[DeLarge]

Tomorrow morning I am having the granite installed on my bar. The plan is to have the kegerator in the unfinished basement and run the line to the finished part. The installers are going to drill a hole in the granite for the keg tower.


I have seen some pictures and I am wondering how everyone has installed their towers? My wise co-worker suggested drilling holes in the granite for screws to go through and than just bolting the screws down on the other side. Is this the best idea or am I missing something?


Thanks in advance.

 

[jbrocious]

definitely have the holes for the tower drilled through and use nuts on the underside of the granite.... I didn't have granite but I used t-nuts on the backside of my countertop to make sure it was securely tightly.


If possible, have them countersink holes on the underside of the granite maybe a 1/4" for the nut to sit in.

 

[forced347]

One hole should work fine

 

[Scopeguy]

Mine is attached with lead anchors drilled into the granite. Drilling through and bolting should work as well, though you will need to watch the depth of the bolts. If you ever want to pull out the kegorator you want to make sure you can unscrew the tower so you can pull the beer line out. Securing the nuts with epoxy would help make sure that you can unscrew the bolts without them just spinning without loosening.


Greg

 

[Johnsteph10]

I also have my Keg tower through the granite....but I went the easy way. The granite installers didn't think it would be a good idea to drill several small holes around the bigger hole as granite is unpredictable.


I just used 100% silicone and attached the tower to the granite. You can't pry it off! But with a sharp razer blade it will come off easily.


Make sure you also consider insulation/air circulation for the tower as well. Also make sure the granite installers are very precise with drilling their hole for the line/tower.


The finished product looks very sharp!

 

[Fuzzybear50]

I can see where lining up the hole in the granite could be very difficult. I assume you would some type of PVC pipe to bridge the gap between the kegerator and the tower but that looks like it would be tough to squeeze in there.

 

[vespaguy]

@DeLarge


Good luck with the tower installation.


Just curious: How long is your line from the kegerator to the tower? How are you keeping the line cool?

 

[Lee L]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnsteph10 /forum/post/18220857


I also have my Keg tower through the granite....but I went the easy way. The granite installers didn't think it would be a good idea to drill several small holes around the bigger hole as granite is unpredictable.

Well, nothing is stopping them from drilling all the small holes first, then coming back and taking the center out.

 

[Kingcac]

I didn't drill any small holes for the screw. Just one big whole through the granite and a lot of silicone. So far so good. Its definitely not going to move. Just don't yank on it

 

[DeLarge]

They drilled a whole large enough for insulation to fit through it and then drilled four screws directly into the granite (no need for bolts). That sucker is not moving.


Right now I have the kegerator about 3 feet away from the tower. I just have insulation around the line. The final resting place will place the line 5-7 feet away from the tower. I would highly recommend www.micromatic.com; they have a ton of information and great forums.


The plan is to insulate the line and run it through some pvc piping. Then depending on the temperature I might have to buy a fan for the fridge.


We've been working on the basement for about a year now, it was finished so it's not as in depth as a number of projects you see in the forums. However, once we make a few more adjustments I will post pictures of everything including how the bar looks.

 

[vespaguy]



Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLarge /forum/post/18236695


They drilled a whole large enough for insulation to fit through it and then drilled four screws directly into the granite (no need for bolts). That sucker is not moving.


Right now I have the kegerator about 3 feet away from the tower. I just have insulation around the line. The final resting place will place the line 5-7 feet away from the tower. I would highly recommend www.micromatic.com; they have a ton of information and great forums.


The plan is to insulate the line and run it through some pvc piping. Then depending on the temperature I might have to buy a fan for the fridge.


We've been working on the basement for about a year now, it was finished so it's not as in depth as a number of projects you see in the forums. However, once we make a few more adjustments I will post pictures of everything including how the bar looks.

I just installed an under-counter kegerator last year.


I'm very familiar with the Micromatic forums; that's where I learned how to make all of the modifications required to just to get it to work the way one would expect it to work. I couldn't believe that most kegerators are horribly inadequate for cooling kegs!

• Most kegerators only have a single "coldplate" and don't have fans, so the temperature varies wildly from top to bottom. (I added a blower/fan inside to even the interior temperature).
  
• Most kegerators won't get to a low enough temperature for maintaining a keg. (I bypassed the internal thermostat and purchased an external thermostat to force the temperature lower).
  
• Even though my kegerator is specifically designed for "under counter" use, there is nothing available to make an airtight connection from the base unit to the tower through a counter. (I constructed a pvc connector form the kegerator to the tower).
  
• According to sites like Micromatic, the optimum hose length is about 8 feet. Yet most kegerators come with 5 feet of hose resulting in pours that are much to 'powerful' and create a large foamy head. (I unfortunately have not replaced my hose, yet)

What type of kegerator do you have? Did you experience any of the above issues with your unit?


I originally thought about placing my kegerator in an adjoining room and running an insulated line to it, but from what I read at Micromatic it looks like anything beyond a few feet would need to be cooled (rather than just insulated) and frankly I personally didn't want to risk a lot of work and not have it work out.


Even as it stands now, my tower is insulated and connected directly to the kegerator via PVC, but it still gets warm enough to put a nasty head on my first pour. This could be remedied by adding another custom-built blower inside the kegerator (they have instructions on how to build a tower blower at Micromatic). But usually I just pour a half glass (and chug it

) to cool off the line, then the rest of the pours are fine.


Please keep us updated on your kegerator installation. I'm very curious to see how your kegerator installation works out for you.

 

[Lee L]

I ended up making a quick and dirty tower cooler with a radio shack project box, a computer fan and a piece of pex tubing. THE pex is flexible enough that I can move the box a little without worrying about it falling out ever. It helped to move the air in teh kegerator also.


I have a Summit kegerator (The same as many Sanyo from what I read) and I also had to rework the T Stat to get it to cool enough. (I ended up moving the sensor away from teh cold plate.)

 

[rmh2893]

Why not just purchase a tower that installs that most faucets. You can get one that has a threaded shank that attaches with a hex nut on underside of counter or inside of the kegerator. I wouldn't drill screw holes in granite.

 

[rmh2893]

How is the draft tower holding up after using silicone. I'm thinking of doing the same thing but wondering if it will be strong enough with just silicone being used on bottom of draft flange. I presume that is how you did yours.

 

[gator701]

Mine was a very successful installation and came out professionally done and strong.


+++++++++++++++++++



The granite craftsman cut a 2 inch hole in granite above the hole in the kegerator on center


---- Turn the floor flange upside down


Galvanized Floor Flange, 3/4"

http://plumbing.hardwarestore.com/52-331-galvanized-floor-flanges/galvanized-floor-flange-602965.aspx


---- Use rubber seal under floor flange and between granite surface


2 ½ rubber seal - 2-1/2" Buna N Cam and Groove Gasket -- Or equivalent

http://www.globalindustrial.com/p/pneumatics/orings/gaskets/2-1-2-inch-buna-n-cam-and-groove-gasket?utm_source=google_pr&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Gaskets-google_pr&infoParam.campaignId=T9F&gclid=CPun4_XNz7UCFUeCQgodxnsA8w




---- Find a ¾ pvc pipe threaded both ends to the length you need – mine was a 6 inch


Use 3/4 threaded reducer bushing inside kegerator

http://flexpvc.com/cart/agora.cgi?product=PVC-Reducer-Bushings




Drill holes in the bottom of the floor flange and thread for short screws that hold your draft tower to the floor flange