Solving my Kegerator Problems (Hopefully)

I picked up a kegerator off of craiglist for $100 a few months back.  It had some cosmetic problems, but it got cold and seemed to be in good shape mechanically.  It included a gas cylinder and a beer faucet.  However, it's starting to fall under the "you get what you pay for" category.  The unit is a Beverage Air Model QM20, and since most Beverage Air kegerators run about $400 or more (lots more), I was feeling pretty smug about it.

I got it home and decided to pull off the plastic top because it was cracked in several places.  This wasn't too much of a problem and I replaced it with a plywood top that I painted then covered with plastic coating. 

I then replaced the beer line and the gas line (previous owner had apparently never cleaned them... ewww), and picked up new connections for the smaller "corny" or soda kegs that I'm using for homebrew.  This came to about $40 in parts.

So, with the top replaced, new parts installed, and beer in the fermentor, I moved it into place in the basement.  However, while doing this, I broke one of the welds that held one of it's casters in place.  D'oh.  Oh well, easy fix with a block of wood in the back corner.

I plugged it in and put a glass of water in the fridge with a thermometer in it.  Most beer needs to be 36 to 38F when served, so I wanted to make sure that it was getting that cold.

At about this time, I started to research how to turn this into a two-tap unit.  Unfortunately, I found that it is an old 2.5" tower (the metal tube that has the handle on it), and there is not room inside that tower to add another faucet.  This little change will require a new 3" tower (about $65) and of course, the new faucet, beer lines, and CO2 gas lines ($20 for the faucet, probably about $5-10 for beer lines, $30 for multi-port gas distributors).  This is starting to sound expensive.

Time to check on that glass in the fridge... the good news is as tested before buying it, it is getting cold.  However, I quickly learned that the thermostat was not working on the unit and it froze the glass of water completely solid within 2 hours.  I remove the block of ice, chip out the thermostat.  Get out another one, and turn the thermostat to the off position and learn that it will still freeze the water in the "off" position.

Now I've moved the Hefeweizen into a keg awaiting the kegerator... so, I decide let's just tap the thing, and unplug the fridge to make sure it doesn't freeze.  Of course, almost immediately after drinking beer one night I forget to unplug the kegerator.  This freezes the beer lines and pops the faucet open.  I don't notice this when I unplug it and about a half hour later, I've got beer pouring out all over the floor!!  NOOOO! 

The other problem with this solution is that tapped beer is very temperature sensitive.  Higher temps require less CO2 gas pressure, lower temps require more - basically this means huge head on the beer as the keg warms up.  Additionally, once the beer drops to about 34F (or lower) the CO2 gas gets trapped in the beer and will provide very little head and leaves a flat taste to it.  So, obviously, I have to get the temperature issues resolved.

I contacted Beverage Air and found out that they do not think they have ever built model QM20.  I provided all the details I could, but they just recommended I contact a certified service company to look at the unit.  So, I then went to parts suppliers and found they also claim Beverage Air never made a model QM20 and they can't send me a thermostat for it.  Someone suggested that I take out the thermostat and see if its got any part numbers on it, but of course it doesn't.

The solution that I've come to is to buy an external temperature controller and let it control the temperature.  These are about $65, so while my kegerator remains a good deal, its not looking like the bargain I originally thought.

Total price so far: $205 and some change.  Still have another $125-$130 or so more to add the second tap.  Though I have had (some) fun trying to figure all this stuff out.