Flooded Font Questions

[Eugene]

Hi all,

I have a 4 top t bar type flooded font, I have not used yet, just pulled apart, cleaned etc.

I was looking for a Chest freezer to hold 4 50 lt kegs and a couple of cornies and gas bottle so I would have a movable party trolley.

Question regarding freezer: could a make a two zone freezer with insulated board, so kegs can be at 2-3deg C and the coolant etc for the font can be at the required temp, which I imagine is lower than 3 deg C.

I was thinking of putting a hood if rquired, Splitting the lid say in a 75/25%, with the 75% bit opening for keg access etc, the smaller bit still movable, but ussually stationary with font, drip tray etc mounted to it, under the small bit, over the hump in the freezer floor, have the gas and coolant tank, pump etc mounted and kept at the required temp, does this sound feasable?

But as I cant seem to get a big 400lt + freezer, I am keen to mount the font off the front of my fridge, I have modded the fridge inside so it will hols two 50 lt kegs and a 20 lt cornie. I curently have three taps off the side.

I w run the fridge at 1-2 deg c temp, water in a glass just goes to slush after a couple of days when sitting next to the kegs.

the freezer runs at -25 deg C, and is only used to store 20 clean, schooner glasses.

Question 2: could I mount the coolant tank (10 lt bucket with lid), pond pump and I was thinking of adding an air stone to the coolant tank so it doesnt feeze solid, into the freezer on my curret fridge, plumb it internally through insulation to my font hanginf off the front of my fridge?

What temp is required for a good frosting of the font?, what temp to get ice on the font, I know the font is going to be a bloody huge heat sink(cold sink) hanginf off the fridge, but I plan to build a Box, which sits over the font and covers etc, so when not in use, the font is protected from the shed temp, or am I just chasing my tail and be happy with four or five taps hanging out the front of mt fridge.

HELP PLEASE

does anyone here have a working flooded font that they are HAPPY WITH?

 

[cdbrown]

Question regarding freezer: could a make a two zone freezer with insulated board, so kegs can be at 2-3deg C and the coolant etc for the font can be at the required temp, which I imagine is lower than 3 deg C.

This wouldn't be possible as a freezer has the cooling lines running through all the walls so when the freezer turns on the walls freeze and the temp inside the freezer drops. Sorry but partition or not the temp will generally be the same throughout.

I was thinking of putting a hood if rquired, Splitting the lid say in a 75/25%, with the 75% bit opening for keg access etc, the smaller bit still movable, but ussually stationary with font, drip tray etc mounted to it, under the small bit, over the hump in the freezer floor, have the gas and coolant tank, pump etc mounted and kept at the required temp, does this sound feasable?

I have seen fonts mounted to freezers directly to the lid (the font flips back with the lid so you'd need to keep it away from the wall) and also at the back of the freezer (so that when the lid is open it doesn't hit the taps). Could also make a frame around the freezer and then mount the taps either off the side or front so that it's independent of the lid. I'm not sure splitting the lid would be wise as you'd need to add new spring loaded hinges and also seal up the cut in the lid to ensure a nice closed system.

But as I cant seem to get a big 400lt + freezer, I am keen to mount the font off the front of my fridge, I have modded the fridge inside so it will hols two 50 lt kegs and a 20 lt cornie. I curently have three taps off the side.

Could make a wood or steel frame which would mount to the fridge and protrude far enough out that you could put the font on that.

I w run the fridge at 1-2 deg c temp, water in a glass just goes to slush after a couple of days when sitting next to the kegs.

Not sure what you mean here?

Question 2: could I mount the coolant tank (10 lt bucket with lid), pond pump and I was thinking of adding an air stone to the coolant tank so it doesnt feeze solid, into the freezer on my curret fridge, plumb it internally through insulation to my font hanginf off the front of my fridge?

If you use glycol the liquid shouldn't freeze due to constantly pumping the fluid through the font which acts as a heatsink.

What temp is required for a good frosting of the font?, what temp to get ice on the font, I know the font is going to be a bloody huge heat sink(cold sink) hanginf off the fridge, but I plan to build a Box, which sits over the font and covers etc, so when not in use, the font is protected from the shed temp, or am I just chasing my tail and be happy with four or five taps hanging out the front of mt fridge.

It's all about finding the right balance between fluid flow, amount of fluid in the reservoir (coolant tank) and moisture in the air. As most of your beer lines are already in the fridge and your only talking 30cm of line exposed to the warm font, this isn't a huge amount of beer volume that is going to be warm. But there's nothing wrong with having a go and flooding the font with cold fluid, I'm sure you'll get some nice condensation on the font. Hopefully Ross can come in and let you know how he get's his monster font all iced up.