Thoughts on this kegerator?

[MrBJones]

Costco has a dual tap Danby for $600. Any experience with it? Other thoughts?

https://www.costco.com/Danby-Dual-Tap-Keg-Cooler.product.100375460.html


Thanks!

 

[mongoose33]

Here are a few ideas:

1. Read the reviews. One guy complained about the faucets sticking, which suggests the faucets aren't that good. You'd want forward-sealing faucets; I suspect these are not.

2. The instructions apparently aren't that great.

3. It seems to come with everything but the kegs...the detailed description says it comes with "an" American Sankey coupler...that implies only one sanke connector. You'd need two if you plan on using two kegs.

4. And that means you'd need sankey kegs. You can switch that to ball-lock connectors if you're using corny kegs, just be aware that you'd have to do that.

5. Casters are optional, which I presume means extra cost. I'd want those.

6. I don't see any gas lines included in the inside pic. I'd make sure all the lines are there. If you're buying a complete setup, it should be....complete.

7. I don't see any way they're cooling the tower. If not, you're going to get foamy beer to start as the beer passes through warm lines and warm faucets. When beer warms, it releases CO2 from solution....e.g., foam. If there's not some way of blowing cold air up into the tower, I think that would be a dealbreaker for me.

Anyway, those are some thoughts. FWIW, if the footprint is part of the issue, you can build a keezer out of a 5.0-cu-ft freezer, with a slightly larger footprint, but you could make it with exactly the faucets and fittings and such that you wanted. It would costa little less, too. You could put Intertap flow-control faucets on that, use stainless shanks and fittings, and do that for under $150 including tubing, fittings, and all-stainless steel. The freezer would cost about $160, an Inkbird controller for temp $35, a new 5-pound CO2 tank about $70, a Taprite 2-gauge regulator for about $50. T-splitter for the gas, about $2. Wood and tape and finish for the collar, maybe $50. You'd have to figure out a drip tray for it.

Now, that actually is pretty close in price to the kegerator, but the parts are better (the faucets are stainless, the shanks and tailpieces too), and if you go up to a 7-cu-ft freezer, you'd have room for 4 kegs for not much more in cost than the faucets. (Just sayin').

Just to show what you could do if you make your own, here's a pic of mine, complete with glass rinser (run off a small keg filled with water inside the keezer). That's a 9-cu-ft freezer, I can get six kegs in there.

 

[GoeHaarden]

What he ^ said...you could build one for much cheaper!

However, since you're already considering this one and it's price then I will add that it's Costco and they will take that thing back anytime in the future without question. So you get a little peace of mind with this purchase versus wondering when your DIY setup is going to fail

 

[Jag75]

OP check out king kegerator. They are really good quality with tower fans and metal flooring. Wide variety of temp settings to allow you to ferment if you wanted . I've had mine for a couple years and love it

 

[redarmy990]

I have the dual tap Keg king kegerator, comes with a cooling fan and intertap faucets.
In between brews i also use it as fermentation control- Best brewing investment i have made so far.

 

[myelo]

My wife got me this exact model from Costco a couple of years ago. Mine came with gas lines, a 5-lb CO2 tank, regulator, connections for two corney kegs and for one sanke keg ... basically everything but the kegs. It came with castors you can attach if you want to, which I did.

The only issue I've had is I found the beer lines were too short, about 5 feet I think. I had too much foaming until I added longer lines. The faucets are OK. They will occasionally stick if you don't use them for a while. I replaced one with an Intertap faucet, which I like better. But I haven't replaced the other faucet yet because I'm not sure it's really that much better.

Regarding the tower, there is no chilling mechanism in the tower itself. It's open at the bottom to the refrigerator and has a cap with insulation at the top.

You can certainly build a kegerator yourself with better parts and/or less cost. That is actually what I was planning on doing when my wife gave me this one. But I really haven't had the need to do that now that I have this one.

 

[Beernik]

You can custom order (stainless taps & tower, etc.) the KegCo equivalent from BeverageFactory.com. That’s what I’m thinking of doing with a 3 tap unit.

 

[user 205607]

Go with what Mongoose says, I bought all my equipment from Keg Connection, great prices with flat shipping.
https://www.kegconnection.com/3-faucet-fridge-homebrew-kegerator-kit/. I think in the end I payed less than $600 and can serve 3 beers. Look at some of the kegerator builds on this site, I also included a computer fan and a small dehumidifier for like $15 from Home Depot.

 

[Jag75]

I dont know if other tap faucets have the luxury to changing tips , but the intertaps are really nice quality. I wanted a nitro set up and instead of having to pay 60-100$ for a stout faucet I only had to get the nitro tip at 12$ . Something to think about while choosing your faucets.