Kegerator Conversion (GE SMR04DASBCS)

[Looper]

Anybody have any idea what kind of material I will have to drill through to install the tower?

Trying to determine what kind of drill bit I need. Thanks

 

[Hauntedyards]

So, I figured it out. I went ahead and trimmed the hinge-sided edge of the HDPE about 1/4 inch..

Turned out awesome. Thanks walker!

I just picked up a stainless 4.5 cf GE GMR05BLPBBSC for $50 and it's got the weird freezer plate that curves up the back. I might give the bending a shot today... 17.5 inches wide in side and 11 inches to the compressor hump from the door. Probably the same as yours.

Wish me luck!

 

[DrinkNoH2O]

Anybody have any idea what kind of material I will have to drill through to install the tower?

Trying to determine what kind of drill bit I need. Thanks

The shell is steel, the inner lining is plastic, and the core is a chunk of Styrofoam. Any hole saw will do - I think I used about a 1 1/2 inch diameter.

 

[AnchorBock]

Would 2 pin lock kegs fit if the shelf tabs were ground down?

 

[big_al_in_k-zoo]

For what it's worth, I had to "shave" the shelf tabs down to fit 2 ball locks in mine....

 

[Jeepinctbrewer]

I have the same fridge, any idea if it would be ok to drill a hole threw the right bottom side of the fridge for a co2 line?

 

[jsmith32]

I finished my kegerator conversion for this fridge.

A few things that I confirm from this thread:

- Drilling a 1.5" hole in the middle of the top of the fridge is safe from electrical and coolant lines

- Two ball lock kegs will NOT fit exactly side by side in this fridge without further fridge modification. They have to be offset to some extent. HOWEVER, interestingly enough, two ball lock kegs will fit one directly in FRONT of the other (i.e. one on the back hump) if you remove the door shelves. I was able to fit two 3 gallon kegs in front (offset slightly), one 2.5 gallon keg in the back, and a paintball tank for CO2, all without removing the freezer. To be honest with you, I don't recommend this as it is so NOT cost effective, but it's what I ended up with.

Pics below.

Jason

 

[subzeromk84]

I have the same fridge can It fit a keg with the back hump in the fridge and a 5 lb co2 tank? and how sturdy will the tower be mounted on top . More pics would help

 

[jsmith32]

A keg will fit on the back hump, but you either need to wedge it in with the other kegs (in my picture, the keg on the back hump is being supported and held in place by the two other kegs, or else it would fall off the hump) or construct an extension to the shelf to support it.

Also, even if you modify the freezer unit as others have done, I'm fairly certain that a 5 g keg will be much too tall to fit on the back hump. In my picture above, that's actually a 2.5 g keg sitting on the back hump (a 3 g keg should fit back there if you bend the freezer unit down).

I don't know if a 5 lb CO2 tank will fit on the hump in this configuration. I doubt it. Space is already at a premium for me, and I'm only using a 20 oz paintball tank. A 2.5 lb CO2 tank might fit.

The tower as mounted on the top is sturdy enough for me, but if enough force is applied to it, it will wobble a bit. That might be my own fault as I am mechanically-challenged and probably did a lousy job installing it. It works though!

I'm at work now so it'll be a bit before I can take additional pictures. What in particular would you be interested in seeing more of?

Jason

 

[subzeromk84]

Inside and outside of the kegorator and locations of parts front and back . Just basically detail

 

[AlphaAnt]

Here's my kegerator build, maybe it will help answer your questions. The tower was installed near the back, and I didn't use a copper pipe, just bolted it to the top. It's on rather firmly, but I wouldn't lift the fridge by the tower.

I had to take out the door shelves and shave the left side smooth, but didn't have to do anything to the right side, and the thermostat just hangs loose (I didn't have to extend the wires). There's a 5 pound CO2 tank and a dual-controlled regulator that just sits on the hump behind the two kegs (ball lock Cornies).

 

[jsmith32]

AlphaAnt - nice build!

So, yes, a 5 lb tank will fit on the back hump, but only if you bend down the freezer unit, and probably only if you just have the two kegs in front.

What I'd suggest, and might be more helpful than actually just seeing more pictures, is to draw (or use a software drawing application like mspaint) the footprint of the inside of the refrigerator with exact/proportional dimensions and then start adding shapes representative of the objects you plan on adding into the footprint, again using exact/proportional dimensions, to determine what all will fit. This is how I was able to determine that my configuration would work, even though (understandably so) there were those who were skeptical of being able to fit three kegs plus a CO2 tank in this particular fridge.

Jason

 

[subzeromk84]

which all kegs will fit in this fridge and what is the best coupler in your experiences?

 

[jsmith32]

I use AEB (Italy) 2.5 gallon and 3 gallon ball-lock kegs that were purchased new in the past couple of years. Earlier in this thread (and other threads as well), there's discussion on what kinds of kegs will fit side-by-side. It appears that some other kegs from different manufacturers and types (particularly pin-lock) seem to have trouble fitting side-by-side in the fridge. For example, in AlphaAnt's build above, part of the inside of the fridge had to be shaved back to get the kegs to fit.

As far as the gas side of things go, I use 20 oz paintball CO2 tanks into a pin valve regulator, fed into a 1-to-3 distributer, and then into each of the three kegs. All components were from Keg Connection. Everything has worked great thus far, although with some drawbacks - all kegs are at the same pressure, and I have to refill/replace the tank every couple of months or so. Those tanks are pretty cheap though, so I usually have one or two replacements ready.

 

[jsmith32]

Here are some additional pictures and then also a footprint diagram of the inside of the refrigerator with the main components shown (3 kegs plus CO2 tank).

Approximate measurements:

Usable dimensions of refrigerator with the door shelf removed: 16.25" deep x 16.25" wide (could widen by shaving sides of inside of fridge)

Usable height with freezer intact: 23", with freezer modified: 28"

Back hump is 5" high and 5" deep

2.5 gal keg is 8.25" in diameter and 15" high

3 gal keg is 8.25" in diameter and 17" high

CO2 tank is 3" in diameter and 10.5" high

 

[jsmith32]

Taking a look back at all of the pictures, I'm not entirely sure we all have the exact same model fridge. The indents on the side of my fridge (to hold up the shelves) seem to protrude much less than what the other pictures show. If you acquire one of these fridges or are interested in doing so, I'd take your own measurements first and don't trust mine.

 

[jdmalibu]

I am buying a GE wmro4 fridge this evening. Your thread is inspiring to me, and I plan to copy your plan. The only item I am concerned about is weather or not a store bought commercial brewed 1/6 keg of beer will fit in this thing.

Based on what I have found, a sixth keg is 3/8" taller, and 1/4" wider than a homebrew keg.

 

[pr0wlunwoof]

crlova... my apologies. I never saw your comment from last year! Did you get everything figured out?




ThinMan: I really can't say if cutting out the shelf ridges will let you get two pinlocks in there. It's been quite a while since I did this conversion and I know that I could not get 2 pin locks in, nor could I get 1 pin lock and one ball lock in together But, i also didn't entertain the idea of cutting out the shelf ridges.

My gut tells me that if I had cut out the ridges, I probably could have gotten one pin and one ball in, but I am not so sure about getting two pins in there.

I no longer have my pin lock kegs (sold them), or I would offer to check and give you an opinion.

Sorry, man...

Two pin Locks fit. I bought the wrong kegs, but thankfully there is exactly 18 inches of room.

 

[TravelingLight]

I had checked out plexiglass when I was trying to find a suitable door panel, but that stuff was MUHC more expesive than I was willing to pay. One thing that seemed like it would have worked was the cheap/thin wall panel that you see inside of mobile homes. Unfortunately, that was only sold in sheets that measured 8 foot by 6 foot (or something like that) and I had no real way to transport it.

I tried "thin" plywood, but it was too thick and I had the same problems you had with plexiglass; the rubber seal didn't fit over it quite right and it was too thick and would not allow the door to shut properly.)

The sheet of HDPE I bought worked out great and was pretty cheap.

Hey Walker! Great looking fridge. I just started a very similar mod myself on a similar model. I'm going the HDPE route as well for my door panel. Two questions if you can lend me your knowledge...

1) What did you use to cut the sheet down to size? I have a table saw, jig saw, skil saw, etc. But I want that dang thing cut precise. And I don't trust myself to get the cuts that precise.
2) I assume your door gasket is like mine, meaning it was kind of looped over the lip of the plastic door shelving? If so, did you just cut your HDPE down to the same size and loop the door gasket over and around the edges of the HDPE and screw it down?

Thanks so much! Your thread has been tremendously helpful. I've barely even posted on this forum but this thread brought me out the woodworks!

 

[tonyccopeland]

Good Morning,

I purchased one of these GE 5.6 cu ft fridges and the condenser fan motor is making noise and the replacement part is not manfactured any longer. I am going to use it for fermentation (so it doesn't run constantly and it isn't mounted under the counter), is it ok to just bypass the fan motor? It is a 2 wire connector. Anyone know if I can wire this connecter together? The fridge model is GMR06AAPBB and the fan motor is wr60x10144.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jarhead91]

Are there any particular measurements on where to cut the hole on top for my tower? I have the GE fridge as well?