. However it is still good enough. My metal facets are much much colder than the collar, but rarely do they ever get cold enough to have condensation form on them. I have never had any condensation on the outside of my collar. Also keep in mind that the cold air in the freezer sinks to the bottom.

 

[ezzieyguywuf]

Yea, I realize the cold air sinks to the bottom, but I also know some people (and me, if I ever make one of these) put little computer fans in there to circulate the air. It makes sense that your faucets are much colder than the collar, but the fact that the collar is cool at all indicates heat transfer. Me, I'm a mechanical engineer so I really geek out about this sort of stuff and always try to maximize mechanical efficiency, just for fun. In this case, mechanical efficiency = thermal efficiency, and that collar just looks like a big ol' black hole of heat loss (to me). I'm not bashing anyone's build at all, b/c obviously this works and works great for many. I'm just doing some pondering and was wondering if any had done some pondering along these same lines before.