First off let me say thank you for all the great information I have found here. I am new to the home kegerator world and boy have I learned lots. My girlfriend bought me a Nostalgia Electrics KRS2100 online through a scratch and dent site for a very cheap price. We thought it would be cool to have draft beer at home and thought it would be a simple plug and go thing, as we now know that is wrong. Here is what I have done thus far. Adjusted the thermostat so that it will cool to the proper temperature. Added a 3" computer fan to circulate air. Ran two 1/2 copper pipes up the cooling tower to cool the beer line. Used one pipe for the beer line (it extends down into the cabinet about a foot), used second line to hook up a 2.5" computer fan to push cold air up into the tower. Purchased a remote thermometer to monitor temperature. The cooling tower already had a section of foam pipe insulation to insulate the beer line, I ran the two copper pipes into this and then added additional insulation (closed cell foam) along the sides and at the top of the tower. So now to my technical questions. First have I done too much? The tower still does not appear to be cooling enough. Measuring the temperature of the copper pipe with the cooling line, I am only getting about 55 degrees. The temperature inside the kegerator is staying between 36-40 degrees. Where is the optimal placement of the remote thermometer? Top, bottom or middle of cabinet? How much electricity am I going to use with two 12 volt fans running constantly? How important is circulating fan placement? Would adding additional insulation to the inside of the cabinet make any difference? I am a little bit of a perfectionist I must admit and I really want this thing to work well so I can enjoy my favorite brews at home. My first keg had mixed results, first couple of beers were very foamy, after that it was ok. I have not hooked my second keg up since adding the tower cooling fan, so I don't know what is going to happen. Thoughts? Comments? All are welcome and appreciated. I am not sure how to post a photo of what I have done, but it someone will explain I will post photos. Thanks
you have done a lot of modifications to get your nostalgia working the way it should be. this is why a lot of us do not recommend saving $200 only to later lose good keg beer, time, and $200 worth of mods. it sounds like you have a handle on what needs to be done to get good pours. don't sweat the details until you are sure your system is balanced... read up on this board and elsewhere, micromatic has a lot of very good info. if your system is not balanced, that is to say the applied pressure, temperature and resistance are in harmony, no amount of modifications will fix your beer. balance is a three legged stool. does your beer pour flat or foamy? the usual problem is too much foam. and this can be caused by a few different issues. pour a first glass. check the temp. immediately pour a second glass. the temp should be almost identical. if not, you have a warm tower or another temp problem. place a thermometer inside a cup of water, put that near the keg. let it settle. the temp of the inside should be nearly the same as the beer in glass. check these items first. if you still have wild pours, it could be the line length and diameter or applied pressure. and we can correct those issues with a some details. temperature related issues can usually be fixed with fans, temp controllers etc. Cheers. Cheers.
You are certainly asking the right questions, and yes, they all can be solved. All the advice from billandsuz is solid, a good starting point for perfect pours. As he said, you really must understand how to balance your system. The three legged stool he mentioned has four components: You must know carbonation level of your beer, stated as "volumes of CO2". Get this from distributor, search online, or email the brewery. You must know temp of beer, use his technique to measure actual beer temp (2nd pour). These two numbers tell you what CO2 pressure to apply; use an online chart/calculator to see the relationship between temp/pressure/carb-level. The last item is you will match the length and diameter of your beer line to the criteria above. Lots of beer-line calculators available. This sounds complicated but is intuitive once you dive in. Once you conquer "balancing", the stool is level. Where is the optimal placement of the remote thermometer? Top, bottom or middle of cabinet? Your beer pours from the bottom of the keg, that's where you want to measure. But air temp is not what you are after, it varies when the unit is running/off. Place a quart or 750 bottle full of water with a submersible thermo beside the keg. This approximates your beer temp. Verify by measuring actual beer temp. How much electricity am I going to use with two 12 volt fans running constantly? Somewhere on your fan the current draw is listed, typically in the 0.1 to 0.2 range. Power consumed (watts) is the product of voltage and current. At 0.2 amps a 12v fan is burning 2.4 watts or about 21Kw per year (about the price of a house Starbucks). How important is circulating fan placement? Ideally you want equal temps throughout, that's the fan job. In six feet of beer line there is only ~2 ounces, but you want the tower/shank/faucet to be close to serving temp, otherwise they will initially warm the beer while pouring. Probably some trail and error involved here. Would adding additional insulation to the inside of the cabinet make any difference? Extra insulation will reduce operating cost and theoretically extend the life of the compressor (all good), but if your beer temp is stable will not really affect the pour. For photos: upload to flickr or picasa and link through the "insert/edit image" icon on message form. Good luck and post any other concerns you may have.
I'm new to kegging and appreciate all the helpful tips. I have been using my Thermostar Temp controller to take a reading of the air temp, but haven't been taking a reading of the liquid temp inside the cabinet. Thanks for the info. Will start adjusting this way from here out. I just ordered a tower cooler since that seems to be the #1 most commonly useful mod I've seen so far, but was also curious about circulator fans. I'm just guessing, but I would think that placement would be best near the bottom of the cabinet since the coldest air should naturally end up at the bottom, so circulating air from the bottom of the cabinet to the rest of the space seems logical to me. Thoughts?
You won't need a tower cooler and circulator. The tower cooler will do that for you, and it will solve first beer foam. Pick up your cold air for the tower down low, right at the cold plate and the return from the tower will get a flow going. Often times you need to enlarge the hole in the cabinet to get good flow, but no need to go that route until you have given it a try.
This is fairly important and is not difficult. Here's a reliable thermometer for under 20 bucks. Once calibrated I find these as accurate as the pricey models (only slower) and work well for this application. Plus, it can be used for routine cooking duties. Also, kudos for using the Search feature .
This is my favorite Thermometer. within .5F accuracy. And its waterproof. http://www.amazon.com/Waterproof-Di...8&qid=1420218769&sr=8-1&keywords=comark+dt400
