Kegerator Project Part 2

[Petrolstar78]

Obviously a little late to the party here but I found that taking a ziploc bag full of ice and laying it on top of your tap for a few minutes stops the foaming and the temp loss all together. I had the same issue for a while, no more foamy beer for this guy!!!

[Wheels0123]

Nice Job showing all the details !

[steeljan]

Good job. Thanks.

[honoreem]

Very nice! Thank you. My fiance and I are in the middle of assembling our kegerator. If you're ever in Bethlehem, PA maybe you can stop by for a pint. We owe you one for some of the tips you gave us. Cheers!

[Chrisscott101010]

Nicely done. Just wondering what you think your total cost was.

[BobbyFromNJ]

After I added the 5th faucet, it neared $850 total.

[tomroeder]

I have heard of some guys with these "keezers" having trouble with a lot of foam because the beer at the tap and the last foot or so of the line being about 50 deg or so. They addressed the problem with a fan in the bottom to circulate air to the top of the freezer. Have you had this concern? Also, how critical is it to have regulators for each keg? If you only plan to serve ales, could you get away with a simple gas manifold with equal pressures for each keg? Thanks

[BobbyFromNJ]

There's going to be temperature stratification in any fridge/freezer that doesn't have air circulation. The foaming thing only happens on the first pour after a long wait but it's not too bad. I haven't tried a small fan yet, but I do have one and should give it a try.

The multi-pressure thing is personal preference. If I have an English Bitter and a Belgian Wit on tap at the same time, I appreciate running say 9psi and 15psi respectively. It is a luxury that you can get away without.

[tomroeder]

Thank you very much for the response. Youtube is such a wonderful tool for someone trying to get into a hobby that no one else he knows does! Thanks for all the great videos and advice!!!!

[ZetecOwns]

This is inspirational. Though I lack your skill and have a lot to learn, I hope to build something half as nice one day soon.

[SuperTex1966]

Great detailed information. Thanks for the help!

[davedahl]

Hey great stuff. I was researching a freezer conversion for fermentation and dispensing. Lots of great ideas.

Thanks!

[staringinthebushes]

Very nice job! Thanks for the videos.

[DJRezN]

friggin sweet. build me one. ill pay ya.

[minntc]

You could actually take your "primary" regulator and attach it to your "secondary" regulators inside the freezer. Your left-most secondary will have a plug on the end for your tank gauge, and you can place the line regulator one either left or right just like you attached your quick-disconnect. Nice work though.

[IrregularPulse]

Would the same trick used on the top of sanyo 4912 work on the side of a chest freezer for finding lines? The cornstarch and alcohol rub. This is IrregularPulse from HBT. Just ordered all my parts today for my conversion. I can't believe I'ma ctually going to have a sweet kegerator for my brew!!

[albannach11]

Where do you get your CO2 tank filled/refilled. I've heard of people using welding shops but don't you need food grade CO2?

[BobbyFromNJ]

Welding shops are fine. CO2 is all the same. I do have a beverage supply near me that I get my fills, but he told me they get from the same bulk supplier that welders would.

[oysterhead43]

Great work Bobby. I just bought this freezer on craigslist. I nearly freaked when I started playing your video.

Question: how did you know you could drill through the side of the freezer to mount the secondary regulators?

One reason I ask is because there was a lot of effort that went into the collar. Are you sure we couldn't just drill directly through the freezer and mount the shanks?

[BobbyFromNJ]

There are definitely both coolant and heat dissapation tubes running in the walls of the freezer. I only knew I could drill at the very top because I pried the trim off the top and peeked in with a flashlight and saw there was nothing right at the top. Nicking the coil means your fridge goes to the landfill. Be careful.

[GingerChch]

Love your work, happy drinkin'

[hawkechik]

Very nicely done! Well edited, nicely narrated with good pacing; nice camera work even though you were operating under the handicap of being your whole production crew. Oh, and the kegerator's nice too ;-). Really, very neat work.

[Dooobs]

Awsome, I was wondering too, what was the total cost of the project?

$400 - $500 I was thinking.

[BobbyFromNJ]

$215 Clearance freezer. $30 Ebay temp controller.

$170 4 Perlick faucets with shanks $80 Ebay primary and secondary regulators

$100 Misc parts.

That's about $500 even not counting the kegs themselves and the CO2 tank. Figure on adding another $200 for 4 kegs and a 20lb co2 bottle.

[Dooobs]

Awsome, thanks.

Thats a realy nice peice of work.

[tiko2114]

wow. this is pretty neat stuff. do you know how much the total project cost? imagine buying a five kegerator.

[Decanthas]

I suggest keeping your CO2 outside of the cold if you plan on force carbing. Also, if you don't want mobility issues w/ the tank outside the freezer, I've found fire extinguisher wall mounts work well for holding a tank.

[BobbyFromNJ]

To be honest, even with wheels, it's not easy moving 25 gallons of beer AND the 20LB CO2 tank. I usually disconnect the tank, and pull at least two full kegs out before I wheel it around so mounting the tank doesn't buy me much. Thanks for the suggestion though.

[minntc]

If the wheels on your tank are removable, you should be able to mount the tank to the back or side of the freezer on the outside, too. Look for a small shelf large enough to hold the bottom of the tank and a steel strap for the top.

[OPE08]

Excellent work! I've heard that running these reefer units at higher temps cuts way back on their normal lifespan, do you have any info towards that?

Also, if you really want suggestions, it would be fantastic to see one on building a foam "fermentation chiller" as they are supposed to be an easy and inexpensive way to control your temperatures...

cheers!

[BobbyFromNJ]

Appreciate the comments. I don't know why running a compressor at less than half duty would cut it's life. I'd expect the opposite. I won't build a ferm chiller because I bought a freezer off craig's for $20 which is less than the cost of a sheet of foam.

[StudyU]

You are the John Palmer of YouTube! Well done!

[repy66]

been watching all your videos on beer. keep up thew great work, thanks for the vid.

[Yergs]

Loved it mate.

Keep them coming. Very informative, and inspiring to do my own.

Cheers.

[brichards700]

That was exactly what I was looking for. Nice work putting that together.

[Soulive21]

Nice job. I linked over from Homebrewtalk. Your videos have been most helpful. Looks like there's good stuff brewing in P-way!

[pirateale]

good job, thing turned out clean