Gas in Fridge

[grabman]

I've just bought my keg setup and am going to get it all organised tomorrow.

A question however, can the CO2 cylinder be put in the fridge? I want to minimise the number of holes I put in the fridge, also due to location the gas line would end up coming out the front, not the ideal solution.

Any thoughts!

[Evo]

Hey Grabman,

I drilled a hole in my first fridge (well, chest freezer) for a gas line and in the processed nicked one of the coils with the drill. Much to the amusement of my chiller tech mate who got the job of fixing it. In the meantime I bought another freezer. All I did with this one was whacked a thermostat on it, thinking I would drill the hole carefully later. As an interim I gassed my kegs by opening the freezer and whacking 200kpa on them. I did this every 12 hours or thereabouts til they were gassed (ie the beer was fizzy).

As for pouring pressure, you don't need much. Say 80kpa. I just do this manually. When the beer pours too slowly, whack a bit more CO2 in. It's really not a hassle. I still haven't drilled my second freezer.

Oh, and welcome to the real world. Having a keg set up is like going black - you'll never go back. Congratulations.

[Dogger Dan]

I want to tap it into the fridge to but I find I need to disconnect in order to rapid carbonate the kegs. So, I top them up arond 14 psi and then run them. Evo hit the other issue, don't hit a line or you are done for.

I find they don't need to be topped up much. Also I like the imperial system here, 200 psi sounds like a lot LOL.

Dogger

[grabman]

Well I put the cy;inder in the fridge, the guys at BOC said shouldn't be a problem. First keg is conditioning as we speak and my taste buds are watering at the thought of my brew on tap!

SEcond brew in soon then the cider which will give three brews on tap at same time. MMMM I might just put in a cash register as well and call it as bar!

[Shaun]

Don't waste fridge space on gas drill the hole. The space occupied in the fridge by the gas bottle could be occupied by a keg.

You only need a hole slightly larger than the gas line. To enable you to remove the gas line for gassing you can purchase a John ??????? (JG) connector. This is the type of gas line connector used in pubs. It is a quick connect/disconnect joiner that allows you to brake the beer line for removal from the fridge then reconnection for gassing.

When drilling the hole have a really good look at where the gas and power cables run in the fridge. Once satisfied you are not going to hit anything drill a very small pilot hole in the skin of fridge only (use a depth gauge on the drill if you can). Then use a skewer to push into the insulation to ensure there is nothing there you missed. Drill a hole in the skin of the fridge again slightly larger than the gas line. Feel with the skewer again to insure you are not drilling into anything. Once satisfied drill hole all the way through the fridge. Now find a piece of tubing with an internal diameter the same size as the external diameter of the gas line. Expand the hole to the external size of this tube, place tube in the hole insert gas line in the fridge and use the JG joiner to connect to your gas line of the gas quick connect.

The extra piece of tubing in the fridge is to stop the metal skin from damaging the gas line when removing and replacing.

It is easer if you drill the hole so the gas line enters above the kegs note below the top of the keg.

I have photos I can email you if you want to see it.

[Oliver]

I've been told that if the outside sides of your fridge are warm it means there are pipes running through. This is generally the case with newer fridges that don't have the "fins" at the back to dissapate the heat.

Anyone know if this is correct?

Oliver

[Evo]

After drilling a hole through my coil I got to know fridges quite well . That is right, if the outside of the fridge is warm it means that condensor coils are running through there. They run very close to the OUTSIDE surface and run hot.

On the inside are the evaporator coils that run cold (making the inside of the fridge cold). These coils are very close to the INSIDE surface.

So if I was to drill my new freezer (and like I said I wouldn 't bother), first I'd feel the outside to see where the condensor coils were(and avoid those spots), then drill the skin of the freezer from the outside in. Reason being, the evaporator coils are JUST under the surface (on the inside) and you only have to nick them. They are very thin. Then skewer it etc as Shaun suggests etc etc.

I like the idea of the gas disconnect too. Where do you get these Shaun ? I normally cut my line at the reg end and pull it through. Not ideal.

[Shaun]

Evo

I got mine from Complete Quality Services 30 Vernon Av, West Heidelberg (Melbourne) Ph. 03 94583488. They are not a home brew shop but are: C.U.B. Accredited, service hotel equipment, draught beer systems, refrigeration and do Installation sales and service. Found in the yellow pages under Hotel, Restaurant & Club Supplies and Refrigeration--Commercial & Industrial--Retail & Service

I have two different types JG gas T's for when I am running more than one keg and JG gas joiner for when I gas or run a single keg out of an esky.

The T's were $9.00 ea and the joiner was $7.00 ea.

[Dogger Dan]

Like the sounds of that, may give it a go

Dogger

[Evo]

Yeah, nice one Shaun. I'll give it a bash too.