Insulation of beer tower

[cobra8u]

Hey has anyone ever tried shooting Great Stuff Where to Use to fill void in beer tower and thereby insulating the line from the exterior heat. It seems like this would work pretty well and be easier than rigging a fan up to blow the cold air up there. I would try to maintain the line right in center of the tower and then shoot the foam in there. If anyone knows of any pitfalls of this please let me know.

[TheSlavik]

I am unsure if that would store more heat in the tower or if it would keep the chilled beer cooler longer.

One this is for sure, when it comes time to change the tower shank you'd have to cut most of it out of the tower.

[jackstraw]

I thought about it, but it's not a good idea. What you want, is cold air flowing through the tower to cool the beer line.

Before I installed my fan, I put some strips of fiberglass insulation in the tower to do what you are talking about. I found that the first pour was still as foamy as you would expect from warm beer. The 2nd pour would be less foam. With the insulation, it will just take longer for the beer to get warm. But it WILL get warm, then you have foamy beer again.

Do a search on this site for easy and inexpensive ways to build yourself a fan. It's worth it!!

[CoronaVegas]

I also am not familiar with project boxes and how to actually "plug-in" a computer fan, so I tried the pipe insulation over the beer line and I really don't notice a difference. If you attempt the Great stuff insulation tactic, please let the rest of us "wish we were electricians" how it works out. Thanks!
BTW- someone could go into business making these project boxes with fans that plug in and make a killing on e-bay!

[jackstraw]

The computer fan is DC. So you need a DC power adapter. There are two wires involved... usually red and black (if there is a third wire on the fan, you don't need to hook it up -- it might be blue). If you don't have an old cell phone power adapter laying around that is DC, go to Radio Shack or an electronics store and buy a universal DC power adapter. Clip and strip the wire ends on the fan, and on the power adapter and split them together (the power adapter also has two wires). Don't worry about having the wires reversed, if you don't have it hooked up right, the fan will either not spin or spin backwards. That's about it. Look on the fan and you will see a DC rating, most likely 12volts. You can buy power adapters that have a little dial on them to select the number of volts. If the fan is rated for 12v, you can set the dial to any number equal to or less than 12. The lower the volts, the slower the fan will spin.

Or you can buy a fan for 4x the price:

http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer/air-cooled-pid-2C782.html

There's lots of info on this forum. Here's a thread with some pics:

http://www.micromatic.com/forum/us-en/trouble-shooting-beer-quality-home/2116-blower-set-up.html?highlight=project+box

[Skinsfan1311]

Or you can buy a fan for 4x the price:

http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer/air-cooled-pid-2C782.html

I purchased the identical fan for significantly less at Grainger.

It's pricey on micromatic, as they probably don't stock nearly as many as Grainger, which is a huge industrial supply house.

If you go that route, don't forget to get the clamp, which makes the install much easier.

[psychodad]

One this is for sure, when it comes time to change the tower shank you'd have to cut most of it out of the tower.

And replacing the beer line itself would be even a bigger PITA.

[jumper]

It won't do anything. In fact it will be worse since you've now eliminated the better insulator of air. The foam is great for plugging air gaps, but being made of metal tubing the tower is already air-tight. The only reason we insulate the walls of the tower with foam rubber is to slow the transfer of heat from the outside into the cold air of the tower.

Not only that but God help you if you need to replace/repair the beer line or shank.

[jaeckleint]

cheap blower that works great

I have this blower and it works great ! only $6.85 !!!!

All Electronics | Electronic and Electro-Mechanical Parts and Supplies at Discount Prices
catalog # CF-315
12 volts 22 CFM

http://www.allelectronics.com/mas_assets/image_cache/image_product.height.500;width.500;modified.1207857250.CF-315.jpg

[muchgooder.com]

I have this blower and it works great ! only $6.85 !!!!

All Electronics | Electronic and Electro-Mechanical Parts and Supplies at Discount Prices
catalog # CF-315
12 volts 22 CFM

http://www.allelectronics.com/mas_as...250.CF-315.jpg

This may be a really stupid question but what powers this thing? Would it be some kind of power cable as mentioned earlier that would be spliced? I am scared to death of anything electrical so I tend to shy away from this kind of stuff :-).

[Skinsfan1311]

This may be a really stupid question but what powers this thing? Would it be some kind of power cable as mentioned earlier that would be spliced? I am scared to death of anything electrical so I tend to shy away from this kind of stuff :-).

....and how well will it hold up in a refrigerator?

[jaeckleint]

any small 12 volt power supply, like an old cell phone charger, anything 7 volts and up will spin it fast enough to do the job. I run mine off a 7 volt cell phone charger and it works great and is quiter than 12 volts.

[jaeckleint]

Mine has been in there for over a month with no problems.

[SurlyNation]

You could possibly make a sleeve with the great stuff. Depending on the diameter of your tower use a slightly smaller size pvc and one that is smaller than that by a .25 to .5 inch and spray it inside the gap then you could slide it in and out of the tower. And you would also have the room in to run the line and have it air cooled with the extra barrier of the pvc and great stuff.

In my head it works i havent tried it but when i get all the parts i will and ill let ya know.

[muchgooder.com]

any small 12 volt power supply, like an old cell phone charger, anything 7 volts and up will spin it fast enough to do the job. I run mine off a 7 volt cell phone charger and it works great and is quiter than 12 volts.

Thank you very much for the response. Did you just run the plug right out the door?