Noob saying Hi

[Scooperman]

Hello to all,
I'm new here and, as is my m.o., I just jumped right in and registered after only reading a few threads.
I'm 37 years old, a forum junkie, computer geek, hard-core (sorta) gamer, and long time beer fanatic.

Short story: Haven't been to a keg party in waaay too long. Nephew invited me a couple weekends ago. I went!
A friend of my other nephew was talking about this kegerator he got from his boss. Apparently it has been in a basement for some time. I bought it, site unseen, for $150... after getting acceptable assurances from family members that it had not been "liberated" from its previous owner.
I finally went and picked it up yesterday. It had clearly not been used in some time. I began to exercise my self-proclaimed uber google-fu by searching out a cleaning kit. (I do hope ******** isn't anyone's major competition as that's where I ended up). I learned a lot from many sources including here.
After ordering the kit and a new dual-guage regulator as well as a new air hose last night, I dug into my new unit today and started making local calls looking for CO2 refills and cheap keg prices. Well, it turns out the keg in the fridge is some older model that has the CO2 connection at the bottom and the tap on top. Next thing you know I'm on the phone changing my order to a full-on conversion kit. I will be replacing everything but the mini-fridge itself. I hope to receive my order Saturday. It includes everything I need but the beer and the CO2 charge. (Nice aluminum 5# tank too!)
I took the existing tank to have it charged and was told it hadn't been tested for about 30 years *shock*. The man I spoke to suggested my best course of action was to wait till I got my new tank and to not bother with the old one. It is apparently a 1-2# model, probably older than I am. I'm ok with that.

So, atm, I am waiting on my kit. The fridge is cold and has a new full 1/4 keg of Budweiser in it. I found out from the great distributor (Riverside Distributors, Chattanooga) that there's a place two doors down who can fill my CO2 tank, so that's convenient. I plan to purchase another tank, possibly a 10# model because the first guy said I'd have to leave it over night. As I will undoubtedly want beer that night I figured a spare tank would be the way to go.
Also, with the modern standard 1/4 barrel it doesn't appear that my new tank will fit in the kegerator.
My plan now (also why I'm considering the larger tank) is to keep the tank outside the fridge and route my air hose through the side. I am now looking for the best way to seal the hole I will need to drill and also keep the metal from damaging the air line. Any suggestions here would be much appreciated... assuming you can find the question in this admittedly long post.

If all goes well I will be kegging by Saturday... which is kind of unfortunate timing as we are having another keg party across town Saturday night.

Thanks in advance for you patience and suggestions. I promise to keep the posts short and sweet in the future.

Happy kegging all!

[dommsu]

When I routed my air lines through the side of my fridge I drilled a hole the same size as my air line. I had to squeeze the air line through and found it sealed just fine without any sealent. I was planning on using a foam sealer that goes around windows for sealing the line on the inside of the fridge to maintain a neat exterior look. You shouldn't have any problems with the metal damaging the air line.

[Scooperman]

I suppose as long as I make sure there are no jagged edges in the hole. Maybe bump it with a rattail file or a bit of sandpaper if necessary.
The 1-7/8" thickness I measured should keep the line coming out straight... so I don't have to worry about it looking like it's hanging through some generic hole that's too big or something.
Perhaps even a couple plain old rubber washers on either side.
That'll work!
Thanks

[dommsu]

Originally Posted by Scooperman

The 1-7/8" thickness I measured should keep the line coming out straight.

I'm not sure if you mean the fridge wall thickness. I was writing about the thickness of your air line.

[Scooperman]

Yes, I was talking about the thickness of the refrigerator's side.
The air line is 5/16".
The nearly 2" distance between the inside wall and the outer metal wall will keep the line oriented in the direction I drill(ed). Assuming I can drill straight it should look really nice.