Need help input for homemade chiller system

[Jackalope]

I currently have an old 1950’s Fridge that was restored and is essentially a big kegerator. It is currently housed in my garage and will remain there. What I want to do is run an additional tap to my basement roughly 8ft straight down and then another line (in the future) to the back porch roughly 25 horizontal to the fridge but at the back of the house.

My plan is to buy a procon pump/motor assembly and build my own reservoir that will fit in my fridge/freezer compartment. I will use the pump to run an insulated glycol chiller line down the 8ft to the basement tap (and eventually to the back porch tap). My question to you all is, do you think this sounds like it wil work? I know most of the coolant glycol systems use the Procon pump system and you can dial the PSI and GPH accordingly. My only concern is the 8ft uphill the closed system will have to return the glycol to the reservoir before repeating? Any ideas or suggestions? I may use the carbonator tank and fill that with the glycol to keep the pressure for the "closed" system.

Do you all see this as a viable system or a pipedream?

Thanks all!

[Mirko_S]

Simple answer is NO it will not work. I have a failed attempt at a homemade glycol system and my run is less than 4 ft, the glycol warms up and the kegerator cannot keep up to cool it down enough. You need to be able to cool the glycol fast and to 28-32 degrees. Check out this link Home made glycol beer cooling ( cooler ) system - YouTube. There is also another guy who has done this with a dehumidifier but I could not find the link.

[spdbump]

Nope warm glycol = warm beer=foam=

[Jackalope]

Wow, interesting response from both. I don't want to come across surly or ungrateful, but your responses are less than useful.
If you have some empirical data that explains WHY my idea would not work, I would certainly like to hear it. I was given a completely different answer by a mechanical engineer today, who said that it would absolutely work so long as the reservoir remains cold enough; and given that my reservoir would be housed in the Freezer compartment, why not?
I guess I am struggling with the, "no it won't" given that the video link is a coil in the base of the cooler. In my case, the coil is literally wrapped around the freezer compartment of my freezer.
Please provide me with reasoning as to why instead of just answering no.
In the meantime, I will try to attach a pic of the interior of my Coldspot fridge to give you an idea of what I am talking about.

Thanks and please don't take the above comments the wrong way, especially since this is my first thread here.

Grant

[Jackalope]

The fridge is about 1950's vintage with a coat of 1957 Chevy Surf Green paint. Mechanically it is in great condition. First pic shows the outside with custom handles. I machined the aluminum piece on the front door below the handle (pointed piece) as it was missing when I bought the rusty heap.
Second pic is self-explanatory.
Third pic shows the freezer compartment door propped open. You can see the frost. I keep the fridge ice cold so that is why I question your initial responses. What you cannot see is the coil that is alongside the right and left sides of the freezer compartment. It wraps up both sides. I planned to utilized this as the coil for cooling.
Sure the fridge will run more often, but given the short 8ft drop, I cannot see how in the worl I would have that kind of heat loss!! Hell, the beer trunk line on this site indicates it will hold a constant temp for 50ft!

edit: After posting the pics, they appeared to have gotten out of place.

[Jackalope]

Here are the pics.

[spdbump]

The problem is keeping the glycol cold enough. If you can gaurentee that the glycol will stay a consistant temp 28- 31 degrees then you are good. Personally I have never seen a fridge that can do this . good luck

[Jackalope]

Colin,
So, component-wise, my set-up is sound, yes? I certainly understand the concern over glycol heating up with heat transfer from beer to coolant line. I am hoping that my fridge/freezer will benefit from the reservoir being added to the freezer compartment as it is is not a frost free unit and therefore, frost builds up. Perhaps the reservoir will keep the build up to a minimum???(Wishful thinking).
As it stands now, I can easily get my fridge (beer compartment) down to 28* without any problem. I actually froze a keg! Luckily is was partially empty. Dumb rookie mistake. That was after I "defrosted" the freezer. Apparently it cools and is MUCH more efficient without all the frost! ;-)
Thanks, Grant

[Jackalope]

Ideally, when I make this contraption, I will be able to basically wire it into the fridges existing wiring. If it draws too much then I will use an additional cord.
My plan was to run it off the fridges "light" socket wiring and remove the "on/off" switch. Would allow the pump to run un-interrupted.

[xscash]

yes it will work, i have made several systems with over 40' runs and they use as little as 1.5 gallons of fluid to make them work. its all in the components and the right liquid. i do not use glycol because it gets thick when it gets too cold, i use winter windsheild washer fluid. when was the last time your windshild washer fluid froze?.....mine, never. it works great. the key is heat transfer, your freezer looks small but it should work. insulate the trunk line well and then wrap another pipe wrap around that one. the more insulation you have the better this will work. the easy way in a tight space is to get 50' of 1/4" copper coil, cut it half. take on end of both pipes and slide it into a 3/8" copper pipe and solder. repeat for the other end, coil this back up (i use a washer fluid bottle to coil it back up) and strech some 1/4" tubing over the ends of the 3/8" copper. this will be the return side of your cooling setup. the pump i use is a Pump, PMP-400 [10mm, 3/8in ID] - Water cooling systems, pc liquid cooling kit, cpu, video card, hard drive koolance pmp400. this pump has the power and lift to make the hardest systems work. i install the temp probe of a temp controller at the fittings benieth the tower. this will check the temp of the tower and turn the pump on/off when needed. i drill the cap on the washer bottle and insert a peice of copper tube to the bottom on an angle, this will be the feed/suction line. install the pump feed to this tube, the other end of the pump to the "out to tower". in from tower to your coil and the end of the coil poke into the washer bottle. this completes the loop. fill the line with the washer fluid before starting the pump. here is the only draw back, you will need an hour to let the fluid get cold and then turn the pump on. i set my tower temp at 36degrees and a 3 degree swing. my first pour from a 30' system is typicaly 37degrees. you will need a 12v power source to power the pump, i use a computer power cord thats rated for 12v dc out.
your fridge looks large enough to fit another 1/6 keg if you relocate the co2 to the outside ......you may want to order a 2 product tower.