Keg King kegerator series 4

[Timbo]

Hey guys. It seems like many of you guys have got a Series 4 kegerator and we would like to know what it is that you would like to see change? What upgrades, what are the parts that annoy you that you want to see changed?

The kegerators are a large part of our business but it's also something that we would be happy to re-design. So give us some feedback and we will see if we can make it happen.

It sounds like you want:

1. More accurate temperature/more even temp in the fridge is that correct?
2. It seems like you want more cooling performance so you can still chill beer at temperatures above 35C? So would a fridge that is designed to still be able to cool beer in ambient temp of 40C be enough? 50C is really quite high and designing a fridge around the few days a year that it might not be a good way to go but if we get enough requests we can do it. We can keep upgrading the components but ultimately this may effect price. We could improve insulation as well if that is really want you guys want. It would only make the unit slightly larger but maybe this is a worthwhile compromise.

What are we supposed to do with the fridge when it’s in 50c ambient? Turn it off to prevent damage? Or just expect warmer beer?

 

[devoutharpist]

Doesn't seem to miss a beat. It's a little garden shed too, so heats up quick. Hasn't affected the temperature of the beer.

Only had it since January, in Summer it was costing about $1.60 a week and in winter, $0.40 a week to run. YMMV.

I'll have to give it a go and see what my mileage is then. More motivation to finally finish cleaning out the rest of the shed

 

[KegLand-com-au]

What are we supposed to do with the fridge when it’s in 50c ambient? Turn it off to prevent damage? Or just expect warmer beer?

You can leave the fridge running if the ambient temp is 50C if you like. You might find that at these very high ambient temperatures most domestic fridges will struggle including the S4 and will have close to 100% duty cycle. You might find that at this high ambient temp the temperature of the kegs will climb very slowly then overnight when the ambient temperature drops the fridge will catch up and then get back to temp. If you have the fridge full of kegs the fluctuations in temp might not even be noticeable.

It doesn't really harm the compressor that much. The thing that wears out the compressor more significantly is really the number of compressor starts. If you do connect an Inkbird controller to the compressor directly I would be very careful to make sure you have a compressor start delay of 2 minutes and also have at least 1C degree temp hysteresis and realistically 2C would be fine. I know a lot of home brewers like tighter temp control and you might feel tempted to make the hysteresis 0.1C or something but honestly your kegs don't need this level of accuracy and you will just burn out your compressor much faster as you will have a lot more compressor starts. Really the air temp inside the fridge might swing by 2C temp hysteresis but that doesn't mean the core keg temp is swinging by this amount.

So knowing that it's a compromise between overall compressor life and accuracy of temp control what do you guys feel would be an acceptable default temp hysteresis? Most domestic fridges and freezers have about 2C hysteresis.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

Changing lines is a royal PITA and a significant reason why I started looking to move to a keezer once I had more room for a home bar. Pulling the whole font off doesn't really help, it was still a nightmare as my brass shank retaining nuts had been badly installed (2/3 were cross-threaded) and getting new lines onto the barbs was agonising (my wit and fingers were decimated after that).

Many years later I still have the kegerator (keezer finally in build at new place) and would never consider putting anything with potential hop or fruit sediment through it. I just clean the lines with PBW followed by warm water rinse and cold starsan between every 2-3 kegs, or after strong flavour/colour beers.

I would say changing lines on the older kegerators was a lot more difficult than the new kegerators with duotight fittings. For some time now we have been selling these duotight compatible tap shanks that have a barb that you can use a duotight fitting on. Then on the other end most customers these days are using this FFL push in fittings. So when I take apart the font and change the beer lines over the most time consuming part is the nut that secures the shank to the font. To change over three lines on the setup takes me about 10 minutes.

Did you use the 7 in 1 tap tool? Normally this makes the process quite a bit easier. With that said normally as you have suggested and just cleaning the lines with PBW will work fine and this is normally all that is necessary. I find that anything with fruit or hop sediment gets blocked in the poppets well before it causes an issue in the beer lines so if in the unusual circumstance that I have got solids in the keg I would normally take apart the post once the keg is empty.

 

[Timbo]

You can leave the fridge running if the ambient temp is 50C if you like. You might find that at these very high ambient temperatures most domestic fridges will struggle including the S4 and will have close to 100% duty cycle. You might find that at this high ambient temp the temperature of the kegs will climb very slowly then overnight when the ambient temperature drops the fridge will catch up and then get back to temp. If you have the fridge full of kegs the fluctuations in temp might not even be noticeable.

It doesn't really harm the compressor that much. The thing that wears out the compressor more significantly is really the number of compressor starts. If you do connect an Inkbird controller to the compressor directly I would be very careful to make sure you have a compressor start delay of 2 minutes and also have at least 1C degree temp hysteresis and realistically 2C would be fine. I know a lot of home brewers like tighter temp control and you might feel tempted to make the hysteresis 0.1C or something but honestly your kegs don't need this level of accuracy and you will just burn out your compressor much faster as you will have a lot more compressor starts. Really the air temp inside the fridge might swing by 2C temp hysteresis but that doesn't mean the core keg temp is swinging by this amount.

So knowing that it's a compromise between overall compressor life and accuracy of temp control what do you guys feel would be an acceptable default temp hysteresis? Most domestic fridges and freezers have about 2C hysteresis.

Thanks for the reply. I’m happy with minor temp fluctuations in extreme conditions and that the compressor will run more on the odd extreme day. As long as the fridge life isn’t shortened or damaged that’s great!

 

[fdsaasdf]

I would say changing lines on the older kegerators was a lot more difficult than the new kegerators with duotight fittings. For some time now we have been selling these duotight compatible tap shanks that have a barb that you can use a duotight fitting on. Then on the other end most customers these days are using this FFL push in fittings. So when I take apart the font and change the beer lines over the most time consuming part is the nut that secures the shank to the font. To change over three lines on the setup takes me about 10 minutes.

Did you use the 7 in 1 tap tool? Normally this makes the process quite a bit easier. With that said normally as you have suggested and just cleaning the lines with PBW will work fine and this is normally all that is necessary. I find that anything with fruit or hop sediment gets blocked in the poppets well before it causes an issue in the beer lines so if in the unusual circumstance that I have got solids in the keg I would normally take apart the post once the keg is empty.

For whatever reason the sediment made it well past the poppet, was hosting a function where I had foolishly keg-hopped in a tea strainer and had other people's beer on which was also heavy on the hop/fruit matter.

I didn't use the 7 in 1 tool but tools weren't the issue... the experience above was years before Kegland existed or duotight fittings were available unfortunately.

 

[devoutharpist]

Has anyone used one of the waterproof covers from KK or KL for the s4 I figure i probably need one of those now to keep the dust off it in the shed. Looks easier to deal with than your standard tarp at least

 

[Josh Dodd]

I would say changing lines on the older kegerators was a lot more difficult than the new kegerators with duotight fittings. For some time now we have been selling these duotight compatible tap shanks that have a barb that you can use a duotight fitting on. Then on the other end most customers these days are using this FFL push in fittings. So when I take apart the font and change the beer lines over the most time consuming part is the nut that secures the shank to the font. To change over three lines on the setup takes me about 10 minutes.

Did you use the 7 in 1 tap tool? Normally this makes the process quite a bit easier. With that said normally as you have suggested and just cleaning the lines with PBW will work fine and this is normally all that is necessary. I find that anything with fruit or hop sediment gets blocked in the poppets well before it causes an issue in the beer lines so if in the unusual circumstance that I have got solids in the keg I would normally take apart the post once the keg is empty.

Mines a KegLand S4 not a Keg King and I do agree that the font is the hardest part about changing lines. To the point that I dread having to do it. I have a three-tap setup and tightening the nuts is damn near impossible.
The 7in1 tool is a great idea and works well for most things but is all but useless in the small confines of the font. You are essentially only able to finger tighten the bottom two nuts (right and left taps), and once the middle tap is installed, there's almost no access to those two nuts. If one of them loosens, you pretty much have to disassemble the font and remove the other taps to get at it and tighten it back up.
Not actually complaining or anything, it's just a symptom of the way they are made and there's not a whole to do about it. But it certainly explains why people don't disconnect their beer-lines all that often.

Having said all that, I love my S4, triple-tap Kegerator. It lives in the garage (the missus flat out refused to let me install it in the kitchen, even though it's a very pretty piece of kit) and I have one tap permanently assigned to serve root-beer, and the other two alternate between different beers (a pseudo-Belgian Dark ale and a Pear & Apple Cider at the moment). The noise is barely noticeable even when I'm next to it, it cools a keg down remarkably well (the garage is full brick and integrated into the house so even in the height of summer it maintains reasonable temps) and the convenience is awesome. I also love that even with three cornies in there, I have room for at least another six-pack of cans or bottles so I can have even more drinking options, Love the stainless steel Intertaps, and am contemplating picking up a nitro tank to use with the stout nozzle for some creamy nitro beer. A dual reg setup allows me to highly carb the soda and maintains decent carb levels on the beer as well. It's easy to keep clean, love the digital temp controls, and the chilling tube fitted to the fan and run up into the font keeps the beer lines nicely cool, which is just a clever idea in my book.
Really the only thing that could improve it for me would be improved access to the tap fittings inside the font, and I honestly can't see how that could be done, so it;s really nothing more than an idle wish.

 

[Scott Taylor]

Hi Guys
In the last few days I have received my S4 premium triple tap setup with a lot of extra stuff from Kegland .
I’m a newbie at this .
I’m looking forward to putting this together.
I will be starting with a 50 litre of New to christen it .
I will be getting into home brew at a later date.
Thanks to Kegland for the kit !
A question for you guys.
What temp and what psi would I need for a keg of New .
Cheers

 

[camNZ]

Can anyone tell me if they've managed to fit 3x19.5l corny kegs plus either a 9.5l corny or 8/10l mini keg aswell in their series 4?