Cheap Keg Setups

[KGB]

I've just convinced a mate to switch from bottling to kegging and I think he's got a bloody good deal with the gear we managed to source.
First we got a 3.5kg CO2 extinguisher off ebay a couple of weeks ago, pickup. It was out of test but still full and he got it for $20! $20! I figure even if he uses it for 6 months and never refills it he'll have his money worth there.
Next we picked up some kegs from brewhaus with their closing down sale, $45 per keg with a new seal kit. Gold.
Next stop was craftbrewer for a Harris 601 reg, disconnects, beer line and a little handheld bronco tap (87+24+12+8+post=$140).

He is only using only of those little handheld plastic taps for now, I'm sure he'll end up with a door mounted tap but he doesn't have a fridge/freezer for permanent use yet anyway.

So it looks like about $250 for a budget 2 keg system with gas, I'm pretty stoked. Given Ross's crazy fast service I'm confident friday night could be spent setting up the whole shebang so I'll make sure I take some snaps and post them in the kegging thread.

Anyone else got any bargain setups like this? In contrast, my two keg (now 7 keg... ) system came with a door mount tap but cost me $340, didn't come with enough beer line and then I had to rent gas from Supagas!

KGB

 

[joshuahardie]

I also bought 2 kegs from brewhaus,
my cheap and nasty interim system will be
like your mate a bronco tap, a couple of QD's and a party keg charger

ill just bulkprime in the keg to carbonate, until i can afford co2 and a reg.

it looks like it will cost me under 200 all up to get some beer in my mouth.

 

[kevnlis]

Does the Harris reg go right on to the extinguisher? I was not aware of that! Maybe I should rethink my $10 per month rental and $48 fill fee

 

[Thommo]

I got my setup for a bargain.

Three kegs from some bloke who was giving up brewing...$50 each. Got a Micromatic for under $100, beer line and disconnects for normal prices, Fire Extinguisher for about $50, and a pluto gun for Christmas. All housed in my fridge I scored free off a distant Aunt when she moved into an old folks home.

I am very jealous of people who have nice chest freezer set ups with flooded fonts hidden under hard wood bars, and maybe I'll get around to setting up something like that one day, but for the time being this will do me nicely.

Thommo.

 

[KGB]

Does the Harris reg go right on to the extinguisher? I was not aware of that! Maybe I should rethink my $10 per month rental and $48 fill fee

Depends on the extinguisher, some need an adaptor or the head changed, some go straight on as far as I can tell. I haven't seen his yet to confirm.

 

[kevnlis]

Depends on the extinguisher, some need an adaptor or the head changed, some go straight on as far as I can tell. I haven't seen his yet to confirm.

I wouldn't mind an update once you get that info... if it isn't too much trouble mate!

I have been debating paying $120-150 per year for a rental and if I could just use an extinguisher that would be great! Any idea on where to source the adaptor or get the head changed?

 

[KGB]

There's plenty of info on here already if you do a search - there was one big thread in particular with plenty of info like mounting the extinguisher upside down if the dip tube is still in (to prevent liquid CO@ being drawn into the reg).
Most fire ext places will be able to change the head, some are friendlier than other though. I have a fire extinguisher at home that I'm not using yet (still got rentAL ON THE sUPAGAS CYLINDER) but it needs a 1/4" to 1/2" male to male adaptor and then the reg will screw straight on. Mine's a new one and is from Chubb, first marked Oct 2007.

EDIT: Just an update - the Harris reg screws straight on to the fire extinguisher, gold.