So it is about time that I started wrapping up some older projects so I can start enjoying their fruits, and clear the decks for new projects. Specifically, SuperBrewDay is around the corner as I have all the necessary ingredients, so the complimentary project is to complete Operation Kegerator.
I left off on this project after I had finished most of the heavy lifting. There were a few small bits to organize – and I had to get small rubber gaskets to go in all of the fittings. The 10lb CO2 tank with the dual gauge regulator fits nicely in the back of the space, and the five gallon soda keg in the front. I ran 3/16” tubing to the tap.
Additional mods: I installed an old external thermostat that my uncle had in his equipment. The device is what the kegerator is plugged into, and it in turn is plugged into the power supply. Only when the probe run into the depths of the keg area matches the temperature selected on the dial will it receive electricity to run. That was the main problem when I did the initial construction, the compressor seemed to run all the time! Hopefully this will make it a more economically and environmentally friendly appliance. I also went ahead and made a temporary tap handle using a broom stick and a classic ½” drill bit - but I don't have a power drill bit that large, so it required manual labor. Which left me parched.
5k words: a) the connections; b) overview of dispenser guts; c) external thermostat; d) a drill that is older than this project; e) malty dividends, project complete!
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Telling it like it was:
Trips to home depot: 1
Money Spent on Project Phase: $2.07
Profanity used: 0
Price of a new Danby DKC645BLS: $599.00 (http://www.kegerators.com/)
Price of a used kegerator (Cheap!): $300.00 (http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/)
Price of a used pepsi machine: barter a used 32” WEGA
Number of hours spent converting: approx 30
Current DOL Federal Minimum Wage: $5.85
Estimated on-air hourly rate paid to Brian Williams for anchoring nightly news*: $76,923
Size of soda keg (pictured): 5 gallon
Estimated number of pints: 40
Cost per pint home brew: ~ $0.95
Retail of 12oz can of miller lite, yuengling, or seltzer water at my vending machine: $0.50
Retail of any size glass of beer (limit 40 pints): $0.00
*$10M Salary, half hour taping, 5 days a week
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5 comments:
Excellent progress. I hope to have a frosty beverage from this contraption this summer.
Mad B
You think you can just spout out facts like you do beer?
The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009.
HA! My statistics weren't updated from when this project was actually started. I'll see the supervisor about back wages.
tonight I had a Köstritzer Schwarzbier and a St. Louis Framboise. I preferred the former, the latter being too saccharine. Stock up with some good homebrew before my next trip!
Relax Brian, the unemployed do not have to worry about how much minimum wage is right now.
Wait a minute, that is the manual hand drill I received as a gift when we lived in Richmond during the 1970s. Good to see it is getting some use.
Have you lost any percentage of body weight since the new year has begun? 2010 may really be a Space Odyssey for/from big mac.
older bro
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