[ ♫ Intro Music ♫ ]
[ ♫ Noir by S Strong & Boogie Belgique ♫ ]
Hey, Internet! Today we are going to build a kegerator out of a mini-fridge, with
enough space for two homebrew kegs. We're also going to be tearing this fridge
apart so that you can see exactly where the condenser and evaporator lines are
run... so that you do not accidentally drill into them. The reason I have a
spare fridge to do this is because I accidentally drilled into them.
Moving on!
I'm using Cornelius Ball Lock kegs -- common for homebrewing, but they can differ in
dimensions. These ones that I have are about eight and a half inches in
diameter and just under 25 inches tall. Some of them are shorter and wider, which
makes it a little more difficult to find a fridge where you can fit two side-by-side.
If you have the option, go ahead and go with the thinner ones.
Now, our fridge...
with the shelves removed we have a footprint of sixteen inches by eleven and a half
inches, which is just enough to squeeze the two kegs in side-by-side.
To make sure everything fits comfortably, we're going to need to remove the plastic
molding and a little bit of insulation from the door, and -- vertically -- we need to
bend the freezer tray down to the back to make sure that we have enough height.
So the next step is to take this freezer tray and bend it flush against
the back of the fridge.
Before we bend down the tray, we have to remove the control unit, which is just a single Phillips head screw.
There's also a temperature probe that you'll need to disconnect from the freezer tray.
There's two Phillips head screws on each side that we're going to need to undo before we can bend it back.
And then, once we do, be EXTREMELY careful to make sure you do
NOT puncture the coolant line in the back of the tray.
Now, on this fridge, the freezer tray has a bracket that holds the feed line in place.
I recommend clipping that out (with a pair of clippers) before you bend it down
just to make sure that you don't put any added strain on the line as you bend it.
Put some pressure upwards on the line in the back...
You're going to need to move the control unit up and over the tray.
And once you have it in place, you can go ahead and screw it back in with the two original screws.
Go ahead and find a spot to remount the temperature control unit. On the side
vertically here is a pretty good option, depending on how you want to fit your
kegs and your CO2 tank in there.
And then you're also going to want to make sure that you remount the temperature probe onto the freezer tray
in its original spot.
Once you have the freezer tray bent down to the back, you can go ahead and
test fit your kegs. If they're the same dimensions as mine, you'll see that they
aaalmost fit but not quite. Not enough to close the door all the way.
So, what we're going to do is go ahead and trim down these plastic ridges on the door...
...take out a little bit of insulation, and then we'll have enough room for everything to fit
nice and comfortably.
Before you start modifying the door... on the bottom here
if you undo the screws, you can go ahead and remove the door before you start cutting the insulation.
Set that aside...
Now, with the door, all we really need to do is cut out this
plastic so that it's nice and flat and it doesn't bump into the kegs when we
close the door. The easiest way to do that is either with a box cutter or an exacto knife.
If you follow the seam along the edge you can press the knife right in...
Now you have just a flat door.
Alright, we've got our door back on, we have our magnetic
strip back on... it's a bit of a tight fit with two kegs in there, but the door
closes all the way, which is all we need. If you do want some more tolerance you
can go ahead and trim some of the plastic and insulation out from the
sidewalls which will give you plenty of space.
Another option, which is what I did, is to add a buckle latch to the door.
...to make sure it stays closed and gives you a good seal.
At this point, we are basically one draft tower away from a
kegerator, which means it's time to start thinking about where we want to drill a
hole. So, let's take a look at our sacrificial fridge and see where we can
drill without hitting anything. With the foam removed -- or mostly removed -- you can
see we have the evaporator line in the back and the condenser lines on the
sides, primarily, with a little on the top and the back. The condenser lines are
primarily on the sides of the fridge and zig-zag back and forth about two inches
apart. On the top, the line crosses over and loops out toward the middle about
eight and a quarter inches from the back edge of the fridge, and then zig-zags
again on the other side. The evaporator line comes up from the bottom on the
left, loops once and then connects to the
freezer tray. On the right hand side, we have the wiring for the temperature
control which is clipped here but normally runs up the side to the control
unit. We also have an insert on the right hand side where the switch for the
door sits. For reference, here are some drawings based on the fridge teardown
but again remember that you'll want to leave plenty of clearance when deciding
where drill your holes because this can definitely vary from fridge to fridge.
So, from our sacrificial fridge we know that the condenser line comes out
approximately eight and a quarter inches from the back edge.
It's about two inches wide. The fridge is nineteen and a quarter inches wide so the
center line is nine and five-eighths inches. So, I'm going to drill the hole for the
draft tower ten and a half inches from the back edge. That gives me enough
clearance to drill just under a three inch hole, and also leaves room for the
four mounting holes for the flange. I'm gonna start out with a quarter inch
drill bit to drill a pilot hole, and then use a step drill bit to widen it to an
inch and a half which is enough for two beverage lines. If you want a larger hole
you can use a hole saw, although the step drill bit is really the easiest way to
go on the sheet metal.
[ drilling ]
If you use your pilot hole to mark out the diameter on the inside,
you can cut out the plastic, remove the foam carefully, and convince
yourself that there's no lines that you're gonna hit when you widen the hole.
We look to be in good shape! You can see the sheet metal on top... you can see the
pilot hole, and there's no condenser lines in sight so we can go ahead and
widen this hole with the step bit.
[ hole diameter intensifies ]
[ dremeling ]
Optionally, I put another hole on the back...for gas lines (if you want to keep
your CO2 tank outside), or have a secondary nitrogen tank, or run any wires
in for a BrewPi or anything else. This hole actually doesn't take any drilling
at all. There's already a hole in the sheet metal -- where I assume they spray
the foam in (?) -- so you can just cut through the foam and the plastic and then you
have your secondary entry point.
We've got the holes marked for our flange.
Again, you want to make sure you're at least eight and a half or nine inches from the
back edge to make sure you avoid that condenser line.
[ drilling resumes ]
That is the last of the drilling, and we're ready to mount our tower.
I also 3D printed plastic inserts for the holes that we drilled, just for appearances. One for the top one
for the back, and then corresponding pieces for the inside.
I'm using 1/4-20, two and a half inch hex head bolts with a flat washer on each side.
[ ratcheting ]
This is our final fit with two kegs and a five pound CO2 tank.
The tower that I'm using is a three inch diameter chrome ABS draft tower from Williams Brewing
with two Intertap tower shanks and faucets. The drip tray with the tower cut out
is also from Williams.
Your keg will have an inlet post for the CO2, sometimes
designated by a star-shaped base and the outlet post for the liquid.
The connection to the post is a ball lock quick disconnect -- black for liquid and
white for gas. They are not interchangeable. The way these go on is
to pull up the flange, pop it onto the post, and release the flange.
If your disconnects have hose barbs, you can attach the hoses directly. I prefer to
use the flare nuts.
the tower shanks have a 90 degree hose barb with a curved flange to match the
curvature of the tower, and then an associated curved insert for the inside.
You'll want to start by attaching the hose to the shank with a hose clamp.
3/16" inner diameter is the common size for beer tubing.
On the other end of the tubing, attach your flare nut, but do not attach the quick disconnect
just yet, as we still need to feed this down through the tower.
Make sure you have the flange on the outside, and then start feeding the tubing into the tower.
Before you feed it all the way down into the fridge, add your curved insert and the shank nut.
If you have a shank wrench, you can try and use that to tighten the nut, but...
it's a tight fit in the tower no matter what, so I always end up tightening it with some needle-nose pliers.
Then feed the lines down into the fridge.
We have some insulation to keep the beverage lines cold in the tower.
You can try and squeeze that in through the top, but sometimes it's easier to
just disconnect the tower and put it in through the bottom.
That's all there is to it! I hope this was helpful, and...enjoy your kegerator!
[ draft beer pours ]
Cheers!
[ ♫ Outro Music ♫ ]
[ ♫ Noir by S Strong & Boogie Belgique ♫ ]
© Zemba Craftworks 2017
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