Building a kegerator--need a shank?

[Enoch52]

I ordered the conversion kit from Northern Brewer, but it doesn't come with assembly instructions. The kit has plastic faucets connected directly to the beer line, but all of the how-to videos use metal taps and a heavy shank going through the fridge door.

Can I use what I've got, or do I need to also buy taps/shanks? Can I just drill a hole wide enough for the beer line and feed it through? If so, any suggestions on how to secure the tap to the front of the door?

 

[day_trippr]

Yeah, shanks, tail pieces and faucets. And a tower if you don't have room to blow shanks through the door or cabinet walls.
I'd be leery about running picnic faucets out of a fridge...

Cheers!

 

[Enoch52]

Well, that sucks. I guess I'm looking at another $100 or so for 2 taps, 2 shanks, and 2 tail pieces. Any other parts I need? Will a 4" shank work with most fridges?

I assume that I need to match the tail to the beer line? Given that it appears to be a 3/16" ID line, I'd want the 3/16" tail to match?

Would it be possible to install with the picnic taps it came with and drill out a larger hole later? I was planning on getting this installed this weekend, and I doubt I can get the parts that fast.

 

[day_trippr]

Tail piece barbs should accommodate 3/16" ID line - unless you use John Guest PTC fittings (which isn't a bad idea).

I would simply do what pretty much everyone does while building their first dispensing system: use the picnic taps but just keep them tucked in the fridge between pours. Not only is that the easiest way to go it keeps the beer in the tap cold

Do that and build out your system when you can. Trust me, nobody's gonna look down on a picnic tap full of tasty beer just because it isn't poked through a hunk of sheet metal...

Cheers!

 

[Enoch52]

I suppose there's nothing wrong with opening the door to grab the picnic tap, and I'll keep that as a backup, but I invited my dad to come help me build this (he got me into homebrewing), and I'd love to do it right.

And because I'm full of questions, More Beer has a shank with a built-in 3/16" nipple - I assume that 2 of these (along with faucets and handles) will do the trick?

I really appreciate the help!

 

[day_trippr]

I'm not a fan of that style of shank for a few reasons, none of them all that huge to be sure, but I'm a fan of optimization.
It's a bit easier to assemble a line then simply screw on a tailpiece than building lines "in place". And if you ever decide you want to use barrier tubing you'll find they are a righteous pita to get over a barb, and even if you do manage to heat up the end, ream it with a screw driver to try to widen the bore, and get it crunched over a barb, the odds are the PET liner was damaged (PET does not stretch easily - it's like plastic glass). And diagnostics and maintenance are incrementally easier if you don't have to cut off a piece of line (some of those barbs grip like death) just to swap lines between kegs.

My t-tower came with one-piece ss shanks. After getting PO'ed when changing the lines out a couple of years later I ended up cutting the barbs off and using standard 90° ss tailpieces

Cheers!