# Tony's Kegorator Project.



## Tony (1/1/09)

Hi all.

I know i love to watch peoples projects as they progress on here so here is my latest one.

I had a 320 liter freezer for the job but:

1. It only fit one 50 liter keg and the other had to be a little 19 liter corny.
2. It blew up when my sister in law sat sofa bed cussions over the compressor cooling slots <_< 

Anyways...... i put an add in the lacal paper saying: Wanted. chest freezer over 350 liter. I only got one phone call for this one. FREE! We jumped in the ute and 20 min later it was mine. 360 Liter. It works well. They had it powered up and cold when i got there.







Its a bit rough around the edges, with paint missing and a bit of surface rust. Its no longer white...... its now a nice shade of ciggy smoke yellow and smells of it too (what do they do to your lungs?) Nothing a bit of filler, rust treatment and paint wont fix!

It will hold 2 x 50 liter kegs which is want i wanted. I have a 2 tap font so the prospect of having 50 liters of 2 lots of quaffers is great.

I looked on the back and noticed a plastic thing which was starting to crumble a bit and rusting around the edges.






I busted it out and removed the foam and found clear access to the inner wall of the freezer to mount a gas header for the kegs ect. Will get a SS plate made and mount a 90 deg fitting for the gas line. Very happy with this! I figure a bulk head fitting on each surface with a loop of line in the cavity for access if you know what i mean..... you will see.






Going to toss the lid in the bin and build a solid timber lid and mount it up to the existing brackets. Get a new seal and a SS plate to line botton "wet" side of the lid. Will use a light timber or else it will weigh a ton but i dont plan to lift the lid too often. If its too heavy i will make a support for it when its up. THe lid will have to have a bit of structure about ti to hold the weight of the font.






Anyway. More pics as it progresses. Still have not decided on a colour to paint it. THinking about the old holden Gun metal Grey. It has to fit in with brick walls and a timber bar so i dont want it too lairy if you know what i mean.

cheers


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## yardy (1/1/09)

nice score Tone, you going to build a frame with casters to sit it in for mobility ?


oh, that's right, you're a sparky, you don't fabricate, I'm the boily...

only joking mate, looking forward to see how it turns out   

cheers
Yard


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## Tony (1/1/09)

Oh mate i can stick, mig, tig and oxy weld....... Oxy cut, use a plasma.........how are you with wiring ?

hehe. had to have a poke 

I used to hang out with the boilies at BHP..... they were better blokes than the lecos in some places in there. Got plenty of lessons.

Its a good old unit with a solid metal base and will look into some casters for it. Will need them to move it out from the wall to open it hey  Good thought.

cheers


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## troopa (1/1/09)

good work tony 
that looks like a great project
if you come across another one send it up to Singleton will ya please 

looking forward to the rest of it

Troopa


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## Tony (1/1/09)

$20 add in the newcastle herald did it. didnt try the maitland merc or the singo argus...... not sure what the lacal muswelbrook one is. lots of untested ground for a free freezer there.

cheers


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## yardy (1/1/09)

Tony said:


> Oh mate i can stick, mig, tig and oxy weld....... Oxy cut, use a plasma.........how are you with wiring ?
> 
> hehe. had to have a poke
> 
> ...




touche, 1 all :lol: 

yeah, just an angle iron base with some casters tacked to it, you ever see the old kegerator where i _'no nailed' _tongue & groove to the panels ?

came up pretty nice with a bit of stain, maybe another option instead of painting it..

Cheers
Yard


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## cozmocracker (1/1/09)

ya lucky bastard! i would like to do something similar with a timber top, i would be using cornies so would be looking at a four way font, its a pipe dream at the moment. i look forward to seeing your progress, so all the best in your endeavour or should i say adventure!

:icon_cheers: cozmo


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## Tony (1/1/09)

yardy said:


> touche, 1 all :lol:



I like even..... its good  for now  


Cozmo......... i would love a 3 tap set up with 2 50 liters kegs for quaffers and a cornt for smothing stronger but the freezer missed out on fitting a corney by about 30mm.

never mind. Will build this and if a better freezer comes up in the future....... i have added value to it!

cheers


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## cozmocracker (1/1/09)

as maxwell smart would say, missed by that much.


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## Tony (1/1/09)

yeah..... thats..... almost what i said.

Maybe Max on at 10pm would have said what i said!

:angry: 

never mind. Tis will be a starter. Id like to get this running and build a 4 tapper one day. 

2 x 50's and 2 x cornies! Thats the dream

cheers


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## schooey (1/1/09)

Tony said:


> Oh mate i can stick, mig, tig and oxy weld....... Oxy cut, use a plasma.........how are you with wiring ?



Pretty good 

How's your 3E, cert 5, 7, 8, 9 and Inspectors 10 going?


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## Tony (1/1/09)

Shall we get into control systems........ PLC and SCADA programing? Instrumentation?

 

I dont need any of those silly tickets to build brewing stuff 

cheers

PS....... i already noted on your great wiring skils before schooey. Im very impressed!


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## MVZOOM (2/1/09)

Tony- how are you going to lift the 50L kegs into the freezer? Any system devised?

Cheers - Mike


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## chug!chug! (2/1/09)

MVZOOM said:


> Tony- how are you going to lift the 50L kegs into the freezer? Any system devised?
> 
> Cheers - Mike



I think he uses a pump into an empty keg in the fridge and carbs up over 48 hours.


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## Tony (2/1/09)

MVZOOM said:


> Tony- how are you going to lift the 50L kegs into the freezer? Any system devised?
> 
> Cheers - Mike



Rack chilled beer from fermenter to an empty keg and trolly it to the Kegorator. Hook up gad and pump it through filter cold into empty clean keg in freezer, close the keg and gas it over 48 hrs as said. The gas in the beer out at 250 KPA works perfectly.

No lifting involved.

cheers


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## MVZOOM (2/1/09)

Ahhh - well done, awesome! B)


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## raven19 (2/1/09)

Tony,
Great setup mate. Looking forward to seeing how it progresses. Shame about the 30mm, then again if it could fit 3 kegs, you'd want 4, then 5, then...... the home brewing wish list never ends!
Cheers!


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## Darren (2/1/09)

Hi Tony,

Looks good. Being a sparky and all, can you work out if there is a difference in running costs than a brand new freezer? How long will it take to pay for itself in electricity?

I know, I know, this one was free but it seems a shame to make a lid for a freezer that could be on its last legs.


cheers

Darren


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## eric8 (2/1/09)

Good score Tony, I changed the lid on my to wood as well. Got some scrap from a door place, so it's solid core with a veneer of wood over the two sides, then I stained and sealed both sides.. I have a single and doudle font on it. 
The other thing i did was to move the hinges so that I could open it sideways instead of the way it came. Meens you don't have to pull the freezer out from the wall.
Shame that I did all that work and now it doesn't seem to be working, either ran out of gas or the compressor is stuffed., but you take that risk if you buy 2nd hand.
eric


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## reg (2/1/09)

Tony said:


> the freezer missed out on fitting a corney by about 30mm.


That extra space you have now that you cant fit that third keg would be perfect for a banged up container holding some antifreeze with a little pond pump to flood your font.

Sometimes these little misses turn into big gains..... :lol: 

Or at least mine did after I married her.... <_< :lol:


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## Tony (2/1/09)

Ahhh yes the risk of all the work and the busted arse old freezer packing it in in the first day.

Thems the breaks i guess.

I bought a busted arse fridge and freezer about 5 years back now for $80.... for both, and they are still going great. My brand new $1800 fridge gives me more problems with frosting up.

I could do all the work and it could last 6 months or 6 years. But i dont really care because half the fun is doing the work. Creating something, hanging out in my garage with the sterio going, having a beer and being creative.

and if it works out...... its all worth it. If it blows up in the first hour..... The next one will be a lot easier to build from lessons learnt.

You cant let a possible setback hold up progress or fun!

Now..... someone mentioned a pump for the glycol. Already have that sussed! Got this little rippa from evilbay for $60 delivered. Its a mag drive "cold liquids" pump. basicly a cold liquid march pump with about 50% more pumping capacity and 3/4 in and outlet.

Going to sit a cube on the hump, and plumb it in with some nice flexable silicone tube. Hooked up to a 7 day timer...... should be great.

cheers


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## gros21 (3/1/09)

m8 u got a link for that pump? this might seem stupid but do u just run a bucket of liquid in the chest freezer to cool the taps.

or could u just be super lazy and poor some liquid into the bottom of the chest freezer and pump i bottom of the chest freezer.

also why glchol or what ever its called why dont u use water and another additive eg car anti freeze?


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## FNQ Bunyip (3/1/09)

gros21 said:


> or could u just be super lazy and poor some liquid into the bottom of the chest freezer and pump i bottom of the chest freezer.
> 
> What a mess!!!
> 
> ...




Cheers


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## Tony (3/1/09)

And i got the pump off ebay second hand. I looked into new ones and believe me...... they make march pumps look cheap!

And yes..... i plan to use a plastic jerry full of food grade glycol.

cheers


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## ian ulrick (3/1/09)

Tony what temp will you be running your chest freezer? Say it is running at 4 degrees Celsius would you need to use Glycol or would water be suffice? I thought that Glycol was used if pumping liquid at 0 or below. Is there a reason for this? If there is please let me know for my project.  

Cheers Baldrick.


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## yardy (3/1/09)

Baldrick said:


> Tony what temp will you be running your chest freezer? Say it is running at 4 degrees Celsius would you need to use Glycol or would water be suffice? I thought that Glycol was used if pumping liquid at 0 or below. Is there a reason for this? If there is please let me know for my project.
> 
> Cheers Baldrick.



Baldrick,

are you building it with the font on the lid ?
if so, chilling isn't absolutely necessary for such a small run imho, my _lucky seven andale _can be chilled but i've found i don't need it, my 2 bobs.

cheers
Yard


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## ian ulrick (3/1/09)

Yardy,

Was going to use a fridge/freezer that I already have but after seeing the results from chest freezers I may go down that path. So many ways to set up beer on tap. I will still be doing some more research before jumping into anything. I have been researching for sometime now when I think about it <_< .


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## Tony (3/1/09)

Will probably run it without the chilling first to see how it goes. The only thing im worried about is the fact that its a constant heat sink sucking the cold from the freezer. 

But yeah..... idea was just to keep it cold to the taps. Glycol probably isnt needed. I think some on here use salt water.

cheers


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## ian ulrick (3/1/09)

Tony,

Being a constant heat sink has been a concern for me too but I like the idea of cold taps. I had a thought a while back if I was to go down this track of building an insulated box to fit over the taps when not in use. Could be built from light ply and Styrofoam. Any thoughts or has anyone done anything similar?

Baldrick.


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## gros21 (3/1/09)

gros21 said:


> m8 u got a link for that pump? this might seem stupid but do u just run a bucket of liquid in the chest freezer to cool the taps.
> 
> or could u just be super lazy and poor some liquid into the bottom of the chest freezer and pump i bottom of the chest freezer.
> 
> also why glchol or what ever its called why dont u use water and another additive eg car anti freeze?





sure the car stuff might be toxic but u don't drink it, it should stay isolated from the beer.

but yea it juts looked like in his pic pump was in teh bottom of the freezer.
if its non freezing or even it is with another liquid why not just use a $20 pond pump if its only liquid?


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## Zizzle (5/1/09)

Run the font pump on a cheap programmable timer.... Kick it off about an hour before you get home from work every weekday, and all day during the weekends?


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## ian ulrick (5/1/09)

Zizzle said:


> Run the font pump on a cheap programmable timer.... Kick it off about an hour before you get home from work every weekday, and all day during the weekends?




I like a simple solution. This will go on my list of ideas for my bar :icon_cheers: 

Baldrick.


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## MarkBastard (5/1/09)

Zizzle said:


> Run the font pump on a cheap programmable timer.... Kick it off about an hour before you get home from work every weekday, and all day during the weekends?



Yeah agreed.

Have it start at 4:30pm on weekdays and turn off at 11:00pm

Run from midday to 2am weekends.

And have an over ride switch called 'holiday mode' where it runs 24/7 in case you're into hair of the dog


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