Hello! So, as I have been patiently waiting for a good cheap kegerator to come into my life - I have found one of these bad boys. He does not want much for it - less than $200. It has been stored in a garage for the last 2 years. I have asked him to plug it in and when I arrive I would like to check it out! What should I be looking for in one of these units used? I read that there should be a fan that is running 24/7, and a fan will kick on with the condenser as well. Will I get any feedback from turning the thermostat? For example, if I crank it all the way down should the compressor kick on pretty immediately? Are these units worth being worked on if they don't work great? I looked up parts and they don't seem to be too crazy. I do not know how to work on refrigerant systems, nor do I have any friends that do. So I would have to pay someone to look into it if it is advanced. I am going to use this for homebrew, and want to fit in at least 2 cornies after upgrading my tower! Thoughts?
you want to be sure it can get cold. at least 38 and preferably lower. everything can be replaced/fixed/upgraded or cleaned. for $200, if it gets cold, buy it. then decide if the regulator is worth keeping. same for the coupler and faucet. new lines and a polished tower. you might need another $200 to bring it back if it needs some TLC. see if you can get the CO2 tank, cause that's about $70. Any tech a few years out of school will know exactly how to diagnose and repair a Bev Air. a used BM 23 for $400 is about ten times better than a new made in China POS from Home Depot. Sounds like a good deal.
Alright! So I met up with the guy, and checked out the BM23. When I got there it had been plugged in for a while he said, and the compressor fan was totally stuck on some copper pipe (refrigerant system of some sort maybe) I bent back that just enough to free the fan, and it started spinning just fine. Despite being super hot! I got there and the unit was at 74 degrees. Not that promising. After freeing the fan that was blowing on the radiator portion, and about 10 minutes later, the unit had got down to what my fancy ($10) probe thermometer told me was 40 degrees. It was falling fast still, so I imagine that it will get lower no problem. Totally exciting! The unit seems to be a little older. It is tan with wooden rails, not wooden side, or black - So it seems to be a version that I have not heard about. Here are some pictures. I ended up paying $120 for it. Here's the kicker - It came with a #20 and a #5 CO2 tank, with a regulator. #20 is somewhat full at least, but the #5 is dead. I think the regulator is broken though. I hooked it up to the #20 and it whistled when I engaged the tank. As well as Sanke D tap it seems. Here are some pictures.
Thanks! I thought it was a great deal. I had to hide my surprise when it came with the 2 CO2 tanks. They were good (young) people so I didn't beat them up on the price, I couldn't hurt my Karma that bad. Last night I took the tower off and got the original faucet off of it, yet to dismantle it, but I have some Perlick 650SS on the way. They came highly recommended. I am going to drill the original tower to hold another tap! Going to be pretty neat if I can pull it off without destroying it. The unit does have some rust inside, where the galvanized meets the stainless in the bottom corners. Anyone have any treatment suggestions? I took some coarse steel wool to it and beat down a good bit, but didn't know how far I should go or how thick that side wall is.
Perlicks are the way to go, best faucet you can buy IMO. With stuff like the inside rust, while you are wanting it to be perfect, once you have kegs going in and out you won't care so much. I would get some rust converter and slap it on the areas you've knocked down to prevent further corrosion and call it a day. Your guests won't be inside it, and nobody except you and a few thousand BA's will know. Will be a challenge on drilling the hole for sure.
Rust converter... Some kinda of paste/paint that inhibits rust? I don't care too much, just didn't want it to completely rust out in a few years! Yeah I have not finished my strategy for drilling the hole yet... I don't have a drill press but that might be the way to go. I measured the center of the original hole, and might put the new on the same horizonal line as that, but I might stagger them to fit three... Have yet to decide. Most likely I will just center punch, and step drill that SOB with a hand drill after a few beers!
Correct on the rust converter - just google it if you haven't already. Many options - brush, spray, many brands. You can never really stop rust, but this will slow it down quite a bit. Probably the best way to hold the tower without a drill press is to put it on a mandrel of some kind, and then attach a block of wood to the mandrel outside of the tower, then clamp the block to the table. Maybe a bad description, but I see it clearly in my mind. A few beers and a hand drill will clearly work also.
Yeah I think I may just screw it down to the work bench and go to town on it. Will report back at some point!
Alright gents! The necessary gear has arrived as of yesterday... and I have put it all together! I have two 650SS's installed. I used the original shank and tailpiece from the tap it came with. Seemed to work just fine. I have my lemon lime hefewizen and IPA on tap right now! Dialed down to serving pressure for the next week since I am extremely busy. Anyway, here are two pics!
