Danby DAR440BL kegerator conversion - Completed!

I posted in the "draft systems" section but it's not a busy forum so I wanted to share with the general forum.

As far as I can tell, no one has converted one of these. The closest I have found is this.



The Danby comes with an exploded diagram and after powering it on I confirmed the refrigerant lines are in the sides per the diagram and the heat they generate. I called Danby and they also confirmed there is nothing on the top except wires. Danby appears to use this same model for their own kegerator. Anyway it's nearly complete!

I have to build something to circulate a fan, but it's done other than that.



The rest of the photos are available here!

Congrats! Looks good! I noticed that the placement of the tower puts the beer lines close to the plate that does the cooling. In that regard I'll tell ya story about something that happened to me once. One of my beer lines got pushed around so that it was up against that plate and it froze the beer. Not saying that it will happen to you, but if the the beer suddenly stops flowing for no apparent reason it's something you might want to check.

Nice job!! Pretty ingenious. So what did it end up costing you after it was all said and done? I'm sure it was quite a bit cheaper than buying one online. The dual tap kegerators are about $700. IIRC.

Thanks for the tip on the beer line, I'll get some foam insulation and wrap it around the lines to prevent that.

The fridge was $180 and the rest I bought at kegkits.com. It was about $300 for the two refurb'ed kegs, 5lb CO2 tank, regulator, dual tap tower and faucets and the necessary gas and beer lines.

I believe I have several spare transformers, I know I have a hobby box, flexible tubing and a PC fan so making the circulation fan won't cost me anything, I expect.

That looks great! I did not know you could remove the panel from the inside of the door. Looks like a fun project to tackle one day. Thanks for the pics.

Why do you need a fan? Will it run constantly?

Very nice job. It gives me the idea of trying to remove the molded insert of my fridge door, might just make it possible for me to put my kegs in it without haivng to wedge them back into the thing.

The door panel comes off and is held in with about 30 screws, you just peel back the door seal. Using the old door panel as a template, mark you the acrylic, drill holes and that's it.

As far as the fan, it's intended to blow up the tower and keep the lines cool to prevent foaming.

The fan box is done and it works great. I bought a 3-speed PC fan with a switch. If I need more airflow I just open the door and increase the speed. Too much tower condensation, just turn it down. It works great and cost less than $20 to make! Complete photo album is available by clicking here. Here are just a few:

Sucking in air:


All the parts, less the hose:


A little electrical tape over the quick disconnect and I'm done:


Yes, it works! This is the medium speed setting:

That is "Cool". Nice job.

I want to convert the DAR482BLS. It's got to be the same as the DAR440BL only with the stainless front. Does anyone see a problem converting this fridge?

http://www.danby.com/product/DAR482BLS/1

I want to convert the DAR482BLS. It's got to be the same as the DAR440BL only with the stainless front. Does anyone see a problem converting this fridge?

http://www.danby.com/product/DAR482BLS/1

I would search online for the manual or a diagram. The op also had luck contacting them directly. Those product numbers can be deceiving and your model may be slightly different. If you model number was DAR440BLS, I would say go for it, but the DAR440 may be different than DAR482

Very nice! I just bottled another batch today and thought, "It sure would be nice to keg." Is your CO2 tank in there as well? I don't remember seeing it in the pics.

Very nice! I just bottled another batch today and thought, "It sure would be nice to keg." Is your CO2 tank in there as well? I don't remember seeing it in the pics.

Yes, it sits on the little shelf in the back that houses the compressor.

I'm looking for a fermentation fridge and that looks big enough, but I figure I will ask, will it fit a 6 Gal carboy?

I updated the gallery to show the Love controller and whether or not carboys will fit for fermentation.