Beer Forum

Quick question.

A friend was getting rid of an old, i mean really old, stand up freezer. Of course I snagged it and turned it into my kegerator. Drilled holes in the door for my taps as that worked best for where I was putting it. It holds 6 kegs plus my CO2 tank, but I'd really like to keep the CO2 tank outside so I'm not opening the door too often and can easily turn the CO2 on/off. So on to the actual question... I can see the huge grid of coils on the back so I had assumed there would be nothing in the walls, but my friend who gave it to me swears I need to be careful of lines in the side of the freezer and can't just go drilling anywhere on the side. Anybody have any advice on this? The thing is so damned old there's so schematics of it or docs anywhere. I'll post a pic up if that helps.

Cheers.

The first thing to try is to look inside to see if there is a drain at the bottom at the back. Being an upright there probably isn't one, but that would be the easy place to run the gas line. My guess is that the walls would be safe since the coils are on the back, but I would still be leery of drilling right through. Maybe a small hole that does not quite go all the way through so you could carefully carve the rest of the way through so you can check for coils behind.

Wayne

luckydevil wrote:but I'd really like to keep the CO2 tank outside so I'm not opening the door too often and can easily turn the CO2 on/off

This begs some questions, of any readers/posters - I have my CO2 bottle in the kegerator, does anyone think this is improper to do? Also, Luckydevil stated he can easily turn the CO2 bottle off and on. I never touch the dedicated bottle I have in the Kegerator, meaning never close the main valve. Does anyone else close the main valve during periods of long rest, say > a couple of days??

Thanks!

There is really almost no reason to turn off the CO2 other than if changing tanks, physically moving the kegerator, or if there is a leak in your system. Once you get your system set up and balanced, you should seldom need to touch your tank or regulator.

Wayne

What Bug said.

I can't remember the last time I turned my tank off. Originally I had a 5 lb tank that I kept in my kegerator now I have a 20lb mounted outside. My kegerator is a chest freezer with a collar, so it was easy to run a line in to a 3-way secondary regulator bank mounted inside.

What about running a line through the door gasket? Normally not my first choice but better than puncturing a cooling line. Or maybe through the front door, lower corner near door hinge? Not cosmetically wonderful. Or maybe just keep the bottle in the fridge, unless you need that room for one more keg .......

The more I think about it the more I like Bug's idea of a really shallow hole thru the shell then manually carve out insulation until you get to the inner shell.

Sorry, should've made that clear. The main reason I want the tank outside the refrigerator is to clear room for another keg. The reason I mention turning it off is I've had two times in the last year that I had a slow leak and didn't notice it, had people over and realized the CO2 was dead. Of course, if I paid more attention to my kegs, that wouldn't happen ... so yah, really the reason is to clear up room for another keg.

Thanks for the feedback. Bug - I'll check in there tonight to see if there's a drain at the bottom I can run a line through. If not, shallow cut in the side so I can look around sounds like a plan. If I can't drill there, I can always cover the hole up with a BN sticker