If you’ve ever looked at the price of a kegerator you might be wondering about converting a mini fridge to kegerator. Because it’s so expensive, you have to be concerned about the ultra-sensitive components, which aren’t up to par with small fridges’ durability.
It’s easier and less expensive to do it yourself. It provides you the freedom to pick a fridge and conversion kits that you want, and it gives you something to say to your friends when they come over, such as “yeah, I built that!”
It’s not the most usual endeavor to make a kegerator out of a tiny fridge. It voids your fridge’s warranty and has the potential to go wrong if you’re not careful, but if you’re competent using a drill and know how to take measures, you’re set to go.
Let’s have a look at how to do it yourself step-by-step.
A Step-By-Step Guide To Turning A Small Refrigerator Into A Kegerator
Picking A Fridge
What size barrel do you want to use?
If you’re planning to use it less regularly and want to save money, a sixth barrel is a good option. After all, that’s a five-gallon beer or thirty-three glasses of 20 oz beer in total. If that’s plenty for you, you’re in luck because most tiny fridges can handle it.
The majority of these barrels are approximately 23 3/8″ tall, so provided that your small fridge has enough room, you’ll be good to go with the second step.
Finding Conversion Kit
Finding a kegerator conversion kit is the most difficult step because there are a variety of kegerator kits to choose from. I don’t believe a two-tower tap is required for domestic use. They’re expensive, and they’re not actually needed. It’ll be more difficult to tear this out if you somehow need to change the tap, or you’ll just have to buy a new refrigerator unit package.
The following should be included in your conversion kit:
- Beer lines
- Five-pound CO2 tank
- Regulator (to adjust pressure)
- Gas lines
- Minimum of one disconnect
- Snake
- Serving tower (one or two tap design)
The cheapest of these conversion kits can run you around $200, while the more expensive ones can run you over $330.
When you’re making this decision, keep in mind the price of the fridge, but overall, it’s less expensive than getting a whole new unit of kegerator.
Modifying The Refrigerator
It’s now time to take out all of the shelves and remove the door.
There may be hardware fastened in the sidewalls of some micro-fridges, which can be tough to deal with because you have to either keep it in and pray the kegs fit, or detach and cover it with anything that won’t transfer cold.
To put the keg in, you’ll have to take out the door. It’s fine if the kegs you bought doesn’t need you to do this; just omit the part regarding the door.
Removing The Top
You’ll see a seam along the top edges of your tiny fridge’s borders. It’s like a piece of plastic/metal on top of your fridge that’s just been installed, with a metal gap of one inch on each side. You can wedge it out with a metal palette knife then wedge it under using a metal putty knife.
There are a lot of foam material and cooling lines on the underside. Here, you need to be extremely cautious. Because you’ll need to drill a hole in the refrigerator for your pipes, you’ll need to get comfortable with this area.
It will lead you down into your unit from the top and through the top. Set the location of the tap to anywhere you want it to be.
Drilling
It’s time to get to work once you’ve figured out where all cooling lines are. Between the cooling lines, drill a hole in the refrigerator.
You really want these lines to be close to the pipeline, or at the very least close to it. As your beer passes through the line, it will be chilled.
This could take a long time to complete. Because all that foam and plastic will be hard to cut through, you may have to start by cutting a hole in the foam to identify the lines, and then continue your way down from there. It’s not always easy, but it’s the most important step.
Filling The Gap
It’s time to install your containers in the base and connect your carbon dioxide lines through to the top. Get everything established by running your beer connections through it. However, don’t put anything on its ends.
After that, you’ll need to have anything to fill the gaps left by the insulation. My best advise is to utilize a wooden plank that has been cut to the desired length. To run the lines, you’ll also have to poke a hole in it.
Conduit
PVC piping is wonderful and a low-cost option. You’ll need to set up a conduit for the wires we connected before. Attach the conduit to the bottom of your fridge by running it through the top of the fridge.
When you’re finished, use an insulator made from metal, such as durable aluminum foil, and heat-resistant rubber caulking to mold it over the top and bottom of the PVC.
Securing The Top
After drilling a hole to fit PVC pipe, it’s time to put the top cover back on. It’s fine if the hole isn’t quite large enough; you can still patch it up afterwards.
Securing The Tap
Ensure the connections are running properly once you’ve secured the faucet/s to the top of your refrigerator. The lines may be set up differently depending on the type of tap you have. Check to see if the lines are operating as intended. Your CO2 lines should be kicking in.
Conclusion
All you have to do now is invite a few buddies over to assist you try it out after you’ve chosen the perfect size fridge and assembled your kit correctly. All that’s left now is to enjoy the most important piece of equipment for any weekend game day, get-together, or house party.
