Corny keg fridge - from scratch.

[Joust]

Today I spent a couple of hours assembling the wooden box and gaffatape-ing it together. Then carefully lowering the carcass of the fridge freezer in to whilst removing bits and taping them back on so it fit together.
Kind of like terrible weaving.

It was really tricky getting the compressor, radiator, and cooling elements in the right place without cracking a pipe and ruining it.

But it's done.

Next I need to screw it all together and use some expanding foam for extra insulation. Then make it look nice.

 

[Joust]

 

[Joust]

Look at this beast!

Boxed up and I've put all the radiator and cooling pipes in place.(the tape will be removed today). Sprayed some expanding foam inside to keep the elements in place and safe.

Left it on over night with two cornies in, with the thermostat switched off. Got down to minus one degree, which is amazing. It means that I'll not be burning loads of electricity with the unit running 24/7.

I'm going to seal the outside up, put some feet on it, and build a nice top for the lid, today.

Then I'll do an outer decorative layer spaced away from the radiator pipes. And finally the gas and beer lines and taps.

 

[Redgrave_3]

It’s certainly an impressive build, I’m also on the quest for temp control albeit for fermentation. I don’t want to be negative for the sake of it, and I’m not really qualified to say anything definitively, but are you concerned at all about the safety aspect with this?

I guess my concerns would be ventilation for the electrical gubbins which can get hot (couldn’t see where the radiator’s mounted). Also the waterproofing of the electrics if this is going to live outside.

You probably know a great deal more than I do about all this but on the basis the original fridge wouldn’t have been suitable to live/operate outside I guess I’m querying if your mods have made this more or less safe.

All the best though.

 

[Joust]

It’s certainly an impressive build, I’m also on the quest for temp control albeit for fermentation. I don’t want to be negative for the sake of it, and I’m not really qualified to say anything definitively, but are you concerned at all about the safety aspect with this?

I guess my concerns would be ventilation for the electrical gubbins which can get hot (couldn’t see where the radiator’s mounted). Also the waterproofing of the electrics if this is going to live outside.

You probably know a great deal more than I do about all this but on the basis the original fridge wouldn’t have been suitable to live/operate outside I guess I’m querying if your mods have made this more or less safe.

All the best though.

All very good questions. And yeah. I'm sure it's not legally electrically safe... But it's reasonably safe as far as I can see. No exposed metal when finished, earthed and RCD circuit. Etc.


That packing tape is actually holding the radiator pipes in place. The tape is currently being replaced with plastic screw-in clips so it's neater and more secure. And then the tape will be removed. The radiator pipes are on the two narrower sides.

They don't get very hot. I'd say skin temperature or at best a couple of degrees warmer.

It's going to be clad with sheet wood that's spaced away from the central beast. Letting the pipes cool and keeping it a bit more weather proofed. It's also going to have some little legs that raise it off the ground.

The motor or compressor or whatever it is called is in that cut out area. It doesn't seem to get hot. But will be boxed in by the outer shell.

I'll run an earth cable up to the taps too. Just to be extra safe. And it it's plugged in to the RCD outdoor socket.

It's going to live next to the bbq, so will be under its rain cover too.

It should look a lot nicer when it's painted and has shiny new taps rising up from it.

 

[Redgrave_3]

It's going to live next to the bbq, so will be under its rain cover too.

Beer and bbq side by side, what could be better!

 

[Joust]

Beer and bbq side by side, what could be better!

I wonder which will get the most use as autumn draws in...

 

[Joust]

 

[Joust]

 

[Joust]

It's not minus 5 degrees in there... The temperature probe needs some "adjustment"

Also, please excuse the Coors light tap handle. I'm going to fill it in and paint it with blackboard paint. It's a good size and shape for writing the beer on.

Next up:
A nice dark stain to be added to the top.
A dark waterproof paint on the sides.
Another tap for barrel 2.
Geeky electronics for display and measuring stuff.

 

[ChilledGecko]

Nice!

How are you finding the compressor running time?

I've just finished (nearly, but it's dispensing..) my keezer.
I fitted an ST1000 controller off eBay and it allows me to set the hysteresis (I've currently set 1C) and a delay on time.
This is to help prevent the compressor from cycling too much.
As you are controlling your unit 'raw' at the moment I was wondering what your experience is?

Looking good Joust, looking good!

 

[Joust]

Nice!

How are you finding the compressor running time?

I've just finished (nearly, but it's dispensing..) my keezer.
I fitted an ST1000 controller off eBay and it allows me to set the hysteresis (I've currently set 1C) and a delay on time.
This is to help prevent the compressor from cycling too much.
As you are controlling your unit 'raw' at the moment I was wondering what your experience is?

Looking good Joust, looking good!

At the moment its just got the fridge thermostat stuck in there. It takes a good 12 hours to cool a full corny. But once it gets to temp it's holding really well without running all the time.

I'm removing the fridge's thermostat, though. I'm going to use an Arduino and a couple of temperature probes to monitor and control a relay to power off the cooling.
(I'm also planning to use the Arduino for a couple of other things too.)
I'll share my data on compressor usage, once I've set it up...

 

[Joust]

Nice!

How are you finding the compressor running time?

I've just finished (nearly, but it's dispensing..) my keezer.
I fitted an ST1000 controller off eBay and it allows me to set the hysteresis (I've currently set 1C) and a delay on time.
This is to help prevent the compressor from cycling too much.
As you are controlling your unit 'raw' at the moment I was wondering what your experience is?

Looking good Joust, looking good!

Also... "Dispensing" is close enough to finished! Cheers!

 

[Joust]

Getting closer...

 

[Sandozer]

At the moment its just got the fridge thermostat stuck in there. It takes a good 12 hours to cool a full corny. But once it gets to temp it's holding really well without running all the time.

I'm removing the fridge's thermostat, though. I'm going to use an Arduino and a couple of temperature probes to monitor and control a relay to power off the cooling.
(I'm also planning to use the Arduino for a couple of other things too.)
I'll share my data on compressor usage, once I've set it up...

An Arduino of course will do the job. To save a lot of time try one of these W1209 Temp controlled switch modules. I use them for easy accurate control.
Clear digital readout, Hysteresis, UL, LL control, offset parameters, trigger delay and all for a around a five spot.

 

[MickDundee]

My wife is worried about me drilling into the door of my tall fridge, I would imagine it would be divorce if I ripped a fridge apart to build a contraption to keep my kegs!

 

[Joust]

An Arduino of course will do the job. To save a lot of time try one of these W1209 Temp controlled switch modules. I use them for easy accurate control.
Clear digital readout, Hysteresis, UL, LL control, offset parameters, trigger delay and all for a around a five spot.View attachment 29309

I have almost exactly one of those. Its currently running the cooling. They're surprisingly good for just a couple of quid.

But I am currently writing the code for a raspberry pi that has weight sensors for both kegs, multiple temperature sensors, a relay to switch the compressor, and an LCD screen.

I like my toys.

 

[Joust]

My wife is worried about me drilling into the door of my tall fridge, I would imagine it would be divorce if I ripped a fridge apart to build a contraption to keep my kegs!

You should have seen the look on her face when my first gas cylinder was delivered.

 

[Sandozer]

I have almost exactly one of those. Its currently running the cooling. They're surprisingly good for just a couple of quid.

But I am currently writing the code for a raspberry pi that has weight sensors for both kegs, multiple temperature sensors, a relay to switch the compressor, and an LCD screen.

I like my toys.

You have way too much time, if you like toys have a play with strain gauges, just sayin :)