How Can I Get the Keg Box Colder?

[Anonymous]

Hi. this is the first kegger bar that I am building. Is there anywhere on the site that I can get the detailed plans for running the power for the kegger box and fans?

[Anonymous]

Charles:

All you should need is a nearby electrical outlet.
The 2.7 cu ft fridge plugs into that.
The fans run on a 12 volt regulated computer power supply.
You can alternatively substitute a 120 VAC fan for the low voltage variety to make things a bit simpler.

I’ll find a supplier of 120 VAC (small) fans and post them in the plans overview.

Anyone out there find 120 VAC fans?

In a nutshell, the wiring is VERY easy.
But again, I have an engineering background so that assumes everyone else is an electrician…I’ll throw some photos on the overview also to cover wiring of the fans.

[Anonymous]

How are you guys getting power to the power supply inside the fridge? Are you running a power cable through the insulation to the pc power supply or are you some how hard wiring it into the fridges power supply from the inside?

I’m a little lost on this part.

thanks!

[Anonymous]

nevermind….

I went ahead and ran a small cord through the corner of the keg box. Since the inside of the box has power I went ahead and added a light . Now I just have to find an old power supply for circulation.

[Anonymous]

Gran:

Always place the power supply OUTSIDE the keg box.
Being a switch mode supply, I doubt they are rated at below 40F or so. Remember, you can also use 120VAC fans, but find one with low noise. That’s the biggest reason I went with 12vdc fans, they are quiet, plus you can buy them with LED lights built in to them! Also, I had about 6 old PC’s lying around my workshop bone yard.

Tiger has a 250watt supply for a whopping $14.99!
The fans run about $3 to $5. LED fans are a bit more.
See the Kegger Bar Plans Overview Page for more info.

Most PC power supplies also have an internal cooling fan. If possible, place the exhaust of the supply toward the compressor unit of the fridge. That way it also stays cool and it’s life will be extended. It there is no internal fan, just add another fan to the supplies connector harness and aim it at the compressor. Be creative with mounting brackets. A few aluminum 1/8″ x 1/2″ strips can be drilled & bent to suit.

I also do not recommend incandescent light bulbs inside the keg box, unless you add a switch to turn it off when the door is closed. Even a little bulb can add heat.

LED lights are the best.

[uversema]

Where could a guy find some pics of finished keg boxes??

Thanks

[Anonymous]

Try the Builder’s Gallery…
I’ll add a few more today.

[Anonymous]

If you don’t want to mess with a PC power supply it is easy to hook up 120V fans with a relay to the thermostat of the fridge. Radio Shack has the parts to do it. Fans can be found here: http://www.radioshack.com/search/index. … rigkw=fans

And the relay here: http://www.radioshack.com/search/index. … igkw=relay

The fans are a little more expensive that the PC 5VDC ones but you dont need the PC power supply. You can connect the relay to the thermostat so the fans cycle with the compressor. I mounted one outside to cool the compressor and the coils and cut a hole in the ‘ice box’ door to mount one inside to move the air.

Hey – has any one found a nice looking remote thermometer? I would like to mount one on the outside of the box to see the temp. I have to open the door to see the one I have now.

thx

[bdomine]

How do you wire up that relay? I’d be interested in that. Not sure which one you’d recommend either the link lists like 10.

Anyone know the best way to place the fans. I just got my keg box set up and I have my fans in the back of the fridge blowing over the freezer plate and into the keg box. I’m not sure this is the most efficient as I’m only getting down to 40-45 and seems the fridge is working hard. The compressor and coils have been pretty hot and I’m concerned I might burn it up. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[bdomine]

Ok seems chaning the direction of my fan from blowing from the back of the fridge out over the freezer plate to blow from the keg box into the fridge over the freezer plate as one of Steve’s pictures suggests and adding the fans in the rear over the compressor helps a great deal. I’m now able to get to below freezing temperatures in a few hours on a 36″x20″ keg box with a medium setting of a 2.7cu Fridge.

For others reference, I started out with the Fans from radio shack but they are a little loud and I found something 20% quieter and 10% more airflow for a few bucks more here:
http://www.stayonline.com/detail.aspx?ID=8353
Pluse those are ball bearing instead of sleeve bearing and come with fan guards, mounting hardware and cords. Also the 120mm size fan fits perfectly snug in the Freezer plate space of the Haer 2.7cu Fridge with no mounting hardware.

Still interested about the relay though as 3 x 120MM fans running all the time is still noisy even at 32db each.

[Anonymous]

KS:

Wiring is usually pretty hard to access on a fridge and is differenton all models. You could intercept the compressor power, but I woul dnot recommend that since it would be a real cluster &$ck!

I prefer the method of using a cheap $15 computer power supply from Tiger Direct and TWO very quiet 80mm fans running at 100% duty cycle.
This has the added advantage of cooling the compressor once it does stop and keeps the keg box air moving.
Mine runs 24/7 and the silent fans I bought are just that, silent.

Thermostats, relays and 120VAC fans are just too complicated and in my book, not the way to go.

One added feature of PC power supply driven fans is the new LED illuminated models – blue is my favorite which people always think looks “cool” (literally) when I show them the inside of the keg box.

[Anonymous]

Specifically which power supply and fans should I purchase from Tiger Direct?

I wanted to connect 3 fans to my kegger bar. One on the outside to cool the coils on the back of the fridge, 1 inside the freezer plate, and 1 in the middle of the keg box. Since I plan on having two 1/4 barrel kegs in there most times, I want to make sure air circulation is optimal.

Also, I’m not clear on how to connect the fans to the power supply. Is it just straightforward enough that anyone could figure it out? If it’s not that simple, a step-by-step would be helpful to me since I have NO experience in this area. I can cut and assemble wood for the bar, but this stuff involving the power supply and fans rattles me.

[Anonymous]

Jon:

Any fan will do. I suggects the 80mm size. Select them based on your budget, cheap or expensive, they all connect with simple 4 prong connectors which are usually included. If you can plug in a toaster, you can do this.

I suggest using an LED lighted fan for inside (kind of a fridge light) in blue.
Outside it does not matter. You can fab the brackets buy using some 1/2″ x 1/8″ aluminum strip found at most hardware stores.
Since each fridge is different, it’s hard to specify an exact bracket that will fit all fridges. You have to use a bit of creativity.

Buy the cheapest PC power supply, then follow the info in the sticky topic on how to turn on the ATX supply. It requires one jumper, that’s it.

Click the link below to view that topic:
https://www.barplan.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=54

[Anonymous]

thought I would add something as well. In stead of making a new door for the fridge, I used the door I removed from the fridge itself. It works great. I used foam insulation around the door and I also use a bungee to hold the door shut as tight as possible. Just my 2 cents.

[Anonymous]

I am no electrical genius or anything. I just don’t understand, if you have fans INSIDE the box they will need a power supply. So do I need to drill a hoel to the ouside of the bo to plug these things in or what? If the electrical plaug in is outside of the box, how do I plug the fans in? THere was talk of a relay and what-not but that seems way to complicated. Can someone please clear this up for me? Thanks!

[Author]

Posts