Lots of kegerator questions

[Swift Pint]

Right, I thought it would be best to put all these questions in one thread rather than start several.
I've got a hotpoint fridge en route which I will be using as fermentation fridge / kegerator.

I'd like to keep the fridge intact, rather then drilling any holes in it. Will I be able to get away with feeding the beer lines through the fridge seal without compromising the seal too much? I was thinking with 3/16 beer line and armaflex pipe insulation on the pipes either side of the door, I don't think it would be too bad.... :hmm: any thoughts?
I would put the co2 cylinder inside the fridge to minimise the number of pipes going in and out. Is this OK?

I was then going to make some sort of wooden bar top to rest on top of the fridge, with a tower & a couple of taps attached.
I've been looking at towers for taps, they are bloody expensive unless you either get lucky on ebay but most of these have offensive branding on (dont want my mates thinking I have st*lla on tap! :sick: ) Has anyone imported any stuff from china?
THIS is available for $66 plus $50 delivery.
Any idea what I would expect to pay on import duty?
Is there a standard thread for taps & towers? I *think* I've got a couple of delax(?) taps like THESE knocking around somewhere... Any way of knowing if they will fit the tower before ordering?

This seemed cheap compared to importing from the US. The same supplier has loads of taps, so I was going to ask for quotes on a couple of taps & hope that it doesnt put the shipping up too much.
I can honestly say I've never seen so many shinny taps in one place before. *drool* :shock:
Does it matter which sort I go for? Any recommendations? I would double check that they are compatible with the cobra tower before ordering.

Next question - if I have my kegerator all set up, should I leave my taps connected to the kegs when I'm not drinking? If I leave them connected do I risk screwing up the entire corny? If I disconnect the taps there will be a bit of beer sat in the pipe between the tap and the disconnect - is this sealed in & therefore OK to drink when I next hook up to pour a pint, or will it need to be discarded?

Sorry thats a lot of questions. hehe

 

[Swift Pint]

I've enquired about the cost of a couple taps from the Chinese supplier, I cant imagine it would put postage up too much.

Also asked for a quote for a 3 tap cobra tower & 3 taps... rude not to... :whistle:

 

[Hawks]

Next question - if I have my kegerator all set up, should I leave my taps connected to the kegs when I'm not drinking? If I leave them connected do I risk screwing up the entire corny? If I disconnect the taps there will be a bit of beer sat in the pipe between the tap and the disconnect - is this sealed in & therefore OK to drink when I next hook up to pour a pint, or will it need to be discarded?

I leave my taps connected up all the time the corny is on, and just clean them every now and then (I'd like to say when I take each keg off, but that doesn't happen ). I do however just take off the screw on nozzle and clean that more regularly as they are open to the air. The beer is under pressure until it leaves the tap, so it won't spoil and as all yours will be in the fridge ( other than the tiny bit up those lovely fonts ) it won't even be warm :thumb:

I also find if I do disconnect to change and the keg is nearing the end it's far too easy to move the whole keg and drag up some sediment, so another reason to leave on.

 

[Swift Pint]

Thanks Hawks, thats a releif, it would be a massive hassle having to be removing & cleaning the disconnects and lines all the time.

I've put my idea of external taps on hold for the moment as I don't think I can get the thin beer lines out around the seal without preventing the door from closing properly. I'm still trying to work on it, but am reluctant to carve up the fridge at this stage. At the moment I've got two chrome taps resting on of the shelves in the door.

I've been logging the temperature of the fridge using a raspberry pi, graphed HERE.
This is just using the Fridge's thermostat, but I've got a controller from Cedaronics which I'm going to start using soon.

I will probably revert to an arduino/raspberry pi set up, when I can get some decent code working to protect the compressor.

 

[Buster]

Why dont you put the gas line in or the beer line out through the drain hole at the bottom rear of the fridge ?? thats what I done with the 3/8 gas line in, no hole cutting then, although I did mount 4 taps in the door

Heres mine viewtopic.php?f=23&t=41918

 

[Swift Pint]

I've had a look Buster, and I don't have a drain hole.
I've realised that I can get 3/16 beer line throuugh the seal OK. Would there be any issues with stepping down the gas line to 3/16 to go through the door? I'm guessing this will restrict the pressure somehow :?
I can have a juggle around and try and get the co2 in the fridge, but space is at a premium!

Also, just as a general point, how often should a fridges compressor be cycling on and off?
I've hooked up my control unit, with a compressor delay of 5 minutes. I'm logging the temperatures, and it looks like the compressor is coming on every hour or two, so I'm not concerned, was just wondering whats normal.

Graph of fridge temps here

 

[pittsy]

Did you check out our sponsor The beertapstore.com http://www.thebeertapstore.com/category_s/1828.htm seem around the same price (us dollars less than euro)

 

[Vossy1]

it looks like the compressor is coming on every hour or two, so I'm not concerned, was just wondering whats normal.

That's very good and will only get better once it's loaded with beer :drink: