Digital Thermostatic Beer Refreshment Regulator

Step 4 Beer has food value, but food has no beer value....

Nothing left to do now but pull the handle, relax and have a beer!

Here are some pictures of the internals of my DIY Kegerator for your viewing pleasure.

I acquired a GE min-fridge and thought it would be a good kegerator, it took a bit of modding but I finally got it up and running.
-The cooling coils inside were originally at the top of the refrigerator which made a little freezer area but a 1/6 barrel keg wouldn't fit inside. So, I had to carefully bend the unit so it sat nearly flush with the back wall of the fridge.
-Another modification I made was removing the molded plastic inside the front door which holds can sodas and such. There were about 20 screws to remove under the door seal, then I added a then panel of sheet metal to cover up the insulation.
-Drilling through the top of the fridge was a bit nerve racking since I couldn't determine where the compressor lines were running. But everything went well and attaching the tower was quite easy.
I rigged up a computer case fan to an old 12V wall wort that blows cold air into the tower to keep the lines cold and help combat any foaming issues.

Any question, comments or suggestion are most welcome. I will update this with any modification when they are completed.

Thanks for looking, and keep drinking!

Comments

[cahillicus]

Only slightly off topic; how exactly did you bend down the cooler? Is the tube metal or some type plastic? I have a very similar fridge that I use for a home-brew kegerator but have to use 3 gal cornys because of the restricted height. Thanks

[dafoink]

do you have any photos on how you attached the LM35 to the beer line?

[silverHalo]

I didn't attach the LM35 to the beer line. I just experimented with different placements in the fridge to find the best equilibrium for the internal temperature. Too close to the coil would give a colder reading, so I opted for nearer towards the front by the door... it's kind of trial and error I think....

[dafoink]

ah.  cool.  I was thinking about adding a T-connector to my beer line and dangle out a bit of tubing that I could then have the LM35 sitting in.  that way, as the beer flowed out, it would hit the LM35 on the way by the t-connector.  I would have it secured in the tubbing (dongle) with some food safe silicon.

that would give me the actual temp of the beer.