$400 Kegerator budget.

Buy a used fridge or used cheat freezer and convert it yourself.

 

If you can get your hands on an old fridge that still gets to 38F you should build the kegerator. With $400 you don't have too many options, but you can make a really decent and well built kegerator if you pay attention to experienced hands.

More importantly, do not spend $400 on a new $400 kegerator. It won't work.

• Stainless Steel parts are nice, but expensive. Chrome is fine on a budget.
• Avoid no name made in China components. The quality can be horrendous, and often times the parts don't even fit together correctly.
• You need a bottle of CO2, so shop around. The first bottle you buy, then you exchange. But that first purchase can be steep.
• Economy parts are fine, as long as they are name brand. Taprite is your friend here. So is Krome.
• Get a cleaning kit. And a faucet wrench. You need it. Beer is food.
• Search this forum, as hundreds of people have come before you.

Cheers.

 

To add to what billandsuz said, the main reasons it won't work are:
1. $400 kegerator may or may not get down to 38F. Lots of these low cost kegerator's either don't go below the 40's or they require a modification.
2. Some or all of the parts will need to be replaced which means your $400 kegerator is now really a $700 kegerator likely with a cheap refrigeration unit.

Now that being said I own a $400 kegerator, its an Igloo brand bought from Home Depot. I got lucky that I got a brand that actually gets down to 38F (and colder) without mods. That's the good. The bad is that one of the first things I wanted to do was add a double tap. Since they have a non standard connection for the tower I needed to mod the connection. The faucets were cheap with both the original tower and the tower replacement I bought. I've replaced them with nice SS faucets and I could already see the originals after a short time corroding.

So great I've invested a bunch of money into the kegerator and everything is hunky dory, right? Wrong. I fight with this thing every few months. Everything was great for a while but now I realize I probably need to replace the original regulator. If I don't drink keg beer for a while due to either traveling or buying cans/bottles of something else I find the system over carbed. The carb readings on the regulator don't seem to be accurate since even if I set it a little low and don't use the kegerator I can come back in a week and its over carbed. The fridge actually gets too cold at the highest setting. I've got to be careful I don't accidentally bump the cold setting or else I have frozen beer. Bottom line a $400 kegerator is not going to cost you $400 unless you build it yourself or you buy used and find a great deal for a higher end model that still works.

 

I'll chime in as well.

Save your $400 and then continue to save.

My BevAir was $1100 in 1996 and it has been in continuous service now for almost 21 years. Guess what? Zero down time.

The lines are cleaned every 14 days and have needed to be replaced three times. The unit gets pulled out and the condenser gets cleaned every 4 months.That is pretty much the only maintenance required other than an occasional wipe down.

So...save up your money and deny the immediate gratification. Think long-term with this purchase.

Go commercial with BevAir or True and you will NOT be disappointed.

 

So what have we learned? For the hundredth time?

Low budget kegerators are not any value.
Buy a cheap microwave and it wont impress, but it will heat your food just fine.
Buy a cheap dishwasher and it won't look great, but it will sort of clean your dishes.
Buy a cheap toaster and you do get toast but not much else.
All of it is just fine.

But purchase a cheap-o no name kegerator and you do not get anything approaching acceptable draft beer, and that is the point after all. There is no value in cheap kegerators (I'm talking to you Bed Bath and Beyond!!!). You get a big box that will never really do the one job on this planet it is intended to do.

But you dear beer lover, you have paid an initial $400 and now must drop another $400 to "fix" your brand new box of parts.

Folks, please save yourself the headache. This forum is lousy with unsatisfied customers.
End of rant. This week anyway.

Cheers.

 

We need a sticky thread on this board along the lines of "So you bought a $400 kegerator" or "Why a $400 kegerator actually costs $800". Then again without this question the "Home Bar" forum would be pretty quiet...

 

I've learned not to invest too much time in feedback to a one-n-done post. Hmmm, think it was you(?) who 'splained that before.

Agree, where's an "Uncontrollable Foam" thread when you need one? Maybe one of us regulars needs to post a "Quick Carb is Better" thread (under an alias, of course) . . . get some hits going .

 

The only way to stay close to that budget would be to convert a RELIABLE refrigerator that you already have. I would be concerned with investing money in a used Craigslist fridge that might crap out in 6 months. I converted the spare fridge in my laundry room with one of these kits years ago and it continues to work beautifully. It's not cool looking but functional as hell. I can still use it as a fridge and put extra food, milk, soda, whatever in it.
http://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer/kits/psck-nt.shtml

 

I have no idea if this is a good kegerator or not but its over half off.
http://www.mensjournal.com/gear/art...-a-700-kegerator-for-just-320-on-ebay-w484274

 

Looking at the specs and pictures I'm pretty sure the Keggermeister and the Igloo kegerators available from Home Depot are made by the same manufacturer. They are basically the same unit, the Keggermeister shows a temperature display in one picture but otherwise everything else looks exactly the same (just looked at the installation manual, its definitely the same unit). The Keggermeister unit costs more because its not in a big box store and there are slight differences. The igloo is around $350-400 I believe in HomeDepot. I have the Igloo and I've gotten it to work but its definitely a headache. You will also replace all the pieces inside so its really not $400.