Where to place my tap and attach drip tray

[kmbell]

I just bought this Kenmore 4.6 cu ft fridge from Craigslist and I'm currently deciding where to place the tap and drip tray. Have seen a ton of kegerator builds on here but would prefer to avoid anything that might involve rendering the fridge useless if I screw it up. Would love to get some install advice.

Inside
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The freezer compartment is on the inside at top right and temp control at top left. Door is 2" thick and plastic door piece extends 2.75" in from that, so should be enough to fit in the shank as long as there is clear space behind. I'm thinking the freezer side wouldn't be ideal since it may freeze the lines from proximity to the cooling coils.

Here's what I'm thinking, since I'd like to avoid possibility of hitting anything in the sides of the fridge: switch hinge on door from right to left side, place tap on door at left hinge side below the level of the temp knob. Install drip tray with rare earth magnets below the tap. May just bolt it in if magnets won't hold the weight of one beer.

I'm going to be using a 5 lb CO2 tank and single gauge regulator and a 3 gal corny keg.

At some future date I may decide on a 5-gal corny but not likely. On that note there is exactly 24" height to the bottom of the freezer compartment and 9" on the floor of the fridge in front of the compressor bump, which could theoretically be enough space for a 5 gal corny in the future.

Door
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Location of freezer
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Front
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Thanks in advance.

 

[RichPetersen]

I think you are on the right track. You might also think about building or finding a stand for the fridge to raise it up a bit. Unless you are a VERY short person having to bend over to get a brew is going to be tough on your back. I'm not sure why you would want to move the hinges to the left, just install the tap and make sure the beer line is long enough. But that's just my take on it. Keep it as simple as possible. You can always route the line with some sort of hose clamp to the door but if it were me I would just make sure the line is long enough for the door to open fully. No need to change the hinges.

 

[kmbell]

Thanks Rich. After stressing over where to put the tap shank, I realized that a drop tray and tap look really funny if they're not centered on the fridge. Plus the curved surface of the front makes it difficult to install a drip tray off to the side. Plus everything inside would benefit from extra head space and clearance on the top.

So I risked it and was easily able to move the freezer to the back of the fridge easily without damaging anything. The screws are actually more like pegs that allow you to slide the freezer unit back and free it without a screwdriver. Here's a photo.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1463659251.986585.jpg

The temperature probe was also attached with a kind of plastic lock-in clip that sat in the four slots you see at the center of the freezer coil. A little fidgeting loosened that easily and I moved it to the side.

The tube itself that carries he coolant at back right just had to rotate maybe 90 degrees in place and was totally fine as well.

 

[mrdauber64]

I personally would drill a hole in the top and install a tower. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe all of your coolant lines are in the freezer compartment shelf so there isn't a threat of hitting the lines. A tower would look better on a mini-fridge in my opinion.

 

[RichPetersen]

Very nice, and it looks a lot like the way my old store-bought kegerator (soon to be replaced with a keezer) had all the coolant lines along the back inside the unit. Remember though that you will probably have to deal with massive amounts of frost build-up around the coolant lines.

As for a tower on top Dauber, you are probably right in your assumption that all the coolant lines are in the freezer section. But I've read too many horror stories of folks puncturing a line while drilling through the top of a small fridge (I've done it myself) that I would be a bit paranoid.

 

[CBelli]

I personally would drill a hole in the top and install a tower. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe all of your coolant lines are in the freezer compartment shelf so there isn't a threat of hitting the lines. A tower would look better on a mini-fridge in my opinion.

WARNING!!!!! the heat exchanger runs through the sides and lid... If you drill the top for a tower odds are you will hit a line!!!... be very careful and plan out the exact sopt... there are loads of threads that show you who to isolate the heat lines.

 

[RichPetersen]

Something I just thought of, since you moved the temp probe away from direct contact with the freezer section you might have trouble with over-cooling of the chamber. The probe and adjustment would have been calibrated for direct contact with the freezer. I remember I had trouble when I moved the probe in my kegerator away from the coolant plate. I ended up having to install a Johnson controls thermostat or I would end up with frozen kegs. I would recommend you test it for a couple of days before risking an entire keg.

 

[kmbell]

In fact I was concerned about the same issue. When I got the fridge the wire was angled away from the cooling element but directly under it. So I moved the thermostat back to be next to the cooler.

I could reattach it completely, but I'm getting a temperature controller in the mail soon and figure I'll just use that

 

[kmbell]

Mission accomplished. After realizing that I had to move the freezer element I just installed the tap right in the middle.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1463771971.050357.jpg

 

[RichPetersen]

Looks good dude. After thinking more on my original reply (about building a stand for it) I came to the realization that maybe you could just place this on a counter in which case that faucet would probably be perfectly located. Just a random thought.