Keezer with a font, without drilling into the lid - Thoughts

[chrisolver]

Hi Guys,

Hope you all had an awesome Christmas.. I am looking to move from a 3 tap, old kegerator to a chesty. Fitting 3 kegs in the fridge was a real push and it was struggling to get my beer down to the low C's.

After watching eBay, GumTree and Grays for a while, I snagged a new chesty on Grays for $250 - Haier 324L (HCF324). Being that it comes with a 12 month warranty and buying it on my credit card gives it a further 2 years warranty, I am really reluctant to drill into the lid and voiding the warranty.

After doing all my measurements the fridge will take 6 kegs without a collar, 8 with two on the compression (with a collar). I was trying to be clever and was thinking of putting a fake bar top on top using the collar to support it, then drilling into that for the font but after adding a 20cm collar for the two kegs on the hump, my maths work out with a 40cm font on top, the top of the font would be 140cm tall... Which sounds a bit high/tall for a bar.. So I am looking at alternative ideas or do you think it would be OK? For the mrs to be happy it can't look too crappy as its going in the lounge.

Alternative ideas:

Remove the chesty lid and build my own completely (this would remove a few additional CMs for the gap between chesty lid and bar top)
Keep the current lid and do what http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/14321-chest-freezer-collar-how-do-i-make-one/?p=223282 - Darren did.
Forget the idea of having 20l kegs on the compressor hump and put 2 x 10l party kegs in there.

I am trying to resist putting the taps through the collar because i've been there and done that on the current fridge. Have seen the new modular flooded fonts on kegking and liking the looks of those a fair bit.

Love to hear your thoughts of what you have done with a font on a chesty without drilling into it.

Ta

-Chris

 

[Tropico]

I haven't done it, but have thought about using some of this for a lid and/or collar.

http://www.bunnings.com.au/knauf-insulation-1200-x-600-x-50mm-xps-multi-use-foam-board-_p0811028

 

[spog]

How about a collar that is just high enough to reattach the lid and a fake top , do the reverse of what Darren did and mount the font on the front on the coller in a matching wooden box .
This would mean the font could be mounted at practically any height .
Oh and I'm sure any modifications to the freezer would void the warranty as its not being used as a freezer.

 

[mr_wibble]

I haven't done it, but have thought about using some of this for a lid and/or collar.

http://www.bunnings.com.au/knauf-insulation-1200-x-600-x-50mm-xps-multi-use-foam-board-_p0811028

Is that just brown polystyrene sheet? ... That's what the product spec. says.
Does it have sawdust mixed in or something to give it better structural properties ?

 

[Benn]

I'd probably knock up a new lid, I'd make a sandwich of marine ply for the underside (painted/sealed-ply will help stiffen the lid) then styrene for the bulk insulation then for the top surface, either plywood again-stained or painted depending on desired finish or acrylic sheet-think bathroom splash back etc for a cleaner look. The tricky part if using something other than ply for your top surface is dressing up the edges and that'll depend on how handy you are with the tools, you could go to a kitchen joint and get a nice trim made up to use as an edging. The lid would have to be ridged and in reality would most likely require ply underneath and on top regardless of what finish your after. Then you'd have to either remove the seal from the original lid and fit it to the new one or source something else to do the job.
...or just power on and run with the original lid and hope you're chesty lasts more than the 3 year warranty period which it almost certainly will.

 

[Tropico]

Is that just brown polystyrene sheet? ... That's what the product spec. says.
Does it have sawdust mixed in or something to give it better structural properties ?

Extruded polystyrene, no sawdust. Benn's idea to reinforce it would be the go. It is really light weight.

 

[mr_wibble]

If you decide to drill straight through the lid, watch out for any light power wire in the middle.

On the last chest freezer i drilled through, the wire went in a straight line from the entry point at the back of the lid directly to the bulb socket in the middle of the underside of the fridge-lid. If you cut this wire, it needs to be properly removed / repaired otherwise it could present an electrical safety hazard.

As soon as I accidentally cut this wire I realised it would have been a handy way to bring in the 12v for the font fans. *Sigh*.

 

[Benn]

http://www.ebay.com.au/ulk/itm/201493670306 $79

Something like this may be quicker and cheaper, looks like they supply an aluminium profile you could use to go around the edges and probably rivet the hinges to (better than rivets would be a concealed timber recessed into the rear edge to screw the hinges to)
$100 < >, an afternoon, a couple of beers and your done.

 

[spog]

http://www.ebay.com.au/ulk/itm/201493670306 $79
Something like this may be quicker and cheaper, looks like they supply an aluminium profile you could use to go around the edges and probably rivet the hinges to (better than rivets would be a concealed timber recessed into the rear edge to screw the hinges to)
$100 < >, an afternoon, a couple of beers and your done.

Bloody cheap brew room to be had there.

 

[Benn]

Too right.... Hmmmm....