CO2 Injector for Cornelius Kegs

First of all, I wanted to give HUGE props to Genuine Innovations for providing not only a convenient product for homebrewers but mostly for providing a lifetime warranty and exceptional customer service.

A few years ago I purchased a Cornelius Keg Ball Lock Injector/Charger from William's Brewing for $20. Prior to this item, I schlepped around a 5lb. CO2 tank and regulator to take kegged homebrew on the road. Very unchillindamos. Since then, the injector was very easy to travel with and simple to teach others to use. I would use two to three 12-gram CO2 cartridges to dispense a 5-gallon keg of beer and could buy the cartridges in bulk also from William's Brewing for $0.69 each (16-gram CO2 cartridges also available in bulk for $0.99 each).
Earlier this month, I was dispensing my Independence Day IPA using the CO2 injector when the plastic area that connects to the ball-lock broke. This dissapointed everyone enjoying the brew but I managed to hold the charger inplace to inject enough pressure to dispense a few pitchers (at the cost of an entire cartridge).

At the time, I figured that I got my use out of it and may as well buy another. Instead of buying the entire thing, I decided to check to see if I can just purchase the top portion from the manufacturer. I found on their website that they provide a warranty on all types of their injectors:

Genuine Innovations warrants that all products will function properly and safely for an unlimited time. Should any product fail to perform safely or properly please return it to the place of purchase.

I contacted customer service at William's Brewing to see if they would arrange the warranty. Janis Martinez at William's responded to contact the manufacturer since it was beyond their warranty time and also said that they were very good at sending out replacements.
After submitting a brief explanation to Genuine Innovations via their Contact Us form, I was quickly contacted by DJ Lopez who clarified the item requested for warranty replacement and offered to send it out immediately. BTW, the email response time for each message was nearly immediate! I was headed out of town and let him know that I would be unable to accept receipt of a package and DJ said he'd send it out upon my return.
The replacement arrived today, two days after my return from a chillindamos vacation. Awesome customer service! The gross design is the same but the compromised location has apparently changed.

Anyone else looking to increase your portability of your draft system, I would highly recommend Genuine Innovations CO2 charger. Good products with excellent customer service and lifetime warranties are a rare commodity. Very chillindamos!

Kegerator Rust Repair

Its time for a little DIY project. Actually, I spent the majority of the week doing several projects I have been wanting to do. The kegerator's interior needed some attention. Since the temperatures are above freezing, water condensation eventually breaks through the laminate and starts eating away at the sheet metal. Once oxidation takes over, the process accelerates.
After allowing the kegerator to warm, I thoroughly cleaned all of the interior surfaces. I then sanded all rusted surfaces and taped off the edges. Image below shows sanding about 1/2 way completed. There's no need to sand off the paint completely but you want to sand away as much of the rust as possible.
At most hardware stores, in the spray paint isle, you'll find Rust-Oleum Appliance Epoxy. I picked this up at Home Depot for $3.99. Its moisture resistant and dries to the refrigerator-like glossy finish. Spraying this stuff in the chest freezer created a think paint fog inside. I was only able to spray for about 10 seconds at a time before being overwhelmed by the fog. I would suggest wearing a long sleeve shirt and a rubber glove for your spraying hand. Also, wearing a face mask would have been helpful. Dipping my arm in the paint fog left my arm hairs white (washed up with soap and warm water).
Even with weather warm and dry, the paint took about 4-5 hours to be dry to the touch. I waited until the next day to fill it back with kegs, secondary fermentation tanks, and the CO2 system.
For about $4, the interior of the chest freezer kegerator is now looking sharp and clean. While painting, I also recharged the desiccators so the interior should remain dry at least until the end of the summer. I still want to install a single manifold gas system and send the CO2 tank to the outside. Since we are moving in the fall, I'll wait on this project.

The State of the Kegerator

My kegerator is about 4-5 years old now. I have a few projects in mind for the summer. As you can see below, there's lots of room inside. I could fit up to 10 corny kegs inside. Pictured is four kegs, the CO2 setup, and two 6.5 gallon fermenters (lagers brewed yesterday). I could easily fit another keg but would have room for an additional keg if I'd move the CO2 setup outside.

The first project is to move the CO2 tank to the outside and install a 6-line manifold on the inside, preferably on the upper end of the back wall. I would like to keep the compressor shelf available for cases/bottles and the desiccators. This will involve carefully drilling a few holes in the walls, avoiding the coolant lines. I'll need to find diagrams for this Kenmore chest freezer model to see where I can confidently drill through the entire wall for the gas line.
The next project is to sand out and repair the oxidation in the inner walls. This shouldn't take long. I have everything I need to do the sanding but I'll need to do some research on how to seal the areas.
A while ago, I started using desiccators to reduce the moisture in the kegerator. This has really helped slow the process and keeps the kegerator relatively dry. The greatest collection of moisture happens when I warm the kegerator up to lager fermentation temperature (50-56 degrees F). When I first started lagering, this is when I noticed a huge increase in oxidation. Last year, I sealed the drain hole for the drip tray to reduce incoming moisture and added a second desiccator.

Though the desiccators are really effective, I need to remember to recharge them frequently. This is easily done by removing the bag of silica gel and placing it in the oven at 240'F for 3 hours. On the bottom of the box is an indicator that will turn pink when the bag is saturated. After recharging the silica gel bag, the indicator gradually turns back to blue. Below is the two silica gel bags in the oven. 24 hours after placing the recharged desiccators back in the kegerator, the interior is bone dry.

The last project is to create some new tap handles. I really like the oar paddle and surfboard tap handles. The tall "tiki" handle was made from a $2 Hawaiian swap meet figurine. At that swap meet (the stadium in Honolulu has a daily swap meet) I got a mini ukulele that I've been wanting to turn into a tap handle. I have the hardware to make the handles so I just need some practice with wood working to add some new tap handles.


Outside of that, my wife and I will be moving this summer. We're not sure where yet but likely elsewhere in San Diego, San Francisco, or east coast (Boston or New York). Of course, I'm hoping that it will be conducive to brewing!