Potential Danby tower cooling method

[lunkhead]

Slavik, in the second pic you show the fan blowing into what appears to be a funnel. That does not work good if at all. The fan needs to go into a box like cubby and jack have done in order to get it to move air. A blower would move air up the tower, but you will still need space for return air, no matter what you end up doing.

[TheSlavik]

Thanks for the links Jack... looks like a nice easy setup. When I get off my butt and start these mods, I will post up some pictures.

[jackstraw]

I posted some pics of my kegerator last night on this thread:

http://www.micromatic.com/forum/us-en/kegerators-kegerator-kits-home/2930-advice-under-counter-kegerator.html

In one picture you can see where the box is and the hose going up to the tower. Sorry, don't have detailed pics. It's very much like Duff Beer's setup in this thread:

http://www.micromatic.com/forum/us-en/trouble-shooting-beer-quality-home/2116-blower-set-up.html?highlight=computer+fan

[TheSlavik]

Cubby or Jack:

Do you have any pictures of your setups?

[TheSlavik]

Thanks for the input guys, I am just brainstorming other ideas and options available to cure the Danbys downfalls.

[jackstraw]

One other thought.... if the fan sits at the bottom of the kegerator, you'll get better air circulation throughout the kegerator.

[jackstraw]

I pretty much did the same as cubby... I may have used a 4" fan.

I still think the return air holes are not enough to allow sufficient air flow. You don't want anything there to act as resistence against the return air. I think you may be over complicating this. Take a box, cut a hole in it, mount the fan and run a flexible hose up the tower and you're done. The box just sits at the bottom of the kegerator (where the cold air is) wherever it'll fit.

[cubby_swans]

Ok, how about if we added this center air tube?

I think that has potential. As long as you got return air flow.

[TheSlavik]

Ok, how about if we added this center air tube?

[cubby_swans]

I used a PC power supply fan that is about 3" in diameter tops. 12V DC with about a .15 Amp draw. I used a 1" ID flex hose. There was plenty of room in the existing hole for the hose, beer line, and return air flow.

[TheSlavik]

I cooled my tower without enlarging the hole. It does a pretty good job and there is enough room still to allow air to return.

Which blower did you use and how big was your cooling line?

[jackstraw]

Air return is the issue with what you are proposing. Adding the pipe would help, but you need to get the fan out of the way to allow air to return. Cutting thin slots in the spacer won't do it. You need unobstructed air return for it to work. One reason to put the fan in a project box at the bottom of the kegerator, is because the coldest air is at the bottom (hot air rises).

I cooled my tower without enlarging the hole. It does a pretty good job and there is enough room still to allow air to return. It would probably allow even more air to flow if the hole were bigger, but I didn't want to uninstall the kegerator (since mine is built-in to the counter).

[TheSlavik]

Another option:

If the return air was still a concern, it would be possible to mount a small PVC pipe from the fan, up into the tower. Somehow seal the pipe to the fan, so the fan is only blowing through the pipe, then the return air comes down on the outside of the pipe and leaves through the slots inthe spacer.

[TheSlavik]

Here is my Microsoft Paint image

[TheSlavik]

Hey guys,

I was just thining... to cool the tower, you need to get cold air up the tower. Now we all know, have seen, and some have done the blower motor/ducting/ hole enlarging modification before. But what about this option? It would eliminate the need for mounting the blower at the bottom near the back, and possibly look a bit more stock.

Now maybe I am way off here, or I could be missing something really simple. All you do, is mount a muffin-type 4" fan to the inside roof of the Danby, and use a spacer between the fan and the roof. Drill a hole through the side of the spacer to run your beer line up and through to the tower, and then wire it in.

The fan will force the cool air up the tower and over the beer line. ll you would have to do is wire in the fan, which is simple enough.

PS: If you need a spot for air to return, cut, diagonal (and thin) slots in the side of the spacer for return air.

What do you think?

I will be uploading a picture as soon as I can shrink it down.