Garage-resident freezer & maintaining temp to the faucet

[bbruyn]

I'm planning to keep my upright freezer conversion in the garage here in the Phoenix area. I'll have no tower to deal with, but it was 102* in the garage yesterday and it's only going to get hotter. I'm wondering how difficult it's going to be to maintain a constant temp to the faucet, and am just trying to get out ahead of things as best I can.

Should I expect to have problems out of the gate with this setup? Would I benefit from another fan blowing cold air onto the door/shank? What else might I do, if anything?

Thanks as always for sharing your experience.


Bill

[Sketch]

I am assuming you are mounting the faucet to the door of the unit - not building a remote dispense setup, correct?

Yes your faucet/shank will heat up in those conditions and cause a bit of foam on the initial pours, the faucet will get hot and transfer heat to the shank. There is really nothing you can do about it other than keeping the environment around the kegerator colder, which you can't control in a garage. It's no big deal though, just pour of the first burst of foam into glass A - pour a proper pint in glass B, take a few drinks and then pour the foam from glass A into glass B.

I keep my conversion in the garage and I start to deal with foam from a warm faucet around 95 degrees.

[jdanna]

Ive got a tap on a chest feezer conversion and it seemed to be able to handle 90degree days no problem.

we dont get much hotter then that here, so i dunno about 102 plus - but if its a tap on a door i think that would be better then my setup, which is a tap on a 2x6 collar built on top of the freezer.

i think you have a good chance of getting good pours, give it a shot and let us know how you do.

[jdanna]

oh also - in those types of temps, it may be worth putting a fan near the outlet of the condenser, so the freezer itself doesnt overheat.
at the very least make sure theres no obstructions on object near its vents

[bbruyn]

Yes, sorry. Stainless faucet and shank, mounted on the door with a PVC spacer.

Better insulation / cooling in the garage itself is on a very long list of things that require more time and money, but you know how it is.

[Mirko_S]

Open faucet until clear beer comes out, close faucet, chug and then pour the perfect pint.

[FCSquid]

Move about 1,000 miles to the north. 102 degree garages will be a distant memory ...

[THE ICEMAN]

I'm planning to keep my upright freezer conversion in the garage here in the Phoenix area. I'll have no tower to deal with, but it was 102* in the garage yesterday and it's only going to get hotter. I'm wondering how difficult it's going to be to maintain a constant temp to the faucet, and am just trying to get out ahead of things as best I can.

Should I expect to have problems out of the gate with this setup? Would I benefit from another fan blowing cold air onto the door/shank? What else might I do, if anything?

Thanks as always for sharing your experience.


Bill

I live in the Valley of the Sun as well so I know what you are up against. Your freezer will have a very tough time as the summer goes along.
A couple of questions...
Does your unit have a condenser fan pulling air through a set of coils or does the exterior walls of the unit get warm/hot when the unit is running? If it is the latter, make sure you have plenty of airspace all the way around the unit & keep the air moving.
If it is the former, use jdanna's suggestion of using a fan to keep air moving over the condenser, it is not a bad idea to set up another fan blowing into the condenser.

Keep in mind that 100°+ temps put a big strain on that little compressor.


THE ICEMAN

[kylecongonesbitt]

bbruyn: I keep my fridge conversion in the garage as well (100 degrees today) i dont have much of a problem. Sometimes when it stays this hot and its acouple days inbetween pours I will get a little burst of air as i open the faucet for the first pour of the day ( co2 breaking out of the hot beer in the faucet and shank ) and thats the only problems ive ever had with my kegerator in a hot garage.
I wouldnt worry much about it as long as your freezer can keep a good 38-40 degree liquid temp you will be just fine

Kyle

[xscash]

how about using the styrofoam covers for out door faucets to prevent freeze. it should do a great job of insulating your tap while not in use. it will require some fitting and customization, but its so cheap its worth a try.

Frost 4335493 Outdoor Faucet Cover Oval

[El Geordie]

Here in VA it is approaching 100 Deg F today and my upright freezer conversion is in the garage too.
I wouldn't worry too much about the freezer's ability to keep the beer cold. It was designed to keep things deep frozen with an ambient temp of 70 - 80 Deg F. So keeping the contents at 36 Deg F or so in an environment of 100 Deg F is well within the operating range. My set up has the (cooled) tower on the bar next to the kegerator and despite a bit of condensation on the tower it's working fine. I'm sure the little wheel on the electric meter is spinning a little faster though....