DIY Garage Kegerator Build

The Homebrew Forum

Help Support The Homebrew Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

insomniac

New Member
Joined
May 24, 2022
Messages
7
Reaction score
20
Location
Pudsey
Hey all,

I've been lurking in these forums since I got into homebrewing again (Tried it 7yrs ago with minimal effort and gave up too easy after some not so good batches in my bucket kit). This time I've really been doing my research, reading & watching plenty of vids.
I've got a Fermzilla 27L conical, and recently ordered 2 refurbished corny kegs from the malt miller.
I've been pretty pleased with my progress, only brewing with extract kits at the moment but I'm very happy with the beers I've made so far.

My first bottling attempt, that actually went pretty smoothly, despite realising how much of a chore it was.
My second and third batches were foam nightmares as I didn't know what I was doing, didn't work out the temp and line length thing yet.
Anyway I told myself 'Never again' and started looking into kegging.

After getting my kegs I found a second hand fridge on ebay going for £10. In hindsight I'd have gone for a bigger one and one with a square base, this one has a boxed area at the back raised over the compressor.

Here's pancakes my cat telling me that this isnt going to work...
IMG_5456.jpg


You can see the keg at the back sat on top of the boxed area, but that didnt leave enough headroom for connectors and the gas had to sit at an angle because of the thermostat jutting out.

IMG_5725.jpg


I needed that extra half an inch.

IMG_5729.jpg


Much better, both kegs fit, with enough headroom. The gas can live outside.

IMG_5743.jpg


With a JG line reducer to 3/16 I can fit the gas line through the drainage hole.

IMG_5740.jpg


I lined up where I wanted my tower to go on my garage workbench using the rubber seal for my tower. Using a hole saw I attacked my workbench and realised it was too deep, I had to pilot hole it and go at it from both sides to work the core loose. You can see in the pic I've pushed the fridge back into place so that I can mark out on the top where I need to drill.

I also wasn't sure at this point if I was going to hit anything so looked up the components and how they work, most of everything is visible on the back, the compressor, condenser coils, expansion device and evaporator coils etc. So pretty slim to none chance of anything being in the top of the fridge.

IMG_5741.jpg


I used a smaller hole saw, doesnt need to be any bigger than nessesary as I want to keep the cold air in! Speaking of which, there's a 3 inch gap between the fridge top and workbench.
I grabbed some spare drywall insulation and cut out a square, just the right thickness so I velcro'd it to the top. The fridge stays nice and cold and my tower is also chilled. No more foam!

IMG_5873.jpg


I also wanted a drip tray so picked up a stainless steel one with drainage and cut out a hole in my bench for it, snug fit with a bit of sealant and its looking good.

IMG_5960.jpg


Only thing I didnt consider was the length of the drainage thread directly above my fridge. Meaning I couldnt get an adaptor to shrink the thread into a standard hose fitting.
I considered sawing off half the thread but in the end settled with wedging my hose into the thread directly which is tapered inside, I put a bit of sealant/glue on for good measure but I'm pretty happy its sealed up well.

73AA99B1-A98B-40DB-B961-14A2E703E9AB.jpg


Lastly here's the finished setup. Garage workbench, kegerator, you can see my fermzilla in it's insulation jacket down on the right with my raspberry pi on top of the bench (that monitors the temp and turns on and off the heatbelt)
IMG_5984.jpg
 
Hey all,

I've been lurking in these forums since I got into homebrewing again (Tried it 7yrs ago with minimal effort and gave up too easy after some not so good batches in my bucket kit). This time I've really been doing my research, reading & watching plenty of vids.
I've got a Fermzilla 27L conical, and recently ordered 2 refurbished corny kegs from the malt miller.
I've been pretty pleased with my progress, only brewing with extract kits at the moment but I'm very happy with the beers I've made so far.

My first bottling attempt, that actually went pretty smoothly, despite realising how much of a chore it was.
My second and third batches were foam nightmares as I didn't know what I was doing, didn't work out the temp and line length thing yet.
Anyway I told myself 'Never again' and started looking into kegging.

After getting my kegs I found a second hand fridge on ebay going for £10. In hindsight I'd have gone for a bigger one and one with a square base, this one has a boxed area at the back raised over the compressor.

Here's pancakes my cat telling me that this isnt going to work...
View attachment 70164

You can see the keg at the back sat on top of the boxed area, but that didnt leave enough headroom for connectors and the gas had to sit at an angle because of the thermostat jutting out.

View attachment 70165

I needed that extra half an inch.

View attachment 70166

Much better, both kegs fit, with enough headroom. The gas can live outside.

View attachment 70167

With a JG line reducer to 3/16 I can fit the gas line through the drainage hole.

View attachment 70169

I lined up where I wanted my tower to go on my garage workbench using the rubber seal for my tower. Using a hole saw I attacked my workbench and realised it was too deep, I had to pilot hole it and go at it from both sides to work the core loose. You can see in the pic I've pushed the fridge back into place so that I can mark out on the top where I need to drill.

I also wasn't sure at this point if I was going to hit anything so looked up the components and how they work, most of everything is visible on the back, the compressor, condenser coils, expansion device and evaporator coils etc. So pretty slim to none chance of anything being in the top of the fridge.

View attachment 70170

I used a smaller hole saw, doesnt need to be any bigger than nessesary as I want to keep the cold air in! Speaking of which, there's a 3 inch gap between the fridge top and workbench.
I grabbed some spare drywall insulation and cut out a square, just the right thickness so I velcro'd it to the top. The fridge stays nice and cold and my tower is also chilled. No more foam!

View attachment 70171

I also wanted a drip tray so picked up a stainless steel one with drainage and cut out a hole in my bench for it, snug fit with a bit of sealant and its looking good.

View attachment 70172

Only thing I didnt consider was the length of the drainage thread directly above my fridge. Meaning I couldnt get an adaptor to shrink the thread into a standard hose fitting.
I considered sawing off half the thread but in the end settled with wedging my hose into the thread directly which is tapered inside, I put a bit of sealant/glue on for good measure but I'm pretty happy its sealed up well.

View attachment 70174

Lastly here's the finished setup. Garage workbench, kegerator, you can see my fermzilla in it's insulation jacket down on the right with my raspberry pi on top of the bench (that monitors the temp and turns on and off the heatbelt)
View attachment 70173
Very neat, I like that.
 
Good job! My tall kegerator fridge can only hold 3 corny kegs at the moment. I need to remove the moulded shelf supports and a 'dremel' type tool with a cutting disc is what I was contemplating. I've managed to find a mate who has such a tool I can borrow, so I am going to give that a go soon. I'm assuming it's easier than trying with a stanley knife and steel ruler?! My only thoughts are how to finish it off other that duck tape, although I do have a roll of that I can use - it just needs to be functional, not pretty :cool:
 
Good job! My tall kegerator fridge can only hold 3 corny kegs at the moment. I need to remove the moulded shelf supports and a 'dremel' type tool with a cutting disc is what I was contemplating. I've managed to find a mate who has such a tool I can borrow, so I am going to give that a go soon. I'm assuming it's easier than trying with a stanley knife and steel ruler?! My only thoughts are how to finish it off other that duck tape, although I do have a roll of that I can use - it just needs to be functional, not pretty :cool:
I initially tried with a Stanley knife but found the plastic was just that bit too thick, so it depends on the fridge. But a dremel cut through like butter so it was super easy. The duct tape peeled and came off not long after putting it on, ended up pulling it all off and just leaving it as is, it didn’t bother me too much tbh.
 
I initially tried with a Stanley knife but found the plastic was just that bit too thick, so it depends on the fridge. But a dremel cut through like butter so it was super easy. The duct tape peeled and came off not long after putting it on, ended up pulling it all off and just leaving it as is, it didn’t bother me too much tbh.
I guess you could probably use a cut bit of vinyl stuck to the entire inner wall if you wanted. The inside doesn’t bother me as it’s hidden, just spruced up the outside with some beer related magnets and stickers
 

Attachments

  • 63E5CD77-75D3-4EAD-9C5C-2C98D05F99D5.jpeg
    63E5CD77-75D3-4EAD-9C5C-2C98D05F99D5.jpeg
    85.5 KB · Views: 0
I initially tried with a Stanley knife but found the plastic was just that bit too thick, so it depends on the fridge. But a dremel cut through like butter so it was super easy. The duct tape peeled and came off not long after putting it on, ended up pulling it all off and just leaving it as is, it didn’t bother me too much tbh.
Thanks for the heads-up about using a Stanley knife - sounds like a no-go there. I'll hopefully get a hold of the dremel soon and give it a go and then maybe find some vinyl or similar to stick or glue over the remnants! I'm not too fussy on the looks, but if I can sort of keep the sides back as "one piece" it would be good especially once kegs start getting knocked against some of it. I'm hoping that like you, I can get away with only removing these shelf supports on one side to give enough room, but time will tell :cool:
 
Back
Top