Nitrogen generator in walk-in?

[mikejferrari]

Hello,

Is it possible to put a nitrogen generator/gas blender inside of a walk-in if there's space? I can't think of a reason why not, personally, but the only installs I've seen always have it mounted outside the cooler. The walk-in in question is in the middle of a grocery store, so it's not really feasible to have a ugly and noisy generator on the outside in guest view.

Thanks,
Michael

[THE ICEMAN]

I'm not real well versed in those units but about the only possible problem I can see is the heat it may generate. You don't really want a source of heat fighting the walk-in. As I said, I'm not sure how much heat those units put out. It may be no more than one of the fan motors in the walk-in evaporator & if that is the case it would not be a problem. Perhaps one of the beer system installation guys here will have more insight.


THE ICEMAN

[DCullender]

McDantim blenders can be installed inside a cooler, but don't know about the generator. My concern would be the danger if the high pressure CO2 line should burst and fill the cooler with CO2 and or N2.
Other question , will the grocery store have enough volume to justify a generator. If noise is a factor, use N2 tanks and a blender.

[mikejferrari]

A little backstory: We're working on a remodel to build a walk-in and run 28 taps through the wall, two of which will be nitro faucets. The current set up is a 12 tap kegerator that for some reason had been installed with a nitrogen generator on a 60/40 blend that runs out of a small office space behind the kegerator. The office space will be removed and replaced with the walk-in. It's right in the middle of the store. I hadn't really given any thought to ditching the generator. Is there a secondary market for that kind of thing? We go through the equivalent of 7-8 1/2 bbls per week total. If I ran 26 faucets off of 100% CO2, how much nitro volume would I need to go through to justify using a generator or even just a blender as opposed to a beer gas tank? I generally like using a blend over 100% CO2 even in direct draw, but I am trying to keep the budget pretty tight in my proposal. Thanks for your input!

[DCullender]

If you already have a generator, no brainer, keep using it. I also like using blended gas on any system with this many beers. The generator shouldn't be making a lot of noise, small compressor only runs when it needs to recharge. The generator doesn't have to be in the same area as the cooler. Relocate it to a storage room and run lines to the cooler