Beer Forum

tony95 · #1 (**permalink**) 01-21-2006, 09:44 PM

HAHA, My first problem has arisen. I thought I could use an in-duct fan to force air through a 1-1/4 inch hose but the area around the fan is greater than the area of the hose opening so I am getting a weak suction. Time to look for a new fan.

tony95 · #2 (**permalink**) 01-22-2006, 01:46 AM

I bought a 250 CFM leaf blower for $26 at Walmart. It was way too loud. Would have been a good deal if it had worked. Oh well.

Scott Zuhse · #3 (**permalink**) 01-22-2006, 08:15 PM

Tony, check out this blower and good luck next year with the leaves!

Scott Zuhse, Instructor Micro Matic Dispense Institute

tony95 · #4 (**permalink**) 01-22-2006, 09:25 PM

I picked up a 110 CFM exhaust fan that seems to be giving me pretty good air flow. I am running about 15 feet.

tony95 · #5 (**permalink**) 01-25-2006, 12:28 PM

I got everything set up and the frig is having trouble staying cold. There are three things to consider.

1) It has only been running for 6 hours since I turned the frig back on after a couple of days of working on it. Maybe it will stay cold after it has been running for a while.

2) At the end of the line where the duct meets the tap, I did not insulate the board that the tap is sticking out of and the duct is connected to. I wouldn't think this would be a big deal but I can add insulation at this point.

3) To reduce the cubic feet that the frig has to cool I can put blocks of styrofoam in the fridge. There is a lot of unused space in the frig and reducing the area should ease the load on the fridge.

4) The fridge it pretty much empty? Will it be easier to cool once there is a keg in there?

Your thoughts?

tony95 · #6 (**permalink**) 01-26-2006, 07:58 AM

I insulated the end of the duct near the tap, then threw 3 pillows and a roll of insulation into the frig and it seems to be cooling quite a bit better. I checked this morning and it was at 30 degrees F. It's still working harder than I think it should. I am going to double wrap the duct work and get styrofoam to replace the pillows, I think that will do it. Next thing to try is a Keg!

tony95 · #7 (**permalink**) 01-26-2006, 03:36 PM

While the frig is getting down to 30 degrees F, the pitcher of water is only at 37-38. The frig is set on 8 out of a max 9 thermostat setting. I wrapped a second layer of insulation around the duct work. This should give me an r-value of 12 on the duct work. Waiting to see if this helps. I will keep updating in case anyone is interested.

tony95 · #8 (**permalink**) 01-27-2006, 10:12 AM

I'm scrapping the air cooled design. The frig is running constantly which will get very expensive and it's not getting cool enough. The pitcher of water in the frig was at 35 deg, but the beer in the line was 50+ and Keg was at about 40 deg. Also, the cabinet I built for the remote tap is pretty ugly and I don't really want it in my kitchen. I am just going to put the tap on the frig and use pitchers to reduce the number of trips to the basement. I do not recommend air cooled for more than a few feet.

grahamular · #9 (**permalink**) 02-09-2006, 05:55 PM

tony,

How many feet were you trying to cool? I have about a 4 foot run I'm thinking of doing for a remote draft, but not sure what the best approach is.

Scott Zuhse · #10 (**permalink**) 02-09-2006, 06:20 PM

Tony, Do not get to close to your refrigerator in fear that it may jump out and choke you. Most refrigerators are designed to transfer temperature in a specific area. You added a long arm of cubic feet to it that it just cannot handle. It is busting it's butt and eventually you will not have to worry about how expensive it will be to run. It will simply shut down. Big question for you - are you returning the air back to the refrigerator once it is routed to the faucet? And why are you using such a large blower?

Scott Zuhse, Instructor Micro Matic Dispense Institute