Kegco 20" Wide Homebrew Single Tap Stainless Steel Kegerator

06/14/2014

This came shipped and packaged really well from California to Florida and arrived in about a week from ordering. Setup was pretty simple, add the castors to the bottom (if you are not putting it under a counter), and attach the tower to the top. I won't go into the setup too much since you can find that info all over the place. I'll talk more about the modifications I did to make this really work well. For some more info, I've had this for a bout 6 months or less, but I have run about 8 to 10 1/6 kegs through it without any problems.

First, the good...

1. It is pretty quiet (in most circumstances)

2. It cools the area to a nice mid to high 30* range without having to modify the thermostat.

3. It will hold 2 1/6 kegs and a CO2 tank with big regulator and have room for a few extra little things (More on that later).

4. It works and you get draft beer right in your house.


Now the bad...

1. It has a REALLY LOUD vibration that occurs only if it's in just the right angle/location/something. (Solution listed below)

2. The cold plate makes a VERY LOUD popping sound. This is because it's too close to the back wall of the unit. (Solution listed below).

3. It has no fans to circulate the cold air and the contents won't get as cold or as fast. (Solution listed below).

4. The lines in the tower are still going to be warm. (Solution listed below).


Solutions via modification:

1. VIBRATION: I went to move it to try to find where exactly the vibration was coming from and after moving it maybe 1/4", it stopped and hasn't made the noise since. So placement is very important. I suspect you could still find what is vibrating and attach some dynamat or some other vibration dampening material if the location can't be altered.

2. POPPING SOUND: For this, I used some spare automotive vacuum hose I had in the garage. I cut 4 pieces off at about 1/4" lengh. I then unscrewed the cold plate from the back wall and re-attached it with a piece of vacuum hose between the plate and wall. The screw went through the natural hole in the hose. Getting the screw back in the threaded hole in the back wall was a bit tricky on a couple, but not too bad. Now it rarely makes a popping sound at all.

3. POOR CIRCULATION: I bought a AI-MPF80A2 Quiet Dual 80mm USB Fan that comes with 2 fans that are linked together with the same wire. I have one blowing from the left side toward the right by the cold plate. And the other is angled just to teh right of that one, but pointing upward. These circulate the air around the inside quite well and evenly cool the contents much quicker than without them. I only paid $15 for them and they are definitely worth it.

4. TOWER IS WARM: I bought a tower cooler. Yes, you can make one yourself, but the amount of time you save by just buying one from someone else is worth it IMHO. I have this sitting next to the other fans (The base that is) with the blower hose just slightly into the tower area and zip-tied to the beer lines. This reduces that first pour foam that you often get due to the warmer temperature beer.

I also bought some USB extension cables so I could run the power for the 2 fan accessories easily.

Another modification (If you want to call it that) is I added a Indoor/Outdoor Digital Suction Cup Thermometer for about $7.00. The suction cup doesn't stick to anything in the kegerator, but it lets me sort of hang it on one of the kegs. It shows min and max temps for the day as well as current temp. I should probably buy a few more to keep as backups since they are so cheap. But this one has worked great the entire time I've had the kegerator and I have dropped it multiple times.


Conclusion...

So with those few modifications, this afordable Kegerator does really well and suits my needs perfectly. I might mount my CO2 tank outside and run a line in to the diverter that will still be inside the unit. But I'll need to get some motivation to do that first. :)

I hope this was helpful. I would definitely recommend this unit to a friend and the modifications I did (All totaled were less than $75). Any other kegerator with those *features* built in would cost a LOT more than that.

06/12/2014

Great product for the price (25% + free delivery). Two 5 gal corney kegs fit with room for 5lbs CO2 tank and a 6 pack beer. Would be nice to have 2 holes for CO2 lines so could put tank outside (easier to adjust CO2 when force carbonating). Only has one hole. Also nice that holes for tower were pre-drilled. Overall, value for money was best I could find short of building my own.
-Rob

06/03/2014

I have incorporated my Kegerator into my outside patio bar and so far it is performing great. The assembly instructions are a little sketchy but anyone with some common sense thinking would be able to figure it out. My one issue is as others have stated the plastic clamps for holding hoses together should be upgraded at supplier as plastic over time will become brittle and break, I elected to go to the local hardware and upgrade to stainless gear clamps at the get go and everything is good.

05/27/2014

As kegco products go they are as advertised. The keg holds perfect 35 degrees and it's very quiet. The only issue the taps are loose and take some work to make tight. It looks very stylish and was a breeze to setup. The setup takes 30 minutes and don't forget you need a big wrench for the CO2 tank. Couldn't be happier.

05/10/2014

Shipping was fast, unit is very quiet can't here it run and easy to assemble, thermostat works great coldest is 38 degrees. There are a couple issues with this fridge but overall I am very pleased. 1) They say it will hold two 1/6 kegs, I have two in it and can't quite close the door I have ratchet strap holding it closed. 2)They say if you are going to have two kegs you have to put the co2 tank inside on shelf because the hole through the back is only big enough for one hose. after talking to a few people I found out your co2 will last twice as long if it stays outside. So I took my dremmel and opened the hole so both hoses will fit and re insulated it. Now I have two kegs and co2 is mounted in rack on back. Other than that I'm very pleased. Have been using it a couple weeks now no issues.