Do you want to learn how to make a kegerator out of a fridge? All you need is a fridge and a kegerator conversion kit. After the installation, you can grab a beer. Are you tired of all the empty bottles and cans of beer lying around at home? Do you often find yourself having some friends over for some beer?
Maybe you’re a beer lover, and you want the convenience of not having to go to the bar every time you want to have a drink. If the thought of getting a kegerator crossed your mind, then you have come to the right place.
You also might have realized that you could save yourself money by having your very own kegerator at home. Okay, so you look up kegerators online and to your surprise, the cost was shocking. It wasn’t like you expected it to be.
You browse the internet for a while and see some people talking about how they made their very own kegerator from their old fridge and saved a lot of money. If you are interested in making your kegerator out of a fridge, then continue reading this article.
Things You Will Need To Make A Kegerator Out Of A Fridge
If you want to make a kegerator out of a fridge, you need a fridge first. However, the conversion process of turning a fridge into a kegerator varies slightly, depending on the type of fridge you will be using.
This could be an old fridge you have around that you aren’t using anymore. Maybe you bought a used fridge for a lower price. An important thing to note is the dimensions of your fridge, as the size and number of your kegs would depend on this.
The next thing you’ll need is a kegerator conversion kit. This usually comes with a CO2 tank and its regulator, a keg coupler, a beer faucet, and shank, along with a beer and CO2 line.
You don’t need to buy these kits. If you already have some of these things at home, then just get the things you don’t have. Remember we’re trying to save money here. You could also buy them individually if you think this would be cheaper. Used ones are also an option.
You would also need a drill with a spade bit, a sealant to ensure the holes are tight and sealed, and an optional drip tray. Finally, you’ll need a keg of the right type and size for your fridge. Okay, now that you know about the things you will need, it’s time to find out how to make a kegerator out of a fridge.
Steps To Make A Kegerator Out Of A Fridge
In this instructional, we will be using an old top freezer refrigerator. It doesn’t matter if you have a different type of fridge; besides slightly changing the location of the holes you’ll drill, everything is the same.
The steps will be listed below; it is important to read it first before doing anything to your fridge.
Step #1. Knowing where not to drill
Before drilling any holes through the fridge, you mustn’t drill through the coils and refrigerant lines in its body. Damaging these with your drill would mean the end of your kegerator project. So how exactly do we find out where these are located?
You could feel it out with your hands. The warmer areas on the fridge’s surface are the places where you don’t want to drill through. The cooler areas between these are the gaps between the lines where it is safe to drill.
It doesn’t matter what you do, just make sure to locate these lines and not drill through them. Don’t worry though because there is a safe way for you to not ruin your fridge. That is by drilling the holes through the door.
It is doubtful for the lines and coils to be located in the fridge door. When drilling, it is also safer to do so on the inside surface of the fridge rather than the outside. This is because the inside is softer, and this allows you to drill with less force. You would then be able to see any lines or coils before you could damage them.
Step #2. Drilling the holes
Grab your drill and attach the spade bit; drill from the inside of the fridge. Do this slowly to be sure you don’t damage any lines or coils and ruin your fridge. The size of the hole should also be enough for your beer faucet and shank to pass through.
You will need one hole for every beer faucet that you want to place, this depends if you have more than one keg for a different flavor of the beer. An extra hole could also be added for the CO2 line depending on whether you want your CO2 tank placed inside the fridge or outside.
Step #3. Installing the kegerator kit
All that’s left to do is to put everything in its place, connect one end of the beer and CO2 lines to the beer shank and keg coupler. You would then connect the other end of the lines to the keg and CO2 tank.
If you want, you could also attach a drip tray. Unless you want that precious beer of yours dripping all over your floor, the last step is to use the sealant to make sure that your fridge… I mean “new kegerator” to not have air leaks. Just apply it on the beer and CO2 line holes to ensure that everything is snug and fit and that you don’t have that coolness leaking out.
Final Words
At the end of this article, I hope you have learned how to make a kegerator out of a fridge. Thank you for reading up to this point of the article. Your time and effort are very much appreciated.