Which fridge for kegerator?

[mickc]

After a couple oy years of using King kegs I've decided to go the cornie route, but what's stumping me is finding an under the counter fridge that will accommodate 2 x 19l kegs side by side. My 2 fridges in which my King kegs live (and most I measured in Curry's) don't have 23cm of depth between the motor/compressor housing and the door, nor do they have 47cm of internal width. I could use a tall freestanding fridge and put the kegs in diagonally above the motor housing, but I'd rather have a standard fridge. Has anyone else found a suitable fridge fairly recently that might still be available in the shops?

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Have a look at my kegerator build thread: TETB kegerator build
I used the Curry's "Essentials" CUL55W20 larder fridge which I bought new online for £150 plus £10 delivery.
You can read more about it including the internal dimensions in my other thread.

 

[mickc]

That's great, thanks very much for posting all that info and for sending me the link. I'll read through all that later, but this looks like exactly what I want, far better than I expected.

 

[Leon103]

I am still looking but need to fit 3 kegs.

 

[Harbey]

I had same issue. A friendly forumite recommended a Hotpoint RLA series and I easily get 2 kegs in there (I'll post a pic when I go out to the brew room). Good news is they seem pretty easy to get hold of and I got one locally off Facebook for £20. That said, if you have the newer, taller, thinner kegs, I don't think it's as much of an issue.

 

[stripeyjoe]

I had same issue. A friendly forumite recommended a Hotpoint RLA series and I easily get 2 kegs in there (I'll post a pic when I go out to the brew room). Good news is they seem pretty easy to get hold of and I got one locally off Facebook for £20. That said, if you have the newer, taller, thinner kegs, I don't think it's as much of an issue.

+1 for a Hotpoint RLA, easily fits two of the wider kegs in. You can even get a 30l commercial keg in it.

 

[jamiew]

+1 for a Hotpoint RLA, easily fits two of the wider kegs in. You can even get a 30l commercial keg in it.

Another +1 for the RLA models. Bought an RLA30 for £35 off Gumtree, does the job great

 

[Joetp]

Thanks for the heads up RE the RLA series for a kegerator! I've just scored an almost new RLA36 off Ebay - sold by an outlet because it has minor cosmetic damage! Fine with me since I'm going to be drilling holes in it anyway haha!

I wondered where you guys drilled the holes for the gas lines? It's my first build, so any help is much appreciated! I've got all the bits ready minus the CO2 tank which I'll pick up soon. I've gone with Nukataps, a Kegland MK2 regulator and a 4 way splitter (tips on how to mount that also appreciated - did you just screw to the inside @stripeyjoe ?)

 

[stripeyjoe]

did you just screw to the inside @stripeyjoe ?)

I stuck it on with Velcro but it has come loose now so just dangling…

I drilled a hole in the top for all the lines.

 

[MashBag]

drilled the holes for the gas lines?

My ptsd is kicking off. Be careful. "that loud hissing noise" can mak you properly angy

Look its afecting my typing even now jus finking about it...

 

[MashBag]

Good advice here...

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/chiller-exit-temperature.102162/

 

[Erik The Anglophile]

I used our old ~ 170cm tall kitchen fridge, the thermostat was getting wonky but since I use an external one and the compressor is fine it got a few more years to serve.
Space issue can be solved with a saw btw, if you take out the door shelves, the plastic liner usually has ridges where you mount them, those can be sawed off to get you more room. I did it with mine.
So in short, any fridge large enough(with or without mods) to accomodate what you plan to fit in it.
Look for used ones as it is usually the thermostat that gives up before the compressor, and you likely won't need the internal one anyway.

 

[stripeyjoe]

Most fridges with the black metal coil on the back do not have any cooling or heat dissipation coils on the sides, I'd be more wary of the ones with a plain back and freezers in general. It it also quite easy to feed 3/16" line through the drain hole at the back, you might want to give it a bit of a clean out first as they tend to be full of horrible gunk! That's what I did for my new fridge.

 

[Joetp]

Most fridges with the black metal coil on the back do not have any cooling or heat dissipation coils on the sides, I'd be more wary of the ones with a plain back and freezers in general. It it also quite easy to feed 3/16" line through the drain hole at the back, you might want to give it a bit of a clean out first as they tend to be full of horrible gunk! That's what I did for my new fridge.

I looked into this and the drainage hole is too small to get anything through on mine! Now I'm worried about where to drill the hole haha! Did you say you did it in the top of your RLA36?

 

[Erik The Anglophile]

Somewhat modern standing fridges have no wiring or tubes in the side or door, meaning you can safely drill holes to connect gas lines and mount faucets etc.

 

[Joetp]

Somewhat modern standing fridges have no wiring or tubes in the side or door, meaning you can safely drill holes to connect gas lines and mount faucets etc.

I must admit from doing the scientific "knocking on the side panels" it does seem like there's not much in there. I may just go straight through the side then! Cheers.

 

[stripeyjoe]

@JoeisBatman I drilled a largish hole in the top for beer and gas lines as I have my beer taps mounted on a bar top. I think you would be safe drilling anywhere on the sides or top, the only thing to worry about would be the wires feeding the light, door switch and thermostat.

I initially made the hole through just the inside plastic then dug around the insulation with a screwdriver to check for wires etc. After finding nothing I then drilled a small hole out to give me a centre spot to drill in from the outside, through the outside cover.

 

[Joetp]

Worked a charm! Got the gas lines and taps in tonight. Just need to decide if I want a drip tray or not now... Kegerator on top, fermentation fridge on the bottom. Thanks!

 

[Erik The Anglophile]

Just make sure you, if you like me, roll your PE tubes for the beer up and ziptie the roll, have enough lenght to safely open the door without ripping something out.

 

[Erik The Anglophile]

I roll my lines up like pic related, and also the door "modification" I mentioned earlier.
It looks like you might be able to fit a third keg in there if you do something similair.