fridge modding

bryandamage · Post by **bryandamage** » Sunday Dec 11, 2005 9:06 pm

hey everyone. just got back into brewing after several years of commercial brews. decided to do the keg thing as the bottling stopped me brewing last time. i'm loving this site. so much great advice and great people.

i will be modifying my beer fridge with a door mounted tap and a gas inlet hole in the side. i'm worried about hitting something important with the drill, especially in the side. the door should be no worries at all. how have all yous gone about this? how do you get gas to the kegs? sides, back, door? it looks as though the chilling element is on the back and apart from the thermistat dial and light on the right hand side there should be nothing but insulation in the sides right?

my 19L kegs just squeeze in and my bottle is too tall so i need to run the gas line through somewhere.

Lebowski · Post by **Lebowski** » Sunday Dec 11, 2005 11:15 pm

Dont suppose the fridge has a draining hole at the back someplace? I managed to just stick my gas line out there on mine.
I think people suggest just drilling a small hole and poking around the insulation with a skewer or something to make sure theres no pipes.

Dogger Dan · Post by **Dogger Dan** » Sunday Dec 11, 2005 11:19 pm

If you are really worried why not attach the CO2 tank to the door and bring it in that way?

I was fortunate, the fridge I bought is also used as a draught system by the manufacturer so I just stuck the CO2 where they did, although I had to modify the door a lot.

Dogger

tyrone · Post by **tyrone** » Sunday Dec 11, 2005 11:39 pm

Why not put the gas inlet at the bottom corner of the door near the hinges.Neat ; but not very visiable and no worries about cooling coils.

recharge · Post by **recharge** » Monday Dec 12, 2005 1:27 am

i just stuck a cork on the end of drill bit so it only just broke through fridge wall then hand turned it through the insulation. Was nothing in my side wall.

bryandamage · Post by **bryandamage** » Monday Dec 12, 2005 6:49 am

thanks everyone. i had thought of going through the drain hole but decided it might need to drain at some point. i think my gas line is thicker than the drain hole anyway.

the door seems like the best all round option. especially when i move it to another house i have the freedom to put it anywhere i want, like in a corner and still only have one hole.

grabman · Post by **grabman** » Monday Dec 12, 2005 2:15 pm

I drilled small hole from inside heading out, reasoning that as inside liner was plastic would be softer and if I found a cooling duct or similar I could seal inside hole and not have outside of fridge lkooking like swiss cheese..

Didn't hit anything though!! Gas hole is on side of fridge near back so out of the way.

I've also put a 't' into gas line and have a connection outside the fridge that I used for cleaning etc so fridge door isn't constantly open.

Stangas · Post by **Stangas** » Thursday Dec 15, 2005 6:29 pm

Me... being a rough head like i am, just got the drill bit the height of the cylinder and then crossed me fingers..

i didnt hit anything and it looks as neat as.

Whether that was luck or an educated guess i dont know.

I also had to modify the door.. i actually took out all the internals of the door and replaced it with a sheet of masonite. Dunno if it will be any good in a few years tho being that cardboard/wood stuff. Working ok so far.

Shaun · Post by **Shaun** » Saturday Dec 31, 2005 9:14 pm

Something else to consider is the height you put the hole. It needs to be higher than the top of the kegs when they are in the fridge. If the kegs are a tight fit and the hole is to low you will kink the gas line.

tyrone · Post by **tyrone** » Sunday Jan 01, 2006 8:47 pm

What if you used a longer gas hose and just let it coil ?would that work?

Shaun · Post by **Shaun** » Sunday Jan 01, 2006 10:01 pm

Yes as long as it does not have to make a tight turn that kinks it as soon as it enters the fridge that is all. It is only important that it is higher than the kegs if they are going to cause it to kink or crush it on entering the fridge.

tyrone · Post by **tyrone** » Monday Jan 02, 2006 3:42 pm

Thanks for the info as I hope to setting up a keg system in the next couple of weeks