Bar Fridge Kegerator Collar

[mcgster]

I checked for a roll of it at Kent and home depot but i didn't have any luck.

What i would like to do is remove the molded plastic that lines the inside of the existing bar fridge and replace it with continuos pieces over the old and new area. I may check habitat for humanity for one.

[mcgster]

I couldn't be more happy with how much more space i have in this fridge, before i could barely fit the 2 mini kegs, now i have my 2 lagers, 2 kegs and some excess bottles

IMG_4765.jpg

[Broob]

I am totally going to build one of these. First I need some tools and the basic skills required to do it.

[GuingesRock]

Looks great!

.....be careful having a CO2 tank in the bedroom. A CO2 leak when you are sleeping could be fatal.

[mcgster]

Sadly my puny 5 lb tank would have to be much, much larger to displace enough air to cause any issues.

I actually just happened to be looking up conversion rates for lbs of co2 to cu feet of air after my thread on co2 regulators and it turns out that 1 lbs of co2 in liquid form only occupies 8.71 cubic feet of space at atmospheric pressure so my measly 5lb tank only holds 43 cubic feet of air if its filled to the top.

If i were to assume a 12 x 12 room it would have about 1400 cubic feet of breathable air at 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen 1% other gas if you were to add in 43 cubic feet of co2 it would only decrease the available oxygen from 21% to 20.34% well above the 5% oxygen we need to live.

[mcgster]

Also, fun fact, we inspire 21% oxygen and breathe out 16% oxygen and ~5% co2. On average we breathe in/out 500ml in volume with each breath. So that means that in 9865 breaths we would produce enough co2 to fill a 5lb tank, since we breath about 14 times / minute on average we would fill a 5lb co2 tank with naturally produced co2 every 12 hours or so.

[GuingesRock]

Good stuff Mark. I wondered about that. I wondered why the cat didn't die when the 10lb tank leaked into the small room, but my wife nearly asphyxiated when she was leaning into the keezer to help clean it out. Thanks for doing the math.

That air is all mixed up in your calculations. If a CO2 tank leaked, it would spill out and cause a layer on the floor until it had time to mix in according to the laws of physics, being heavier than air and all. It would take some time to become diluted with room air. A person could be in trouble if they were sleeping on the floor maybe.

[GuingesRock]

Some more reading on CO2 hazard in brewing:

http://www.crowcon.com/article/6/co2-ga ... g-industry" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/hs/ ... ts/i35.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://nfpatoday.blog.nfpa.org/2013/06/ ... ewery.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[mcgster]

True, it would take awhile to mix. I'm not sure how long but it is question i pondered while bottling last time after i went through and put a co2 blanket in each bottle.

Back to or 12 x 12 room for ease of math we can say that each foot of hight contains 144 cubic feet of air (12 ft x 12 ft x 1ft) so if you had a 20lb tank that contains about 170 cubic feet of co2 then it actually could conceivable asphyxiate you, err.. well at least cause you to gasp for air, one of the strongest receptors in our body is the central / peripheral co2 sensors that cause our bodies to respond to elevated PCO2 in the blood. Carbon monoxide is so deadly because our body isn't equipped to deal with it and believe it or not we have a very poor response to depressed oxygen levels in the air but a very very strong response to increased co2 levels. Hmm it appears that respiratory physiology course i took last semester actually stuck somewhere in my brain

[GuingesRock]

It makes you short of breath but ....

Properties and effects of CO2

CO2 is extremely hazardous and can kill in two ways: either by displacing O2, leading to rapid asphyxiation, or as a toxin in its own right. Exposure to as little as 0.5% volume CO2 represents a toxic health hazard, while concentrations greater than 10% volume can lead to death. Because CO2 is completely odourless and colourless there is no physical indication of danger until it is usually too late. http://www.crowcon.com/article/6/co2-ga ... g-industry" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[GuingesRock]

CONCENTRATION EFFECT
1% Slight increase in breathing rate

2% Breathing rate increases to 50% above normal. Prolonged exposure
can cause headache and tiredness.

3% Breathing increases to twice the normal rate and becomes labored.
Weak narcotic effect. Impaired hearing, headache, increase in blood
pressure and pulse rate.

4-5% Breathing increases to approximately four times the normal rate,
symptoms of intoxication become evident and slight choking may be
felt.

5-10% Characteristic sharp odor noticeable. Very labored breathing,
headache, visual impairment and ringing in the ears. Judgment may be
impaired, followed within minutes by loss of consciousness.

50-100% Unconsciousness occurs more rapidly above 10% level. Prolonged
exposure to high concentrations may eventually result in death from
asphyxiation.

http://avogadro.chem.iastate.edu/MSDS/c ... ioxide.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[mcgster]

Hehe those two links say very different things, my info is coming from Respiratory Physiology by John West, i wouldn't put too much weight in what you find on industry data sheets.

[GuingesRock]

Where's GasMD30 when you need him?

[mcgster]

Well, there is no doubt Co2 can kill you. We use co2 fire suppression systems in LAN rooms at work that certainly could. They are worth about half a million dollars and have 3 tanks the size of small cars that feed them. Can a 5lb co2 tank kill you, maybe if you hooked it up to a mask and breathed it in, but i would argue that if this were the case it wasn't the co2 that killed you rather the lack of common sense lol.

[GuingesRock]

I studied from John West's book also, not recently though. Physiology is a small part of the whole picture.

[mcgster]

Oh there are many variables at play but the bodies response to concentrations of CO2 in the air is covered adequately in respiratory physiology. It is the physics of how that would disperse and mix with the air that would be the question. Of course none of that would change the fact that really any size "residential" co2 tank is extremely unlikely to pose a health threat from leaking. Especially given that the air in our rooms is not locked in but has to turnover a minimum of every 2 hours i think (not sure what the current building code says here it has been awhile since i was involved in HVAC work).


Edit - this is to say that what happens to the body in response to increasing CO2 levels is explicitly stated in West's book based on controlled experiments not that respiratory physiology is by any means the authority on this.

[Highland Brewer]

Great looking project.

[mcgster]

Thanks drew! It was originally intended as a temporary measure while i'm in NL but now i'm thinking it will make the trip home with me