Chest Freezer Collar - top or bottom

[brewpunk]

I'm adding a collar to my chest freezer and am trying to decide if I want the collar connected to the top of the freezer, or the freezer lid. A friend said he has seen collars connected to the lid so you don't have an extra 6 inches to lift your kegs/carboys over. This makes sense, but I haven't seen any collars that are connected to the lid. If anybody has this, could you please provide some insight, pictures, instructions, etc...

[ggltd]

Have you looked into getting a 2- tap tower unit on EBay? This can surface mount to your freezer lid with just a chase hole for the hose connections without making a collar and going through all that hassle. That's what I am looking to do.

[jaymo]

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/ge-7-cf ... on-192208/

TomSD over on that forum built his with the collar connected to the lid.

I just got the same freezer and built a collar that I attached to the top of the freezer rather than the lid. It was pretty easy to build this way. Gravity pretty much holds the collar in place, but I used a couple plates screwed into the collar and the holes where the hinge used to attach to the body in back to keep it from sliding at all before using silicone caulk to seal around the inner edge of the collar.

As far as the "hassle" ggltd mentioned above, the entire build process took maybe 2 hours of laid back work one evening. (And I am not some super-handyman either.) I wouldn't call it a hassle to build a collar at all. Attaching to the base rather than the lid just seemed easier for construction purposes. I don't mind lifting kegs and extra few inches. If I need to, there's a step-stool nearby anyway.

[Whitebeard_Brewer]

Attach it to the body......you don't want all that extra weight on the lid. Problem with using a tower, is the distance/space you will need to open the freezer to add kegs when it's time.....too much of a PITA for me, plus, the collar lets you add as many taps as your freezer will hold kegs....try pricing a 6 tap tower!!!!

[San_Diego_Matt]

there's no way I'd ever attach a collar to the lid of my freezer and there's no way in hell I'd ever attach a tower to the top of my freezer.

I'm a man and have no problem lifting a keg or carboy an additional 6" - 10" over the collar

[MikeB]

I went with the top option and have been very happy. To reduce the weight we used 1" x 4" vinyl trim.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30239190@N02/2833363214

[brewranger]

I'm a man and have no problem lifting a keg or carboy an additional 6" - 10" over the collar

+1


The only downside I see to having the collar on the bottom is the chance to hit/bend your shanks while moving kegs around...but just don't be an idiot

[Deathrider]

I'm a man and have no problem lifting a keg or carboy an additional 6" - 10" over the collar

Totally agree!