Monday, May 31, 2010

Chest Freezer Kegerator Conversion

I started off with purchasing a chest freezer from Lowe's, it was $169 I decided not to buy a used one off of craigslist because I really did not want to buy it, put in a bunch of work and then find out later that it was on its last legs and go out in a month. There was not a huge difference in price from craigslist either about the cheapest I could find was 100$ and it was worth the $70 extra to know it would not break as soon as I got it home. The first thing I did was take the old thermostat out and replaced it with a refrigerator thermostat that I bought from an appliance store for $20. I decided not to do the traditional Johnson Controls conversion because there would be no hole to drill or no wire to drape over the side of the freezer like the Johnson Controls method. I removed the existing thermostat taking the sensor out through a hole that was sealed with a silly putty like substance and kept the sensor portion thermally isolated (left). The thermostat can be seen on the right.
The next step was to build a collar for the tap handle to come out of. The freezer is just tall enough to fit a Cornelius keg in and I could have probably fit it in there but it would have been crowded and it would be difficult to get the kegs in and out. I measured the outside dimensions of the refrigerator and build a frame to match. After which I primered, painted, and drilled a 1-1/8" hole for the tap handle. I spaced it evenly so that eventually I can expand to a 5 tap system with as many kegs of delicious home brew stored inside.
The semi-finished product can be seen here with weight on top to hold the glue between the collar and the lid down while it dries.

3 comments:

  1. The case of Busch looks classy with the kegerator

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  2. Thanks for informative article about chest freezer and get one more freezer " ultra low freezer " detail which used in laboratories to keep samples.

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