National Homebrew Club Ireland

Apologies if this has already been asked, I bought a second hand Beko TL546APW with the intention of turning it into a Kegerator. I just have a couple of questions.

I assume I'm ok to saw off part of the interior fridge door to make room for 3rd keg? There is not connections to the door other than hinges so I assume it's only insulation. Also need to drill holes for the tap shanks

Can I find out somewhere online if there are elements in the side panel? (I need to drill a hole for the CO2 line)

That should not be a problem.
Note there are different size Corny kegs, tall & thin, short & chubby so if planning additional kegs, they may not fit so well.
Measure twice, cut once!

Thats a great fridge for kegs .. Looks like loads of space according to google. 

I have 2 small fridges converted.   In my fridges,  All wiring and plumbing comes from the rear and bottom of the unit.  It is safe to drill everywhere else.   

Now I cant guarantee that there are no wire wires hidden in the sides or doors of your fridge,  but it is very unlikely.   
Best action would be to have a good look at the back and trace every wire and pipe to the best of your ability, and try and make an educated guess .    And make sure its unplugged before ye start hacking at it.   

There will be 4 or more wires going to the thermostat and 2 pipes going to the chilling unit inside.     

Some tips on fridge drilling
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG9vDvUR2yc

Pierce the outer skin
Wiggle a dart or nail in through the insulation, go slow until you hit inner plastic skin, drill.
Join the National Homebrew Club.

That last bit is the most important

I also seen a trick where you mix some flower and water, paint it on the door and any lines producing heat will dry first and expose a pattern

Opening the fridge door after fridge on full whack will do same thing with condensation lines
Modern fridges only have channels at back unless they are mega expensive models

Cheers all, thanks for the replies. I'll do some investigation tonight and measure it up - just wanted to make sure I wasn't doing anything stupid.

As for joining the club, it's on the list, I've was severly bitten by the homebrew bug a few weeks ago. Done my first all grain BIAB batch last night. I didn't factor in how long it would take end to end, so I was fairly hammered on my previous homebrew by the time I was cleaning up  ;D Great fun altogether.

Best 10 bucks I have spent, you will easily make it back from discounts from the hb shops.

Where are you based?

I go on about it as it keeps the lights on around here
I've stopped replying to a lot of non members who have signed up for over 3 months as I figure if they can't be arsed neither can I

Paid membership there now  :) Based in Glasnevin Dublin

You don't need a thermometer like the guy in the video used. I have one of those fridges with the heated front panel to assist opening. Just plug in the fridge and let it run for a while, the front heating section if there is one will be very obvious, they get quite hot, almost too hot to touch.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

Quote from: vinyljunkie on November 15, 2016, 12:12:27 PM
Paid membership there now  :) Based in Glasnevin Dublin

Welcome aboard
You are spoilt with the lads from Capital great bunch and know their shit (not a spelling mistake) meet in Kavanagh's frequently
Ask questions even if they sound simple everybody helps around here

All good so far, just need to drill the door when I get the taps. Door is just insulation so shouldn't have a problem there.

Ok so top tips for a full member you have 2 options
1: use only the outer skin to secure your tap which means you have to peel back the door inner skin and remove the insulation as far as the outer skin.
2: better solution is to get yourself and narrow metal strip or timber and use that as reinforcement on inner side of the door drilling through it the inner skin and the outer skin. You may need long shanks for this depending on the thickness of your fridge door.
This will allow your taps to have zero movement if you do a heavy handed pour!

Also before you drill get your drip tray in location first and that will optimise your space between taps

Quote from: auralabuse on November 14, 2016, 10:15:31 AM
I also seen a trick where you mix some flower and water, paint it on the door and any lines producing heat will dry first and expose a pattern

I thought it was flour and alcohol solution as alcohol has lower boiling point?

I was getting greedy and wanted to install a fan in the fridge as it's much better for quick transfer of hot or cold and so more efficient.
I've done 8 or nine fridges now never a problem and clearly got cocky

(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180610/f134cf0269c43f6670da26b951d99b9d.heic)

Fridge walls of modern fridges do not normally have cooling channels but they do have control wires to the thermostat and light

So a gouge out all the surrounding foam, some of these (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180610/f0558e87aacd13cc623a419f340cfffe.heic)

Some tape to insulate the connections and cover whilst I blast some foam over it to recover the insulation(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180610/e8f86ccc6e163485eaeb41c326b6bada.heic)

That's the back of a glossy box so will peel it off when it's fully expanded and tidy up that deliberate blow off hole