Another Kegerator build

[Buffers brewery]

I use 3/16" Valpar Brewmaster tubing for my gas lines. I used a Starrett 29/32 hole drill to drill my tap holes.
https://www.lawson-his.co.uk/starrett-sm23-23mm-29-32-tct-stainless-steel-hole-saw

 

[Binkei Huckaback]

If you need to cut the door about to get the kegs to fit, once you've removed the seal and the inner skin, use a bread knife to cut the foam. If you remove the skin, take time to do it with a Stanley knife you might not want to take the whole skin off if you need something left to stick the new skin to.

I re-skinned mine using a sheet using a sheet of 1mm gloss white HIPS plastic (item number 107105) from Stephen Webster Plastics. It cost me £25.75 including cutting, VAT and delivery. You have to buy a whole sheet, which as it happens was enough for two doors. It was easy enough to stick to the door using OB1 (it's waterproof and food safe) from Screwfix. If you're interested, I'll sell you my spare at cost plus carriage.

I don't have the space for taps in the front of the door, so built what the Americans call a coffin box (the lid opens and I have a secondary regulatir in there) which also has the advantage of raising up the taps. It looks a bit rough, but it was built out of scrap chipboard free from Ikea and clad with some very thin ply I had knocking around. I hope eventually to clad it in zinc or reubild it now I know what mistakes I made.

If you do this and run the lines thtough th top of the fridge, don't forget to beware any cooling lines running across the top of the fridge. I was lucky in that I removed the top, cut a square of foam from the centre and found there was nothing else until I got to the inner plastic skin. If your fridge has a metal outer skin under the plastic top, I've come to the conclusion the best way to avoid any cooling lines that might be there is to carefully drill through just the skin, then poke around with a pencil and finally use a knife to scrape away until you hit the plastic inner skin.

 

[stripeyjoe]

I swapped my 3/8 to 3/16 for beer and gas in mine, best thing I did, makes it loads easier to connect/disconnect the kegs.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

I swapped my 3/8 to 3/16 for beer and gas in mine, best thing I did, makes it loads easier to connect/disconnect the kegs.

Good idea. I hadn't thought of doing it for the gas line too - I always find it tricky to manipulate the 3/8 gas line to hook up to the keg as there's not enough flex in it.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Although I’ve got hole saws, for drilling holes in thin panels I find these stepped bits easier to use and give a far cleaner finish

 

[DocAnna]

I've been a busy wee bee this weekend . Along with the usual weekend jobs and meals, I set to and built the kegerator... and I'm really quite chuffed with how it's turned out.

Now I'm a bit paranoid about drilling into things that might break, so a good part of the time was tentatively bringing the gas supply pipe through the back of the fridge into the bottom part where the salad crisper drawer would be. It ended up being a bit lower than planned so had to cut a bit out of the wooden platform I was using for the first keg to ensure a flat surface.

I was also anxious about the gas inlet pipe touching the condenser tubes so secured it with cable ties away from the copper pipe, and sheathed the gas pipe in 1/2" silicone tubing which was sealed in place with silicone sealant. The idea being that the silicone would protect the gas pipe and mean the gas pipe could freely move in and out of the hole but the silicone tube stayed put.

Next was the gas manifold. I have a 4 outlet manifold though only need 3 but there wasn't any point in buying a new one for 3 kegs. One of the problems with these manifolds is they mount at 45 deg and I wanted the outlets to be vertical. So a very scary bit of cutting with a compound mitre power saw which we have in the garage . Then screwed it vertically into the base board.

]
What isn't shown is me trying to cut a slot the right size in the vertical shelf support to fit round the JG fitting on the manifold.. that was not fun.
The shelf is a bit temporary, it's two layers of cellular plastic since I needed something thin that I could cut to shape. The layers were bonded with contact adhesive which is a yucky yellow and doesn't go with the colour scheme... it's going to be changed as soon as I've worked out an alternative!

 

[Clint]

Pah! Scared my aunty! Looks like you're doing a great job!

 

[DocAnna]

I forgot to mention, I also had to move the thermostat and light up a bit as it was just a little bit low, it was fairly simple and the little bit of the temperature probe line it exposed I've covered up with white insulating tape.

Three kegs in situ, gas inlet pipes fitted to size and some simple clips for managing the pipes, so I can fit the inlets out of the fridge, lift them in and clip them in place

Ok onto scary hole drilling time.. spoiler warning.. I did cut myself and felt a right plonker for it .

I know the rule measure twice cut once, well I measured about 5 times, and then again just to make sure. Pilot holes drilled with a scary mains powered drill - we have some rather heavy duty tools in the garage... then the hole cutter which I can genuinely say my pulse was up a bit and I was glowing just a bit more than I was comfortable with. The first hole I cut I took the drill out while it was still spinning so it caught on the way out and made a bit of a burr on the hole. Numpty I thought and felt the burr with my finger .. ouch .. yes a bit stupid, and blood all over the hole. Ok one plaster later, a glove on and deburred the hole with this pipe flexible grid stuff which I was told would work. Two more holes cut and no more injuries - with that job anyway.

Beer lines cut to size, a 4.5cm bit of 3/8 line to join with the tap shanks and more clips to route the lines and lots of cable ties. Hmm it's beginning to look a bit better....

Taps on the outside fitted, I don't have a font spanner - not arrived from ebay yet - so it was a case of grip hard with gloves on and do my best.

Kegs all fit and yes the door does close ok... phew that's a relief .
Ahh .. but I need to identify which pipe connects to what, so lots more cable ties to the rescue, to colour code the gas lines and the beer lines.

Final test... yes gas lines and taps all seem to be ok....
Secondary regulator mounted on the wall near the main cylinder (4m away) with a gas out for force carbonation at full pressure too .

This has proper pushed me today ... and kept me out of the way while the OH worked on an academic essay that needed done this weekend.

I'm glad I coped, and if I can do it believe me anyone can. It looks smart inside and out too which is a bonus. I did end up cutting another finger on something but never worked out what it was, just found it was bleeding so that was another dash to the kitchen for plasters. I'd wear gloves for more of it if I was doing this again. Phew, oh... and it did turn on in the end, no blue sparks, no smoke and crikey it doesn't seem to be leaking either... all hail the wonderful JG fittings ☺.

I am just a teeny bit shattered now.. and I can tell I'm going to ache tomorrow!

Anna

 

[cushyno]

Super job. That looks neat.

 

[user 18729]

Well done

 

[cushyno]

Actually, now I've read both posts, I've got to say what a top job that looks. For someone who is a bit afraid of power tools and electrics, that is genuinely a great design well executed. A skilled fitter would be happy with that.

 

[DocAnna]

Actually, now I've read both posts, I've got to say what a top job that looks. For someone who is a bit afraid of power tools and electrics, that is genuinely a great design well executed. A skilled fitter would be happy with that.

Thank you that means a lot ☺. There's still a drip tray to fit but it's not arrived yet, and I'm planning on using a magnetic flexible blackboard to fit on the top - if such a thing exists, and will try to remove the Zanussi logo as well. Not today though .

 

[cushyno]

I need a drip tray for my keezer too. Plus, you've got me thinking about gas line routing and identifying my lines with markers! Nice one.

 

[Gerryjo]

I forgot to mention, I also had to move the thermostat and light up a bit as it was just a little bit low, it was fairly simple and the little bit of the temperature probe line it exposed I've covered up with white insulating tape.

Three kegs in situ, gas inlet pipes fitted to size and some simple clips for managing the pipes, so I can fit the inlets out of the fridge, lift them in and clip them in place View attachment 48635
Ok onto scary hole drilling time.. spoiler warning.. I did cut myself and felt a right plonker for it .

View attachment 48636View attachment 48637
I know the rule measure twice cut once, well I measured about 5 times, and then again just to make sure. Pilot holes drilled with a scary mains powered drill - we have some rather heavy duty tools in the garage... then the hole cutter which I can genuinely say my pulse was up a bit and I was glowing just a bit more than I was comfortable with. The first hole I cut I took the drill out while it was still spinning so it caught on the way out and made a bit of a burr on the hole. Numpty I thought and felt the burr with my finger .. ouch .. yes a bit stupid, and blood all over the hole. Ok one plaster later, a glove on and deburred the hole with this pipe flexible grid stuff which I was told would work. Two more holes cut and no more injuries - with that job anyway.

Beer lines cut to size, a 4.5cm bit of 3/8 line to join with the tap shanks and more clips to route the lines and lots of cable ties. Hmm it's beginning to look a bit better....
View attachment 48638

Taps on the outside fitted, I don't have a font spanner - not arrived from ebay yet - so it was a case of grip hard with gloves on and do my best.

View attachment 48643

View attachment 48639
Kegs all fit and yes the door does close ok... phew that's a relief .
Ahh .. but I need to identify which pipe connects to what, so lots more cable ties to the rescue, to colour code the gas lines and the beer lines.

View attachment 48640View attachment 48641View attachment 48642

Final test... yes gas lines and taps all seem to be ok....
Secondary regulator mounted on the wall near the main cylinder (4m away) with a gas out for force carbonation at full pressure too .

This has proper pushed me today ... and kept me out of the way while the OH worked on an academic essay that needed done this weekend.

I'm glad I coped, and if I can do it believe me anyone can. It looks smart inside and out too which is a bonus. I did end up cutting another finger on something but never worked out what it was, just found it was bleeding so that was another dash to the kitchen for plasters. I'd wear gloves for more of it if I was doing this again. Phew, oh... and it did turn on in the end, no blue sparks, no smoke and crikey it doesn't seem to be leaking either... all hail the wonderful JG fittings ☺.

I am just a teeny bit shattered now.. and I can tell I'm going to ache tomorrow!

Anna

Excellent stuff and well done as that certainly looks the part...

 

[Donegal john]

Fantastic job and I can safely say a lot of us will be out in the brew sheds tidying up our beer lines and clipping them in place after looking at how neat yours is. My lines for gas and beer look like spaghetti at the min

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Pardon my French, but that is one Hell of a well planned and executed job! Hat‘s off to you, Anna :hat:

 

[Binkei Huckaback]

Are you a surgeon DocAnna? It's all very neat!

 

[user 4749]

Excellent Job Anna
I made the mistake of using Valpar 3/8 for the gas which is very rigid and had a gas leak . About to change to flexible pipe never thought about 3/16 for gas.

 

[DocAnna]

Pardon my French, but that is one Hell of a well planned and executed job! Hat‘s off to you, Anna :hat:

Thank you, it was planned in general but the detail was a bit iterative as I went along, and just used bits of wood, board and clips that we already had. The gas and beer disconnects and two of the beer lines were repurposed from the gas connections and party taps I'd been using up till now. One of the big learning parts of the day was how to disconnect a pipe from a JG fitting which I'd never done before - some more easily than others. I found that a bicycle spanner was a great way of pushing down on the clamp while I could then pull out the pipe with another hand.

Are you a surgeon DocAnna? It's all very neat!

I did the usual mandatory surgical training but ended up doing a fair bit of O&G as well which was good for surgical training too! I do like things looking neat inside and out but I can't claim to be a surgeon, I've spent most of my time as a GP.

I made the mistake of using Valpar 3/8 for the gas which is very rigid and had a gas leak . About to change to flexible pipe never thought about 3/16 for gas.

The gas line is Valpar 3/8 inside the fridge, but the longer length from the secondary regulator to the manifold is the grey 3/8 line which is a little bit more flexible and notably lighter weight than the Valpar.

Anna

 

[Clint]

It looks great Anna! What's your first three beers in the new fridge?