full sized fridge faucet height?

[40percentrobot]

Ahoy, all-

I've been getting lots of great help over in the "foam forum" - lots of great people here!
Anyway, many years ago, my brother got his wife drunk and persuaded her to sign a bar napkin (legal contract in Texas ) stating that when they bought a bigger house, he could have a kegerator.

Alas, that day has come.

He's insanely jealous of my Sanyo freestanding unit, but he would prefer a full-sized conversion, so the freezer portion might be utilized for the massive quantities of beef that we will be cooking on his new patio.

My question is this: I took a peek at the downloadable conversion instructions available on this site, but they indicate that the tap must be 52" from the bottom. The fridge he has in mind (and most that I've seen) doesn't have that much room in the fridge portion. A 1/2 barrel will fit in there with plenty of room to spare, though.

Is this distance critical, or can he use any "normal" full sized fridge?

Thanks!

Chris

[BigBadJohn]

Just make sure that after he builds the platform for the keg to stand on that he has enough depth for the keg to sit in there as well as enough height for the keg plus atleast 6" of clearance for the tap and to allow for the beer line to gradually bend instead of kink

Oh, and make sure that if he wants to put a nice big tap handle on there that he make it low enough to accomodate the opening and closing of the freezer door but not too low. I had that problem with mine because I bought my convereted fridge minus tank and regulator for $25 but did some little upgrades to it so it wasnt so bubbafied

Oh, and freezer storage is good for this too
21 Ravenhead english style beer mugs (my dad had a full case originally but broke 3 while drunk)

[Woolly Bugger]

Totally agree, Big Bad John. My converted fridge allows for 1/8th inch clearance with the standard Micromatic tap. I have a larger custom tap handle, so I put a simple latch on my freezer so my drunk buddies wouldn't pull it open on accident (by drunk buddies, I mean me). It's not that big of a deal. Plus, I love having the freezer available - like you, I have about 15 pint glasses chilling, plus some hard liquor for those nights when tap beer serves as an appetizer.

When converting my fridge, I had to do a few modifications - I took out the drawers in the bottom of my fridge, and put a "false" floor in there with plywood braced by 2x4s. It accommodates a full 1/2 barrel keg without any problem, giving me about 6 inches of clearance on the top after my coupler is on the keg. I have been totally satisfied with the setup, and have helped a couple of buddies do the exact same thing since my first keg got tapped 3 months ago.

[40percentrobot]

Awesome, guys, thanks!

[40percentrobot]

Well, thanks for the topic bump I guess, Spam-Guy.

Are everyone else's posts getting high-jacked by spammers?

[THE ICEMAN]

Not mine.