I'm in the final stages of getting my kegerator up and running. As unbelievable as it may seem, I'm putting 5 kegs in an upright 420 L fridge. I just needed a few modifications:
When I first started using this fridge I managed three kegs with the gas bottle inside. It was a few quick tests to realise I could put four in and if I moved the gas outside, I could get 5 in if I could get the one in the middle to hang on the compressor hump. I got one of the local welding shops to custom make a shelf that fits into the existing shelf mount with a support leg beneath it and voila! 5 kegs!
Another problem I ran into with my 3-keg set up was the taps. According to my calculations, I'd have needed about 4 meters each of beer line to balance the system and the idea of having 20 meters of beer line in my fridge didn't sit well (that's almost an entire paycheck on beer line!), so I went for micromatic flow control taps, which have worked beautifully! Once I got the initial 5-keg set up running I had an issue with backflow and the manifold I made using John Guest fittings ended up leaving me with gas line running all over the fridge. I got a friend to pick me up a few manifolds from the states.
I installed check valves on each of the out port gas lines and used micromatic hose since they are more flexible. since I couldn't find a 5-way gas distro I got a 4-way and a 2-way and put three out ports the 4 way and ran a separate line from the fourth port across the upper shelf in the fridge to the two way on the other side of the fridge. With all the kegs loaded, this looks to be an easier way to keep the lines from going completely nuts. Line management is a must...
I'm using John Guest fittings and 5mm I.D. beer line to the taps. The last thing was a $3.00 set of stick on clips fit snugly together to act as a clip-in sort of line management system. The lines have enough space within the clip to move freely when I open and close the door, but won't just hang out in the middle of the fridge and get caught on everything. ...did I mention, line management is a must?
As for taps, I'm running up to 5 flow control taps and I'm hot tapping a nitro tap so I can do stouts as well. Take a look...
When I first started using this fridge I managed three kegs with the gas bottle inside. It was a few quick tests to realise I could put four in and if I moved the gas outside, I could get 5 in if I could get the one in the middle to hang on the compressor hump. I got one of the local welding shops to custom make a shelf that fits into the existing shelf mount with a support leg beneath it and voila! 5 kegs!
Another problem I ran into with my 3-keg set up was the taps. According to my calculations, I'd have needed about 4 meters each of beer line to balance the system and the idea of having 20 meters of beer line in my fridge didn't sit well (that's almost an entire paycheck on beer line!), so I went for micromatic flow control taps, which have worked beautifully! Once I got the initial 5-keg set up running I had an issue with backflow and the manifold I made using John Guest fittings ended up leaving me with gas line running all over the fridge. I got a friend to pick me up a few manifolds from the states.
I installed check valves on each of the out port gas lines and used micromatic hose since they are more flexible. since I couldn't find a 5-way gas distro I got a 4-way and a 2-way and put three out ports the 4 way and ran a separate line from the fourth port across the upper shelf in the fridge to the two way on the other side of the fridge. With all the kegs loaded, this looks to be an easier way to keep the lines from going completely nuts. Line management is a must...
I'm using John Guest fittings and 5mm I.D. beer line to the taps. The last thing was a $3.00 set of stick on clips fit snugly together to act as a clip-in sort of line management system. The lines have enough space within the clip to move freely when I open and close the door, but won't just hang out in the middle of the fridge and get caught on everything. ...did I mention, line management is a must?
As for taps, I'm running up to 5 flow control taps and I'm hot tapping a nitro tap so I can do stouts as well. Take a look...
