Tap spacing??

[Golddiggie]

Trying to figure out, before I drill the holes in the fridge door, how far apart to space the taps... I was thinking of 3" center to center, but am concerned that won't be enough for the tap handles, and my hand... I basically have one shot at this, so I need to get it right the first time. I have a 12"x5" drip tray that will be under the faucets, so that's the limit to how far I can space the three taps.

I would like to hear how far apart people are putting their taps. Are there handles that really need more space, or will I be fine with 3" center to center? I could easily go 4" center to center and still have the faucets over the drip tray.

I would like to get this done today, so please post up your experiences... IF you did 3" center to center and wish you had spaced different, post up. If you've put all kinds of wonky handles on the faucets at 3" ctc, and not had any issues, post up...

I'm planning on using some custom made handles (turned wood) that could be ~2" at the widest. If that will still leave me enough space (based on other's experience) I'd like to know.

 

[JuanMoore]

I really like the 3.5" spacing on mine, but YMMV. I made my handles ~2.75" wide to allow me to put my labels on them. This spacing also allows me to place pint glasses on the drip tray next to each other under each faucet, which 3" would not.

 

[Golddiggie]

Good to know... I do have pint glasses (as well as some 22-23oz glasses) for my home brew.

Thinking that I'll go with either 3.5" or 4" spacing on mine... Need to see how that works with the glasses I have (dry run)...

 

[Yooper]

Here's a photo of mine, before I added the other two custom handles:



The error I made was in making them too high- so I can't open the freezer without opening the door, once the custom tap handles were on. It worked fine with the old "black" handles, though.

But I like the distance between them, and I'm happy with them overall. I could have placed one more in there, but I wouldn't want them closer than about 5" on center. Right now, they are more like 6.5" on center apart. I have very tiny hands, but I like a bit more space between them anyway.

 

[zelltj]

Mine are 4" on center. I don't know if I would want mine much closer to be honest. I have plastic collars around mine that would limit how much closer I could put them. Good luck!

 

[Golddiggie]

Nice one Yooper...

I've already been working on the vertical spacing. Figuring I'll have handles that could be 5-6" long, but also not wanting them lower than is comfortable to pull from (don't want to pull anything pulling a pint )...

Since I'm set to use the single 12" wide tray, how much space should I give the edge taps? Basically, what's the point where I don't want to be any closer to the edge of the drip tray? If I do 4" ctc, that will leave me about 2" on either end before the faucets. Would 1" be safe? I really don't want to purchase another drip tray right now, without using this one at all. So a max of 5" ctc would be my current max... Maybe split the difference and go to 4.5" ctc??

Of course, this will be a good first run to figure this all out. Then when I build up the keezer, I'll know if the spacing works for me, or if I need to give more distance between taps...

If people only knew how much thought we put into home brew related items... I don't care about the storm blowing outside, I need to get my taps installed!!

 

[beaksnbeer]

Standard spacing on bar taps are 3 1/4in. center line by 11 3/4in. high from tray to horizontal line which allows for a 10 5/8in. from bottom of tap to drip tray.....Growlers are 10 1/2in. high. Just what I have found from checking for my Coffin in mid build,also need to space shanks 1 1/2-2in. out to fit growlers off the back wall.............my.02

 

[Golddiggie]

Don't care about growlers, since this will be for pouring into glasses... With the magnets holding the tray in position, I can raise, and lower, it as needed (for the glass)... I have one of the bottling adaptors coming, already have the additional hardware to use it, so I'll be able to bottle right from the faucets. :rockin:

Thinking 4" is a safe bet center to center... I have the hole saw already (part of an order from Keg Connection) so I'm ready to rock and roll... I'll do one more test to see what's the lowest I can comfortably place the faucets to allow for taller tap handles (have some inert rounds coming that will be turned into handles). Of course, I could just link up the two doors (freezer on top) so that it's not an issue. Although the only thing I'm keeping in that freezer is hops (and freezer packs). So maybe it won't matter...

 

[Agentaaron]

Here is a picture of mine 4" on center

 

[Agentaaron]

Sorry...here is another with a bit more lighting (couldn't edit attachments from my phone)

 

[jcaudill]

I used 3.5" because I wanted to be able to comfortably fit 4 on a wall mount drip tray and find most of the larger ones are in the 13-14" range. I think it somewhat depends on the orientation of your taps (surface mount like Mesa's - or collar mount). Surface mount drip trays seem to be easier to come by in wider widths.