Just bought a big fridge...Added Photo's!

[justink]

I just got a big fridge from ebay, bit tatty but it'll hold a few cornies and some bottles :thumb:

So, obviously, I want to turn this thing eventually into a kegerator. I was wondering if anyone with some fridge drilling experience knows, or can tell me how to find out, where you can safely drill holes?

I guess the door is fine as there is nothing inside it, no cooling or electrics. So some taps on the front seem simple.

I'd quite like to stick a hole through the side so that I can have the gas bottle on the outside. Should this be safe?

Just waiting for the missus to clean it for me and I'm good to start filling it :party:

 

[Fil]

Congrats, having just built a fermentation fridge, i have a little experience, if you look around the fridge you may find you can use existing cable access points for your cables temp probe etc..

for the pipes to feed beer and gas, afaik the top, sides and door should not have any cooling pipes running thru them, just insulation, and perhaps a few cables for things like the light switch and any front panel lights/controls.

keeping the gas outside is not a problem, i think most keep them inside for the sake of tidyness. just ensure that the holes you cut in any sharp edged panels are protected against cutting into the gas pipe.

if the metal skin of your fridge is Stainless steel, then you want to take care not to work harden the metal when drilling.

waist height fridges and freezers allow taps to be mounted ontop, if yours is a tall fridge you may not have this option, in which case consider drips from the taps, easily overlooked when building, i mounted a font in the kitchen and until a proper drip tray was sourced it made a bit of a mess.

before you start any work tho run the thing for a day to make sure its all working a-ok

 

[Darcey]

When I get a few fridge I switch it on and set it up max coldness over night and then spray some water on the inside of the fridge, give it an hour and you should see ice forming where the cooling elements are. Usually just the back wall of the fridge but sometimes the sides. For fermenting fridges I just run the temp probe wire thru the water drainage hole on the back.

D

 

[justink]

Thanks chaps.

Darcey - interesting idea, by the time I got it home there was condensation on the back wall of the inside only which suggests its only rear cooled. I'll try your trick just to be sure before unleashing the drill....

:

 

[justink]

Finally got round to drilling a hole for the gas!

So, I now have gas bottle on the outside and cornys inside. As I am force carbonating I have also left a 'tail' free on the outside using a T JG connecter in front of a JG valve so that I can shut off the supply to the keg in the fridge and then crank up the gas to force carb without having to go into the fridge.

I have room for 3 kegs but currently I am only drinking one at a time so I have only put in a gas link for one. I can add more later easy enough for some JG T's etc.

Pictures in case anyone is interested!:

Still got to put some silicon round the hole.

Next phase is to buy some taps for the door and get beer lines connected up!

:

 

[BarnsleyBrewer]

Nice fridge, looks great.... :thumb: Are you installing beer taps on the front?

BB

 

[Aleman]

Thats not a big Fridge, Having got seriously ****** off with the seller of the last fridge I won on eBay I had a look round on Gumtree, and got permission from She to go for something similar to this BIG Fridge

So wait for a how to on converting one of these to a BMF Kegerator :rofl:

The one I'm waiting for has a lit display portion above, so I'm going to get an Effinbrewery design to go over the top and printed on vinyl / thin polycarb . . . just to make it look cool. . . . It will also take connor the conical . . . with room to spare

 

[BarnsleyBrewer]

Nice those Aleman, I'd love one of the glass door type.. :mrgreen:

BB

 

[Aleman]

Nice those Aleman, I'd love one of the glass door type.. :mrgreen:

Those two are in Rochdale . . . 250 quid each :thumb:

 

[BarnsleyBrewer]

Nice those Aleman, I'd love one of the glass door type.. :mrgreen:

Those two are in Rochdale . . . 250 quid each :thumb:

She'd kill me!!!

BB

 

[carl_saint]

Nice those Aleman, I'd love one of the glass door type.. :mrgreen:

Those two are in Rochdale . . . 250 quid each :thumb:

She'd kill me!!!

BB

Be so worth it though!

 

[justink]

Aleman - you really know how to burst someone's bubble :rofl:

Nice fridge, looks great.... :thumb: Are you installing beer taps on the front?

Yes, taps next on the list :thumb:

The annoying thing is that the shelves on the top won't quite go low enough for the bottles! At some point I need to make a top shelf that sits about 5mm below the shelf guides on the side of the fridge..... Currently I only have one shelf available for bottles, but that'll do for now :)

 

[Rich747]

As I am force carbonating I have also left a 'tail' free on the outside using a T JG connecter in front of a JG valve so that I can shut off the supply to the keg in the fridge and then crank up the gas to force carb without having to go into the fridge.

Couple of questions...

Can you explain TJG and JG?

Don't you need the keg you are force carbonating to be in the fridge or is it cool enough outside?

Thanks!!

 

[BrotherMalice]

@Aleman

Are you planning on having taps on the glass? - that would look amazing if you got it right!

 

[Aleman]

I don't think it is really possible as they are double glazed units. My plan is to take a hammer to them to remove the glass and create a stainless sheet / Kingspan / Stainless Sheet sandwich on each door then mounting the taps in that

 

[BrotherMalice]

I had a quick google after I posted that and while it is possible to drill glass its hard work to do well and the bits you need seem to be rather expensive!

Maybe hammer one door for the taps and keep the other one glass so you can see your bottles?

 

[justink]

Couple of questions...

Can you explain TJG and JG?

Don't you need the keg you are force carbonating to be in the fridge or is it cool enough outside?

Thanks!!

JG = John Guest Fitting
T JG = 'T' shape John Guest fitting

I force carb mine straight after kegging them which means the beer is usually around the 16-18 degree mark. I think beer is supposed to absorb more co2 when chilled but I have found it fine for my taste. I prefer my beers not too fizzy, especially the ales!

The kegs are under 20psi pressure when they get chilled to still some co2 to absorb when chilling.