Arcade machine / keggerator project.

[shuko]

Greetings! I have been working on a homebrew arcade machine / keggerator, and am getting to the point of integrating the beer system. I need some input on beer delivery from the fridge to the faucets. I had originally planned to just run the beer line from the fridge to the shanks, but am beginning to think I might need to seriously insulate or even cool the lines, perhaps relocate the shanks and faucets to a place that I could air cool the whole thing...

The basic idea:


The components:


Where it stands right now:


More info and pictures on the project website, RacLab | Casual Engineering

Does anyone have input / suggestions? Thank you in advance!

[imnlfn]

That's a seriously cool idea (and interesting design)!

Unfortunately, you're going to have two components producing heat -- the refrigerator and the PC -- and one "component" -- the beer lines -- that require active cooling. The way you have it now, the exhaust fans from the PC are blowing where the beer lines will be, which is far from ideal.

You want the entirety of the lines, right up to the faucets, kept as close to your target liquid temperature as possible. Otherwise, you'll get foam coming out of the faucets until you've displaced that bit of warm beer with colder beer from inside the refrigerator. Insulating the lines will keep them from cooling off as fast, but not keep them from cooling off altogether.

If I were attempting this, I would discard the PC case; mount the motherboard, power supply, and hard drive at the very top of the unit, near the speakers; and mount the DVD drive, fluorescent display, and USB (et al) connections somewhere closer to the controls. I'd also either build an insulated wooden chase from the top of the refrigerator to the faucet shanks or use some PVC for the same purpose. Since what you want is a current of air flowing from inside the refrigerator along the lines and back, I might try dividing the chase with a partition (or using two pieces of PVC), run the lines through one side and use the other side as a return. I'd use another PC fan to force air through this conduit. You also want to minimize the number of bends in the lines, so with the case out of the way, you could make an elbow-shaped chase instead of a sharply angled one. I'd make the back of the cabinet open so the refrigerator coils were adequately vented and I would also try to build a drain bottle for the drip tray into the cabinet that was hidden, but easily accessible.

I hope that helps. Again, neat idea!

[shuko]

I love some of these ideas!

I think the best bet is to make an insulated PVC tube to carry the lines, which would have a closed loop of air circulating in and out of the fridge using a fan. Brilliant!

The back of the cabinet will be open so as not to trap the heat coming off of the heat exchanger, and additional vents and fans will keep things cool inside, and the drip tray with internal collection bottle is in the works as well. I might relocate the computer, but I really like the location so I'll try and work around it for now.

[jumper]

Keep the updates coming! Very cool/different project.


You'll want the beer lines enclosed all the way to the shank so that you can insulate them from the heat and provide active cooling.

Can't wait to see the finished product.

[whutever]

Great idea . . .

Completely agree with the others on cooling the lines and attempting to eliminate the heat. Along the line of what imnlfn suggested perhaps you could move the media center to the top of the cabinet with a heat shield between it and your lines? And perhaps you could leave your DVD in the bottom front along with the USB's.

On a different note, once you've got this built you've definately got to submit it as a P/C mod to Maxium PC. Each month they expose' someones PC mod and this definately (in my humble opinion) would be in the running for Rig of the Month.

Good luck and definately want to see the finished product.

[Palmettopark]

Very cool idea. No input on the setup but its so fffing sweet. Reminds me of Ms. Pac Man table top units I used to see in the pizzerias as a kid but the beer comes out of it. Your on to something here man for sure.

[bonefish]

Saw this in an email

A PC case that dispenses beer.
I think your project is great. Keep us updated.
SEAN

[BrewGuru]

Excellent project build, great to see incorporation of draft beer into all that wasted space at the bottom of a video game machine!

You will definately need something to insulate / cool the lines - a very cool option, if your budget allows it, would be to run a completely liquid cooled PC, using a very small glycol unit, to keep the lines and faucets cold. This would allow you to put your components wherever you like and has the added benefit of being nearly or completely silent... You could get a liquid cooled power supply AND heatsink for your CPU and have a fan-less machine that runs nice and cold!

Similar concept to the "Gamerator" that was commercially available a little while ago, not sure if they're still around... It was limited to 1/4bbl kegs, whereas is seems your build will accommodate full height kegs, bravo!

There is also the "Octane 120" which is like a driving game focused machine, with a built in projecter and kegerator, more of a single user, you sit down in it, with a kegerator mounted on the back sort of item, not as integrated into the build.

[TAPMAN]

What a great idea, combining two pastimes, but I would be a little leary about having liquid that close to electronics, especially after consuming a few.

[shane34652]

Another Idea is to move the CPU to the "visor" area of the machine. You could then add a key board where the CPU currently is and hide it with a flip down door which could also be a shelf. But it is one cool idea. Add a urinal ahd you'd never have to leave it.

[cubby_swans]

depending on location of the device, possibly move the tap handles to the other side of the device so they are not so near to the PC fans blowing warm air.

Other than that, sweet project. I look forward to seeing finished photos.

[shuko]

Great suggestions, thanks everyone! I had never thought of it as a PC case mod I'm definitely going to have to think about some design changes, based on these suggestions.

I'm having a hard time letting the computer location go... there are tons of reasons to move it, but I love the volume knob and display in that location. I planned to hook up thermometers in various places and display the temps on the little screen.

If I do keep the computer there I'll definitely make sure that the side fans are either disabled or configured as intakes. Liquid cooling is also a good option, but will add $$$ to the project.

Thanks again!

[JBUNGIE]

With an idea like that you should be running the country!

How about a bigger monitor?

[shuko]

A bit of brainstorming with my mate came up with this solution for keeping the lines cool to the shanks. It was inspired by BrewGuru's post. Rather than channel air around the lines, I plan to pick up a very short length of trunk line and use a small pump and radiator from a PC liquid cooling system to circulate glycol. This should actively keep the lines cool all the way to the shank!

Does this sound sane, or is there something about trunk line that I'm possibly overlooking?

[DCullender]

I've never been called a geek, so there really is a liquid cooled computer? Go figure!

If this liquid cooled unit will circulate glycol you should be okay, just remember that you must use a "glycol" tower not an "air" tower.

A glycol tower will have a glycol loop that runs up inside the tower and loops around the shank to maintain the cold through out the line and tower. These towers are also generally very well insulated.

Great ideas!

Dennis