CO2 tanks. Inside or Outside?

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Yesfan

Yesfan

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I have my co2 tank on the inside of my keezer. It's a 15lber and takes up a lot of real estate, especially with the dual gauge regulator. I don't seem to see as many keezer/kegerator owners with their tanks outside as opposed to the inside when looking at builds.


Is there an advantage of keeping the tank inside the keezer? Besides maybe beers carbing better with the co2 being colder to begin with, I'm thinking no. I have some long gas line I bought so I can moved mine to the outside, as I'm leaning heavily on moving it out.


On another note, is two smaller tanks better than one? I thought about maybe scaling back to two 5 lbs tanks so I have a spare if one goes empty on a weekend. I'll have to rework my back bar to make room for an outside tank, but if I have the room, I'll keep the 15lber and just add a small 5 lb as a spare.
 
I keep my tank outside. I have a kegerator as opposed to keezer so the co2 tank would eat up a keg. So to keep three taps running co2 sits outside.

And as for one tank or two. I usually run my 20lb. For carbing and serving and use a 5 lb for backup between refills on the 20lb. But thinking of making a rolling coolerator for a 2.5gallon keg and the 5lb. Tank will get used for that so I'll need another now lol.
 
I have mine inside as well. It does take up a lot of room. It also leaves rust rings on the bottom of the keezer (steel tank).
 
Yesfan said:
....Is there an advantage of keeping the tank inside the keezer?......
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The two that I can think of are; (1) the tank isn't visible (an eyesore) and (2) a hole doesn't need to be drilled and sealed around the gas hose.

Neither of these issues kept me from putting my bottle outside of my cooler and making room for 5 more gallons of beer. :ban:
 
I am in the process of building a keezer and was trying to figure this out also. I have a 15# tank (steel tank) also and the local guy said it was in my best interest to buy a secondary bottle like a smaller 5# one JUST in case. I think I may start off with it on the inside and play it by ear. If I want to expand my brew later on I can drill a hole through the collar and run the line from outside and fasten this to the collar + freezer.
extinguisher-accessories-2.jpg


Edit: Formatting. Forgot I wasn't on reddit
 
PJM said:
........It also leaves rust rings on the bottom of the keezer (steel tank).
Click to expand...

Uhhh. Mine too. Another reason why I'm thinking of moving it outside.



As for the bracket, is it recommended? Could one make one out of wood and maybe some length of chain to hold it in place? I'm pretty much the only one down here in the mancave except for the family on a movie night. An idea I had was to make a brace under my back bar where the tank would be secure and out of eyesight.
 
PJM said:
... It also leaves rust rings on the bottom of the keezer (steel tank).
Click to expand...

A piece of 1/2" plywood, a few saw cuts, some wood glue and some nails will cure that. And you don't have to worry about knocking it over when rearranging kegs or beer lines. ;)

FYI - I saw a post where someone kept his CO2 tank in the basement and ran a 1/4" high pressure line up through the floor to his keezer upstairs.

Tank holder.jpg
 
Pros: no drilling for gas line (though not much of a pro if you are already doing holes in the doors). Cleaner design. If you have kids, nothing more for them to get into.
Cons : space. If you have a dual regulator the meter for the amount of gas remaining won't be correct.
I chose to put it inside with some custom shelves and can get 4 kegs in a side by side fridge

View attachment 1449417042929.jpg
 
I keep my 2 tanks outside as they would cost me keg space. Only concern in either position is protecting the regulators from being damaged from being knocked over.
 
I have a kegerator. I have a 20# CO2 tank on the outside. Buying the larger tank was probably the best thing to happen during the build. Not really sure why you would want to go smaller. Aren't prices about the same to refill/exchange whether it is 5# or more?
 
brewcat said:
I have a kegerator. I have a 20# CO2 tank on the outside. Buying the larger tank was probably the best thing to happen during the build. Not really sure why you would want to go smaller. Aren't prices about the same to refill/exchange whether it is 5# or more?
Click to expand...

The main issue with the smaller tank was if I continued to keep it inside the keezer. Having a smaller co2 tank would give me more space as I could probably sit it on the hump.


But that option is now scratched off.

I took apart my "back" bar (basically just some framed up lumber with a plywood top) to see what space I can open up and utilize. I have my keezer flush with the wall and my mini-fridge right beside it. The fridge is not as deep as the keezer. I'm thinking I can make a platform for my co2 tank and have it where the valve and regulator are within reach behind the fridge. If the tanks are the same in diameter as a corny, then I should have enough room between the wall and fridge for my 15 lb tank and a future N2 tank. The space between the fridge and wall is 10.5" deep x 18.5" wide. The only issue I see is the regulator sticking out so far to the left and having to run two lines from it to inside the keezer. Easy fix though.
 
When I had a five pound co2 tank, and then a 10 pound c02 tank, they fit in the kegerator. But the 20-pounder doesn't fit so it's next to the kegerator. I split the line there, with a WYE fitting so I have red wine in kegs next to the c02 tank and I don't have the gas on it except to push it to the decanter.
 
After a few empty tanks at inconvenient times, I developed a habit of turning on the co2/n2 at the beginning of the evening and turning it off at the end of the evening. I've never had the tanks inside the keezer, but for frequent on/off, having them outside has to be easier than inside.
 
I primarily use 50# tanks, so outside the walk-in it is. I am not going to try to wrangle a 50# tank into the walk-in cooler.

I do keep 20# tanks on hand for use with the jockey boxes when I bring my beer around.

I like outside, but that is really just personal preference. If you want more space for kegs inside your cooler, then you need your CO2 outside. If you can spare it, then inside is ok. If you have small tanks that are easy to lift, inside works easily enough too.

I do find that regulators when at refrigeration temperatures don't change pressure very quickly, so you need to be careful when adjusting the pressure if you ever do.

I also turn off the gas, and only repressurize my kegs once every other week or so. It is more convenient for me to have the tank outside the walk-in cooler and not in my way in there as it is really large. I do have it secured with chains as well for safety.
 
I also have mine outside. I was told that when a tank is inside, it is, of course cold, therefore the co2 used is denser than that of an outside tank. If the gas is denser, you are using more than an outside tank. And my tank seems to last longer being outside.
 
dwleo said:
I also have mine outside. I was told that when a tank is inside, it is, of course cold, therefore the co2 used is denser than that of an outside tank. If the gas is denser, you are using more than an outside tank. And my tank seems to last longer being outside.
Click to expand...

Can anyone support or refute this information? Everything I've read says it makes no difference and I'd tend to agree. Pressure is pressure so if you carb your beer to a certain amount of volumes it will be at that volume regardless of the temp of the CO2, plus the co2 in the keg will be chilled to the beer temp anyhow. Only difference I can see is it can take a little longer for the CO2 to diffuse into the beer due to the temp difference, though I'd imagine that's fairly neglible as well. I don't see how one would be able to carb or serve more beers with the tank on the outside.


Rev.
 
Rev2010 said:
Can anyone support or refute this information? Everything I've read says it makes no difference and I'd tend to agree. Pressure is pressure so if you carb your beer to a certain amount of volumes it will be at that volume regardless of the temp of the CO2, plus the co2 in the keg will be chilled to the beer temp anyhow. Only difference I can see is it can take a little longer for the CO2 to diffuse into the beer due to the temp difference, though I'd imagine that's fairly neglible as well. I don't see how one would be able to carb or serve more beers with the tank on the outside.


Rev.
Click to expand...

You're right- pressure is pressure and the liquid which is dispensed as a gas (the c02) doesn't care.
 
I recently made a sufficiently nice 5 keg keezer to keep in my living room, which means no outside CO2 tank. I have a 6 output manifold that the tank stays permanently connected to. That said, for fear of some type of leak, I keep my 5 gas QDs disconnected and only reconnect to the individual keg when I notice pressure decreasing in a pour. I realize that leads to inconsistent carb levels, but that hasn't been much of a problem. My tank and regulator are starting to corrode/rust. I am thinking about removing the manifold, tank, and gas lines. I would then keep a simple 1 line disconnect on the tank to be kept in a closet or garage. I probably consume 1-2 beers every other day on average which results in needing to add gas to a keg(s) maybe every 2 weeks. Thinking not a big deal to properly set regulator at, say, 10 psi and habitually top up each keg every 2 weeks, maybe in conjunction with line cleaning. The big benefit is having fewer lines (although I have then zip-tied to collar) to facilitate adding/removing kegs. And I could then fit at least 1 more 2.5 or 3 gallon keg with its own picnic tap (since all the external taps are connected to 5 gallon kegs) for the odd beverage infrequently consumed. Any thoughts on this possible change?
 
I have 2 keezers (1 for wine, 1 for beer) in living space - 1 in living room that I converted to a standalone bar (covered in mahogany to match furniture) and 1 in family room that fits perfectly into an old a/v space. Tanks would be on full display. Good point about beer although I tend to slightly overpressure (12psi) after pressure drops to, say, 6-8 psi, but either way this isn't a flawless solution.
 
RichB1 said:
Thinking not a big deal to properly set regulator at, say, 10 psi and habitually top up each keg every 2 weeks, maybe in conjunction with line cleaning.
Click to expand...
A full or mostly full keg will decarbonate much faster than one that's half empty when disconnected from the CO2 supply. This is due to a (nearly) full keg having a much smaller headspace, and thus a much smaller CO2 reserve.

To help reveal any CO2 leaks, you could put the tank on a scale that remains on and has a relocatable read-out display that can be placed in a convenient spot for monitoring.

Line cleaning should not be needed every 2 weeks, especially when using EVA Barrier or BevSeal Ultra 235 lines.
 
An old thread brought back to life isn't any different than reading a book another time.

If it's a good subject I don't see any reason not to revisit it.

For this thread, put your CO2 tank wherever it's convenient, inside, outside it makes little difference. Mine is outside, it's a twenty pounder so it's almost the size of a five keg.
 
old threads never die...they just fade away...oops....I meant they fade back???

it depends ENTIRLY on your personal situation.

Inside just looks cleaner. But outside means more keg room inside.

My 1946 Westinghouse fridge is featured in the living room. 3 kegs and a 20# inside makes for a very nice display. A tank outside is just not an option.

My kezzer is under the sloped space under the stairs. It fits 4 on the floor and I have CO2 and nitro tanks outside, but hidden in the under stairs storage crawl space.
 
odie said:
old threads never die...they just fade away...oops....I meant they fade back???

it depends ENTIRLY on your personal situation.

Inside just looks cleaner. But outside means more keg room inside.

My 1946 Westinghouse fridge is featured in the living room. 3 kegs and a 20# inside makes for a very nice display. A tank outside is just not an option.

My kezzer is under the sloped space under the stairs. It fits 4 on the floor and I have CO2 and nitro tanks outside, but hidden in the under stairs storage crawl space.
Click to expand...
Could post a picture of your Westinghouse fridge?

Being able to have that in your living room is really sweet. My wife would never put up with that!
 
odie said:
old threads never die...they just fade away...oops....I meant they fade back???

it depends ENTIRLY on your personal situation.

Inside just looks cleaner. But outside means more keg room inside.

My 1946 Westinghouse fridge is featured in the living room. 3 kegs and a 20# inside makes for a very nice display. A tank outside is just not an option.

My kezzer is under the sloped space under the stairs. It fits 4 on the floor and I have CO2 and nitro tanks outside, but hidden in the under stairs storage crawl space.
Click to expand...

Have to agree with @OakIslandBrewery. I'd like to see that old Westinghouse myself. Vintage kegerator/keezers are to homebrew like hot rods/muscle cars are to gearheads.
 
mac_1103 said:
Maybe you could paint the vintage fridge to look like a vintage juke box.
Click to expand...
Ya, not sure that work either. I feel lucky to have a small bar and brewing spot in the basement.

Looking back, before finishing off the basement I should have built an outbuilding with water, gas and electric. Never have enough room . .
 

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