Freezer Conversion

[user 384]

Not sure if I put in 1 or 2 taps. Think 2 may be overkill.

Well I've settled on 5 taps for my fridge. I was going to go with 6, but my partner convinved me that 5 would look better with a nice degree of symetry of having 1 in the middle and the other 4 taps mounted equi-distant either side.

The fridge is a bit tatty looking, and I'm having the fridge doors clad in a nice metal finsish. It's down at a workshop where they have a guillotine and bending equipment to give it a professional touch. Only problem is that becuase it's being done for free, I can't hassle the guy about taking too long to finish the job.

Will post picks when it's all finished.

And in regards to the Tobins thermostat, don't buy one already mounted in a box, just do it yourself. I just knocked one up the other night. I bought the thermostat "guts" from Tobins, then got a jiffy box, a general purpose outlet (GPO)and few bits and pieces. I mounted the thermostat in the box and put the GPO on the front just like the Growarm units. It's all mounted in a translucent blue box and looks pretty cool. All up it will have cost about $65, but if you're not worried about the aesthetics then you could make it for about $55. Best thing about it is anyone could make one. Drill 5 holes, tighten 10 screws, done! I didn't even need to solder anything becuase the wires attached to the GPO with screws and I used spades to attach the wires to the thermostat terminals. All TOO EASY!

Cheers
MAH

 

[Doc]

Well I've settled on 5 taps for my fridge. I was going to go with 6, but my partner convinved me that 5 would look better with a nice degree of symetry of having 1 in the middle and the other 4 taps mounted equi-distant either side.

MAH,

Sounds the business.
I trust you have tried your kegs in your fridge and can get 5 kegs in there ?
No point having five taps if you can only fit three kegs in the fridge.

Beers,
Doc

 

[user 384]

420 liter fridge !
Fits six kegs or five and CO2 bottle. Three sit across the compressor hump at the back and 3 on the fridge floor in front. It's also quite tall and because I have a few 3 gallon kegs I could add a second tier of kegs if I wanted.

Cheers
MAH

 

[Boots]

Here's how my fridge looked with a couple cans of cheap spray paint and a sheet of unbent stainless

 

[kman]

MAH, have you got any pics of this thermostat?

 

[user 384]

Not yet, but I'll take some soon. Have to borrow works digital camera first.

Cheers
MAH

 

[big d]

im very envious.
more ideas and things of desire to buy.

 

[Justin]

Kman it would look something like this, I'm guessing. This is how mine looks, sorry for the blurry photo.

You can see the lead coming in. The white bit is just basically a female plug coming out. This isn't the one that I've incorporated the heating/cooling switch into.

JD

 

[user 384]

It looks almost exactly like, only difference I mounted mine in a translucent blue box. Same GPO with scres for the wires, same use of spades to connect the wires to the thermostat wires, even the same bulkhead for the lead.

One thing that does look different is the wiring. I used the diagram you posted for the TS-040S, so I attached the active wire from the lead to terminal 2 (which is the middle terminal) and then another wire from C (which is the right hand side terminal) to the active pin of the GPO. Is the middle terminal on pictured thermostat the C?

 

[kman]

ok, so is this a thremostat that you have to hard wire? or is this one you plug the freezer into and then into the wall and it turns itself on and off depending on temps?

me confused

 

[Doc]

Got the internal and external collars built today.
Have uploaded pictures to the gallery.
You can check them out here
Also took delivery of a four tap flooded font. However it isn't very high and was designed to sit on the edge of a bar. Dang. Waiting on pics of the 5 tap one I've also sourced.
Still to do is join the two bits of timber for the top of the unit and hinge them to the collar. Am holding off on doing this until I sort out the font.

Beers,
Doc

 

[jgriffin]

5 taps? Why not go for 10
http://www.andale.com.au/category/font16.html

or for a really sexy font
http://www.andale.com.au/category/font14.html

or one for the yuppies
http://www.andale.com.au/category/font13.html

 

[Doc]

Would love those fonts.
10 is too many (in that I will only be able to fit 4 kegs in the freezer). Looks the business though.
The ones I've lined up are coming at the right price (free)

Doc

 

[Doc]

Said my sad goodbye to my trusty old keg fridge yesterday.
Official Time of Death 4:10 am 3 Aug 04 (ran out of gas and was making a hideous noise that woke me up).
It has served me 84 kegs of beer totalling around 1500 litres.
It looks very naked now with the taps, beer and gas lines removed.

On a good note the keg freezer that will replaced it got fired up this morning (gotta have cold beer tonight). I estimated I could get four kegs in it when I bought it, but fitted five in it this morning

Now just waiting on my five tap font to arrive from NZ so I can finish the lid.

Beers,
Doc

 

[dicko]

Sorry to hear about the old fridge Doc, but that freezer looks like it'll be the go.

How did you attach the inner collar to the freezer or does it just sit on there?

More pics I hope when the top and the font is fitted.

Cheers

 

[Doc]

How did you attach the inner collar to the freezer or does it just sit on there?

The walls of the freezer are quite thick. The inner collar just sits there, as the outer collar holds it all in place nice and firm.
The freezer lid hinges on the back also go lower than the internal collar that hold it in position to save everything sliding forward.

Will definitely post more pic's when the lid is finished and the font is attached.

Beers,
Doc

 

[Doc]

The project is nearing completion.
The unit has been in production for about 10 days but is still located outside.
Finished the top for it today and got two coats of poly on it. Will need another couple of coats then the only thing left is the font.
My five tap font didn't come through and has been down graded to a four tap one. So still waiting until I get both fonts to see which one I'll go with.
Will take some more pics tomorrow in the daylight and post them to the gallery.

Beers,
Doc

 

[Doc]

I've just uploaded some more pics of the conversion into the gallery.
You can check them out here.
The unit has been inside since Monday and is working well.
Bascially all that is left to do is install the font. The four tap flooded font shipped from my mate in NZ on Friday so should be here this coming week.
I think I will need to install something too keep the wooden top lid open when I want to change kegs etc. Looking around at the hardware shop this morning and I think one of those door hinge compressor things that you have on swinging screen doors should do the trick as you can lock them in position.
Also got a small aquarium pump today to use in a bucket of coolant in the freezer to pump cool liquid through the font to keep it cool.

Beers,
Doc

 

[kman]

awesome work, where did you get all the splitters from for the gas lines and such? and how much were they?

 

[Doc]

awesome work, where did you get all the splitters from for the gas lines and such? and how much were they?

The gas line splitters were from my old keg fridge. From memory they were about $20 each.
They are getting hard to get as I need to get a few more so I can run more kegs. Currently I have two gas lines (Dual Pressure Reg). One I generally use for gassing and the other for serving. As I'll now be able to server four, but potentially want to carbonate two at a time, I need to get another four t-pieces. That makes the big metal ones a bit pricey. Will have to go for plastic ones I think.

I also thought of a great way of keeping the wooden lid open. I'll mount a big screw-in hook eye at the back of the freezer on the wooden collar. Then two small hooks under the lid. With the right length of rope coming from the back over the top onto the hooks to hold it open when needed to save the font going through the wall.

Beers,
Doc