Converting salvaged commercial kegerator?

[cwiseman77]

I have the possibility of acquiring a Birra Moretti kegerator that is no longer in commercial use. Just wondering how suitable you guys think it would be and how easy to convert for home use. I have no experience in kegging or this type of thing in general. I bottle all my brews but I do use an identical machine at work and think that its too good an oppurtunity to waste.

Here it is in its current state, a bit manky but nothing a quick clean wouldn't mend.

I also took photos of one that is currently in use to show the gas/keg set up.

Unused keg, you rip plastic seal, then the foil then attach the gas connector.

Gas connected:

The Gas:

Used keg

 

[Kinleycat]

Given a good clean up that'd look really nice.
That would be the hardest bit too I would imagine.
Shouldn't be too much agro swapping to a Cornie set up, even less so if you can utilise what you have there
Norm has a mobile kegerator on eBay for £350 I think.

 

[bobsbeer]

Looks really good. Hopefully cornies will fit in there, then it's just a bit of work to swap over the gas and beer lines to suit the cornie connections.

 

[cwiseman77]

I should have taken a photo with the door open. Currently holds 2 kegs. They're not full size ones you get in the pub but still pretty big. So a cornie or 2, gas bottle and regulator, then some tubing. Wouldn't be too complicated right? I'm sure there's enough expertise on here for me to pretty much get a walkthrough

 

[Kinleycat]

I should have taken a photo with the door open. Currently holds 2 kegs. They're not full size ones you get in the pub but still pretty big. So a cornie or 2, gas bottle and regulator, then some tubing. Wouldn't be too complicated right? I'm sure there's enough expertise on here for me to pretty much get a walkthrough

Go for it, it'll be a stroll.
If I can make a kegerator (and im an idiot) I'm sure you can sort it. :thumb:
If you don't want it can i have first digs please!!! :whistle:

 

[EskiBrew]

That looks brilliant - go for it, we can help if you get stuck :thumb:

 

[cwiseman77]

Hmmm....I am tempted. Not sure how this will go down with SWMBO. I have been told if I want to expand my brewing activities OR get another dog we need a bigger house

 

[joe1002]

It#s fairly inconspicious, she won't notice it :whistle: :lol: :lol:

 

[bobsbeer]

Hmmm....I am tempted. Not sure how this will go down with SWMBO. I have been told if I want to expand my brewing activities OR get another dog we need a bigger house

Tell her it's just to keep your cornies nice and tidy in the living room next to your chair. :whistle: :whistle: Cornies, gas bottle, regulator, dalex tap and all that tubing looks very untidy and a bugger to dust. :grin:

 

[otterbreath]

Hello

I bought one of these machines with the same idea. I think a conversion can be done but seemed after quite a bit of research to be too much of a hassle. Sold it on to someone else who said they will try to convert it. Not sure how they got on.

I measured it out and you could just about, after some bodging and hacking fit two cornys in. The Co2 can woudl have sit outside with corneys though.
Two main issues - Firstly it was really noisy. The fans were so loud i couldnt have lived with it the house so you can imagine what the other half thought of it. The fans may have been a bit knackered with age and could no doubt be replaced. Or you could see how you get on by disconnecting one of the fans. Or maybe the one you are looking at is a bit quieter.

The main issue is the 'tap' set up.. Have a look at it - you will see that the tap front flips up. There isnt actually a fitted tap spout. Instead the spout comes fitted to the end of the beer line that is attached to the special kegs for these systems (it is called the Heineken David Draft system). The idea is that there are no beer lines or taps to clean. The beer line gets chucked away with each keg and replaced with each new keg. The beer line goes up through the machine and pops out the end of the 'tap'. A spout at the end of the line sits in the 'tap'.

So you need to make sure you keep the beer line that is attached to the keg in the picture. This could be adapted for a corney fitting easily enough. Just cut the beer line at the keg and fit corney fittings. However you will need to take very good care of the beer line and spout. The only way of getting a new spout and beer line is to buy one of the special kegs from a wholesaler. Not such a bad thing for the beer but pretty expensive.

I looked for quite a while for a tap faucet that could replace the one on the machine so allowing for standard beer line and tap etc but couldnt find anything. the machine has a weird sized tap/faucet thread. You could replace the whole tap body. I though of that but decided due to the limited space and cost I would be better of just going for a standard fridge conversion.

A conversion could be done but I would certainly have a listen to the machine in action before buying it - and dont pay much for it just in case you decide to chuck it.

Happy to help if you have any questions.

 

[otterbreath]

sorry overlooked that you use one at work - you should have plenty of used beer lines available to you then. That removes the main problem I had with it.
Good luck.