[DIY] Minifridge conversion to kegerator.

[AJ in HD]

Last night I finally converted a small 4.4 cubic foot refrigerator into a two faucet kegerator with a tower. I used the Frigidaire model (http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=61124-47224-FRC445GM&lpage=none) widely available at Lowe's. I picked the stainless steel look.


http://images.lowes.com/product/012505/012505673481.jpg


When converting compact refrigerators you have to be aware of where the coolant lines for the evaporator run so that you don't inadvertently drill a hole through one and instantly kill your refrigerator and project. Unfortunately our digi camera was charging so these are all iPhone pics...they seem to capture the process well enough.


Here's a pic of the inside and you can see that on the inside of the fridge there is a lip on the top, that's where the evaporator and coolant lines run so if you drill in the front you don't have to worry about hitting any lines. You'll also notice that I had to unscrew and reposition the thermostat controller. This fridge will fit exactly two 5 gallon soda kegs (Cornelius variety) and one 5 lb CO2 tank on the back shelf.


http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd264/heednst/IMG_0065.jpg


So the first order of business was to measure and mark the "safe" zone's to drill on this fridge. The third piece of tape represents the furthest back I could safely drill without potentially hitting any coolant lines.


http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd264/heednst/IMG_0066.jpg


The view from above (view is at 90 degrees). The four "x's" represent where the securing screws will go to hold the tower in place. You can see that two are near the 'do not drill' area, but still safe.


http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd264/heednst/IMG_0067.jpg


Now right before drilling I lined up the gasket to make sure everything was ok...


http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd264/heednst/IMG_0068.jpg


Ok, decided to drill one test hole. My brother had the idea to subsequently bend a wire coat hanger about 2" and stick it in there to feel around for any coolant lines before drilling the big hole. We didn't find any evidence of coolant lines.


http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd264/heednst/IMG_0069.jpg


View from inside the fridge. You can see the small hole poke through just on the left side of the spotlight. Note the condensation on the coolant area.


http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd264/heednst/IMG_0070.jpg


Hole drilled through!! Yay, no coolant lines damaged! I decided to just line the hole with some duct tape before proceeding to the next step.


http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd264/heednst/IMG_0071.jpg


View from inside the fridge...


http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd264/heednst/IMG_0072.jpg


Now the four mounting holes were drilled for the tower and the surrounding tape was removed before mounting the tower.


http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd264/heednst/IMG_0073.jpg


Ok...now we're almost there!! The tower is installed...but still the fridge is empty.


http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd264/heednst/IMG_0074.jpg


Oh yes...those are Perlick faucets! [:)]


http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd264/heednst/IMG_0075.jpg


All the good stuff in the fridge with a pint of homebrew poured from the tap!


http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd264/heednst/IMG_0076.jpg





On draft:
<ul>
Left faucet, an American style Pale Ale 5.4% abv, 41 IBUs (bittered with Magnum and Perle, flavored with Cascade)
Right faucet, an American style Pale Ale 4.6% abv, 41 IBUs (bittered with Magnum and Perle, flavored with Cascade)
[/list]

[ppw]

looks awesome AJ!


when is the party?!?! [B][&lt;:o)]

[Ender1986]

Holy crap that's awesome.

[TazmanAK]

unfortunately his testing of the new kegorator didn't impair his poker playing abilities. Oh ya GreeDee like I said there's a room at my table if you want to play in real life any time! Never saw so many bad beats, but then again AJ deals from the bottom of the deck.

[Ballsjaken]

you magnificent bastard. i would love to have that in my kitchen.

[AJ in HD]

thanks guys. it really was a lot easier than I thought. time to go pour myself a cold one. [y]





oh and Taz....Gree Dee and I played heads up for a couple of hours after you and Nizzy B left...it wasn't pretty for Gree Dee! lol

[Ryan916]

Very nicely done! I am very jealous!!! I want one. And your pour out of it looks so good......

[AJ in HD]

I never did post a good photo of the kegerator in it's element...


http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd264/heednst/Kegerator.jpg

[BoomerBrian]

That is way too convienent. I would probably gain 100 lbs if it was that easy.




Very cool btw.

[AJ in HD]

That is way too convienent. I would probably gain 100 lbs if it was that easy.





Very cool btw.






lol...dude, it IS THAT EASY!


There is nothing very difficult about brewing beer and kegging is even easier and making the kegerator was easier than kegging! The only hard part that I foresee is the problem you alluded to...gaining weight! [ro]

[ppw]

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd264/heednst/IMG_0073.jpg









NICE magnet! [y]

[BoomerBrian]

lol...dude, it IS THAT EASY!


There is nothing very difficult about brewing beer and kegging is even easier and making the kegerator was easier than kegging! The only hard part that I foresee is the problem you alluded to...gaining weight! http://adultgamingenthusiasts.com/emoticons/72.gif



I use to brew about 10 years ago. I would control how much I drank by only putting x number of beers in the fridge but jeez having it cold and on tap 24x7. Too much temptation for me. I would have to change my gamertag to BourbonNcigars.

[bafroom]

nice job aj!




with any luck, i'll be following this tutorial next year (if i can hold off that long!).

[TazmanAK]

I use to brew about 10 years ago. I would control how much I drank by only putting x number of beers in the fridge but jeez having it cold and on tap 24x7. Too much temptation for me. I would have to change my gamertag to BourbonNcigars.



Just imagine if Alby or Greasy had such a contraption. I think the two mile hike alby takes to get some beers is just to sober up a bit.

[WideNine]

Just imagine if Alby or Greasy had such a contraption. I think the two mile hike alby takes to get some beers is just to sober up a bit.


fooburger usually requires to set his watch back an hour since his refrig seems to be in a different timezone.

[ppw]

Just imagine if Alby or Greasy had such a contraption. I think the two mile hike alby takes to get some beers is just to sober up a bit.


roflmao!!!!!





maybe it might cut down on their away times

[Sharky]

ROFL ... I knew you would go yard once you got into the hobby =)
Nice setup. I drink enough beer as it is. If had one of these, my hobby may become a 12 step program [ta]

[AJ in HD]

ROFL ... I knew you would go yard once you got into the hobby =)


[y] it may seem like a lot...but even after a few batches I was starting to loathe bottling.

[AJ in HD]

Now that I'm out of homebrew, I've decided to use this time to upgrade my kegerator. The one problem that I have is that the tower and faucet are warmer than fridge. This results in a first pint being poured of foam. It's gotten worse during these hot months.


What I've seen done by other homebrewers is to construct a small box with a fan to blow air from the bottom of the fridge up into the tower through a duct connected to the box.


The parts I plan to acquire is a 9 VDC 100mA power supply, a 3" PC fan, a small 4"x6" radio shack project box, some tubing and possibly some silicone to seal the box. This should allow the fan to suck in air from the fridge and push it up into the tower to help decrease the temperature difference and prevent the CO2 from coming out of solution on my first pours.


I'll add build pics to this thread when I gather the necessary products. That 9 VDC power supply will be aquired at Guitar Center as Radio Shack doesn't carry any rated for that current as PC fans I've looked at take max of 160mA in the 9V range.

[AJ in HD]

oh crap...this is so embarrasing but I finally constructed this device yesterday and man does it keep that tower MUCH cooler! So much so that you can see the freakin' condensation on the tower! Unfortunately I didn't snap any pics of the blower, but I will probably do that tonight to give you guys and idea of what it looks like.





http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd264/heednst/photo.jpg

[VDub2174]

Jealousy is what I'm feeling right now.

[ppw]

looks awesome AJ.

question...is the "P" the logo of the tap brand or is it your monogram? just curious.

[AJ in HD]

looks awesome AJ.


question...is the "P" the logo of the tap brand or is it your monogram? just curious.









it is logo for brand of faucet, Perlick

[Alpha G33k]

oh crap...this is so embarrasing but I finally constructed this device yesterday and man does it keep that tower MUCH cooler!


Dude. Why is it embarrasing? It's freaking AWESOME.

[BEAR NASTY]

Nice AJ, my next project is to add a second tap to mine for homebrew. The stone IPA i have on tap is magic beer, you can have 8 pints without hangovers at 6.9%!

[AJ in HD]

oh crap...this is so embarrasing but I finally constructed this device yesterday and man does it keep that tower MUCH cooler!


Dude. Why is it embarrasing? It's freaking AWESOME.






lol, I worded that terribly. It was embarrassing that I didn't think my project through and had to add that blower after the fact. I'm definitely pleased with the results. [:)]

[AJ in HD]

Nice AJ, my next project is to add a second tap to mine for homebrew. The stone IPA i have on tap is magic beer, you can have 8 pints without hangovers at 6.9%!






Thanks, I think at a minimum any at home keg operation needs two kegs going. You gotta have your variety. [y]

[AJ in HD]

Connected my first homebrew made in my new house. Here's a pic of that blower that I constructed. It might be hard to see, but I made a cut in the tubing and stuffed the outgoing beer lines inside the tubing to keep them cool on their way up into the tower. The blue light given off by the PC fan is also kinda cool looking. [:D]


http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd264/heednst/kegeratorblower.jpg

[NizZ8]

Sweet Kegerator man! :)

[DiRrTyG]

Man, I must say well done! I'm still convincing(actually read: TRYING TO CONVINCE) my wife that ONE keg is a good idea, forget about two!![Y][B]

[NizZ8]

I did mine when i was upgrading to a new fridge in the kitchen... Just took the old full size one and ripped out all of the interior, drilled a hole in the front and got the equiptment off ebay for 150$ or something. Not nearly as nice as AJ's but does the job... reminds me that i need to replace the keg of Redhook that's been empty for a couple of months!

[NizZ8]

Kit was something like this:





http://cgi.ebay.com/Door-Mount-Kegerator-Conversion-Kit-Keg-Beer-Tap-SCK-5T-/360321335459?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&amp;hash=item53e4d3 40a3

[AJ in HD]

Kit was something like this:





http://cgi.ebay.com/Door-Mount-Kegerator-Conversion-Kit-Keg-Beer-Tap-SCK-5T-/360321335459?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&amp;hash=item53e4d3 40a3






good stuff. I've probably said it before (in this thread), but in my view it's worth it to upgrade to higher quality Perlick faucets. Not only do they look nicer, but they don't leak and/or require much maintenance due to their design.


Both my kegs are dry [:(] so I am gonna look into a sanke-homebrew tap and possibly pick up a seasonal 1/6 barrel local just to have some stuff on draft [b]

[AJ in HD]

i couldn't contain myself...


Bought a sanke style coupler that will work with existing homebrew beer and gas lines. Surprisingly my wife was cool with it...she said she wants to keep me happy, being in the early xmas spirit and all! [:D]

[excaluber]

Surprisingly my wife was cool with it...she said she wants to keep me happy, being in the early xmas spirit and all! /emoticons/emotion-2.gif









Its a trap! watch out a big request is coming your way from her soon!





[:p]

[AJ in HD]

Its a trap! watch out a big request is coming your way from her soon!


i tought so, i offered to take her shopping to buy a new dress for my upcoming office party and she declined saying she already has something. she must be setting me up for something big!