converting a chest freezer

[pangea]

I realize this has been covered a bit on this site, but I thought I'd fish around for more suggestions.

thanks to an understanding wife (this can quickly become and expensive hobby!!) I will soon have a chest freezer to convert to a kegerator. I am planning on picking up a new 7.0 c.f. from Sam's Club. My town is too small to have an abundance of used options. I figured I could easily fit 4 kegs (probably 2 tapped and 2 cold aging) plus some miscellaneous with my CO2 tank on the outside.

Being a new freezer, I want to build a collar around it to have the option of reverting it again some day. I would like to pretty much mirror some examples I have seen on this forum and others. I am open to any suggestions on prepping a freezer for kegerator and collar use.

I have read a bit about people sealing the interior of their freezer b/c of moisture/condensation in the interior. I was planning on caulking the interior w/ some silicone, but have read about polyurethane sprays and such. Any suggestions? The interior of this freezer is metal so I am even more worried about rust if a lot of water collects.

I will for the time being drill smaller diameter holes and have picinic tapes coming out of the front. When I've saved a bit more money again I will upgrade to faucets. I want to put it on wheels too for mobility and rig up and attached side shelf to hold the CO2 tank outside of the freezer.

Thanks for any advice on prep work.

[danno]

when you say "kegs", you mean cornys, right? there's no way a 7cf will fit 4 half barrel kegs...

when you say "I will for the time being drill smaller diameter holes and have picinic tapes coming out of the front." you're talking about the collar? I definitely would not drill the freezer itself for fear of hitting a freon line.

my chest freezer has a plastic lined interior and I've had no rust problems, so I can't help you there... but at a minimum you should caulk the seams...

did you get a temp controller?

[pangea]

Hey danno,

all your assumptions are correct. A lesson in clarity for me...

when you say "kegs", you mean cornys, right? there's no way a 7cf will fit 4 half barrel kegs
YES. I am aiming to keep the CO2 tank (20#) on the outside if I can make it somewhat presentable (this kegerator will be in the house for now!!) and open up more space in the interior.

when you say "I will for the time being drill smaller diameter holes and have picinic tapes coming out of the front." you're talking about the collar?
YES. I hope to get a couple Vent-matic faucets sometime down the line, but will live with picnic taps for now. I hope to get 2 faucets running soon and figure the most I'll ever have tapped is 4 corneys, so I'll work my way up to that. I will need to get a drip tray someday too.

I have a temp controller on order. Analog. Do you have any photos of you kegerator? I am shopping around for design ideas still.

[HiRichRules]

When you say picnic taps are you talking about the ones made of black tubing that look like this? (http://www.kegworks.com/shoppingcart/customer/product.php?productid=16644&cat=394&page=1) I think you may run into a problem there keeping your lines clean in the long run. You would be better off to use a faucet and shank (http://www.kegworks.com/shoppingcart/customer/home.php?cat=412) from the beginning. It may cost a little more initially but it is eventually what you plan to do anyway. It will look cleaner and save you a few headaches.

Just a question, but what is preventing you from using a tower? You can get multitap towers and that will help you with the whole drip tray issue? It sounds like one of the reasons you are holding off is that you maybe someday want to turn this back into a freezer. By the time you are ready to do that (if that time ever actually comes) your wife will give you the "I am not putting food in that smelly thing you used to keep your beer in." I know she says differently now, but that will change. Make it perminent, this way you will always have an excuse to keep your kegerator.

[pangea]

I have thought of the tower option, but discounted it for the collar route for a couple of reasons.

1. I like the additional height to the interior space of the freezer provided by the collar. If I do need to put my 20# CO2 tank in there, it is pretty tall and I could then fit it on the shelf (maybe). Also any misc. items can use the room too (other bottled beer, manifolds, etc.)

2. I like the adaptability of the collar. I can add faucets as I want/need. Multiple tap towers are pretty spendy and I definitely can't afford that route now anyway. Although I do like the looks of a tower on a freezer I still think a well built collar can look good. But really what am I loosing by going with a collar for a few years? I can always revert the freezer back to it's original state and put a tower on it.

3. Finally, although I am skeptical on it's future use as a freezer too, I like knowing I can revert it to sell it for a bigger one or --god forbid-- if I ever get out of brewing beer.

As for the picnic taps: I know it will be a bit of a drag (read as: I am a tight wad that has spent a lot recently getting the keg system up and running and need to replenish the bank account)but, I would have to clean them as just as often if I just left them hooked up to the corney in the freezer and opened and closed the lid to fill mugs. I guess this way feels more efficient, I won't let cold air out opening the lid all the time and I can enlarge the holes for shanks/faucets when I need to. I hoping with in the next 2 months to get at least 1 faucet so it won't be that long.

[danno]

pangea, I forgot this in the last post... welcome !

I agree with you about the collar. it makes life very nice. I can even get two 6 gallon carboys on the compressor shelf. one problem you didn't mention about putting a tower on the top of a chest freezer is that you have to move the whole freezer every time you want to open up the lid. makes life difficult unless your chest freezer isn't up against a wall...

regarding the cold loss issue, remember that heat rises and cold drops, so you get very little loss with opening and closing the lid. my compressor rarely kicks in when I have the lid open...

you may not want to let your wife read this part, but as you progress in your homebrewing, you'll end up wanting a second fridge (or a chest freezer) for lagering, so you can accurately control your fermenting temps. you won't be parting with this one, but I bet that you'll be on the lookout for another one (probably bigger) for serving...

here's a pic of mine (http://www.boomspeed.com/danno/collar1.jpg), two points of interest: first, this is in my garage so I didn't exactly go all out with presentation (big ugly screws showing, etc...) second, my chest freezer had integrated hinges, so I couldn't go with a square collar. that's why it's a wedge shape. hope this helps, I'd be happy to answer any more questions...

[O2 Mash]

Originally posted by pangea
My town is too small to have an abundance of used options.

Go Salukis!! I spent many a year in college at SIU, and amazingly made it out alive. Are you a student or a local? Is the American Tap still there? I was a bouncer/bartender there in the late 80's. Ah to be young again :D

[pangea]

Danno-- Thanks for the welcome. I've been reading this site for awhile but never posted. Also, thanks for the photo. good job. I can't wait to have a set up of my own!!

O2 Mash -- hey. more people out there know what a saluki is than I ever would have expected when I got here. No native am I. Originally I'm an Ohioan, but have been bouncing around the US working until I started grad school at SIU. So now I'm a zoology grad student until spring. than out into the overcrowded, unavailable job market! Of all the places in IL to live I vote this town a one of the better. Its nice to have some forest around you.

Oh yeah. the american tap must be gone. Never heard of it. I've been told the town has calmed quite a bit over the years from the early 90's. They just stopped closing school for a week around Halloween recently, but still close all the bars for the weekend!

[O2 Mash]

Originally posted by pangea

O2 Mash -- hey. more people out there know what a saluki is than I ever would have expected when I got here. No native am I. Originally I'm an Ohioan, but have been bouncing around the US working until I started grad school at SIU. So now I'm a zoology grad student until spring. than out into the overcrowded, unavailable job market! Of all the places in IL to live I vote this town a one of the better. Its nice to have some forest around you.

Oh yeah. the american tap must be gone. Never heard of it. I've been told the town has calmed quite a bit over the years from the early 90's. They just stopped closing school for a week around Halloween recently, but still close all the bars for the weekend!

Wow, the sign said "American Tap, since 1902". I can't believe they took it down. It was in the building on the strip kitty corner to Sidetracks bar (if it's still there) and it has a beer garden out front.

Halloween at SIU was pretty rough. A lot of child like behavior and numerous injuries. I'm glad it's over.

Anyway, enjoy the humid weather, it should start cooling down by the end of October :D