Completed DIY Kegerator

[jrcooper]

First I would like to thank everyone on this site who I took ideas from. Lots of good ideas and some very impressive designs out there. I thought of the idea to build a kegerator from scratch in December and used this site for much of my research and I recently finished it. I wanted to share my building experience and get some feedback on the result.

Also I am going to display the finished product over several posts/days so please stay patient if you don't see any updates for several days. Hope you enjoy.

First, I needed a mini fridge as I wanted to tear apart the mini fridge and use the guts of it to cool my kegerator. I wanted a fridge with the coils mounted on the back as it would be much easier to take apart than the newer fridges with the coils built into the insulation. I found a working mini fridge at a local thrift shop for $15. I used sawzall to cut the fridge to get the guts out as well as a pair of tin snips for the areas near the cooling as I did not want to cut through the line.

 

[jrcooper]

After acquiring the fridge I started building the frame for the kegerator. I don't remember the exact dimensions of it but if somebody wants to know I can go measure it again. Also one problem I ran into when constructing the frame is take into account how big the doors are you are going to be moving it through. The first picture is actually slightly longer than the finished product because I had to go back and cut off about 3 inches to get it through the door. The frame is built of entirely 2x4's except for a 2x6 used for the condenser shelf in the back.

Once the frame was built it was measuring and cutting the wood sides so I had something to fasten the insulation to. I used 1/4' wood for sides, front and back and 3/8' for the top and bottom since they are going to be bearing the most weight.

 

[jrcooper]

First off the last post I made I meant compressor not condenser small mistake but I wanted to correct myself. After the frame was built and the wood panels in place the next step was to cut and install the insulation. I put in 1 1/2' of foam insulation. Nothing to tough about it just time consuming. I used a razor to cut the insulation and liquid nails to secure it to the wood. For the bottom I put the insulation on the outside of the wood so the keg will sit on the wood instead of foam. I also put it on wheels to make it easier to move as being made out wood it is quite heavy.

 

[jrcooper]

The next step was the hardest, mounting the fridge guts on the kegerator. The cold plate was tough to screw in because of the tight space it creates and I was extremely careful when moving the guts over because I did not want to bust the lines and ruin all the hard work I had put into it. Again I ran into trouble getting the kegerator through the door. Once I mounted the guts the coils sticking off the back made the kegerator to large to fit through the door so I had to move that section in slightly. Which is why the back looks a little funny. But it is the back so I hope no one will really be looking at it.

The door was pretty straight forward except the latching mechanism I used was not ideal and took sometime to line it up and get the door to latch shut. I also you used weathering stripping to seal the door from leaks.

 

[jrcooper]

After mounting the fridge guts and sealing the inside with silicone it was pretty much complete except for some small details. I added some trimming to the exterior and also stained the wood. Nothing to special for the stain just picked up some cheap polyshade and put two coats on. I counter sunk the exterior nails so staining it was a must to cover up the wood puddy that I used to cover up the nail holes.

Also after I was done I tested it a few times and noticed the compressor was getting hot almost to the point I couldn't even touch it. So I bought a small 4 inch computer fan. I wired the fan into the compressor so whenever it turns on the fan turns on as well. So far so good. The compressor is staying much cooler.

That is the completed project. Let me know what you think and if you have any questions please ask. I had a great time building mine and would encourage others to do so as well. It was a great learning experience and I got a new useful piece of furniture.

 

[mrklueber]

Pretty cool looking. What is the interior volume? What size/number of kegs will it hold? Are you using the thermostat that came with the fridge or an external temperature controller?

 

[Bookworm]

Very nice!

 

[honreth]

Based on my limited experience this looks like it'll hold 3 maybe four kegs... am I right?

Did you insulate at all and if so what did you use? I might have missed that.

 

[00p]

Looks great, nice work. Something like this is on my list if I ever get some free time.

 

[kegger_maker]

Nice work. Will you update post with pictures once kegs are in? CO2 in or out? As previously mentioned, which thermostat will you use? An eBay aquarium thermostat would be nice on there and keep it simple.

Again, nice work.

 

[Schemy]

Looks really nice. But that's a lot of work for one tap. :fro:

 

[TylerAI]

I am curious about the inside and how you mounted the thermostat. Are you using the original temperature control?

 

[jrcooper]

Pretty cool looking. What is the interior volume? What size/number of kegs will it hold? Are you using the thermostat that came with the fridge or an external temperature controller?

Thanks.

I am not sure of the exact volume of the inside I'd have to go and remeasure it but it was designed to hold a 1/2 barrel. I am not sure how many corny kegs it can hold as I currently only have one tap.

As for the thermostat I am currently using the one from the fridge. I do have plans to eventually upgrade that but for now this one works.

 

[jrcooper]

Based on my limited experience this looks like it'll hold 3 maybe four kegs... am I right?

Did you insulate at all and if so what did you use? I might have missed that.

I did insulate the inside with foam insulation. I used 1 inch and a 1/2 inch pieces and glued them together as I could not find the foam in 1 1/2 inch thickness.

 

[jrcooper]

Nice work. Will you update post with pictures once kegs are in? CO2 in or out? As previously mentioned, which thermostat will you use? An eBay aquarium thermostat would be nice on there and keep it simple.

Again, nice work.

Thanks.

I don't have any pictures of the keg and CO2 all setup yet. But I plan on having a keg for the fourth of July so I will take some pictures and post them soon. For the thermostat I am using the original built in but I have plans to upgrade that eventually.