A few years back [Evan] built a kegerator from a mini fridge and was quite happy with his new beer chiller. Like many of us do, he started thinking up ways in which he could improve the project as soon as it was completed. While it took a couple of years, he recently got around to adding the temperature and capacity gauges he always wanted.
He added a temperature probe to the refrigerator, and then constructed a pair of tools that he could use to measure how much beer was left in the keg. The volume monitors include a scale built using a pair of pressure sensors from SparkFun, and a flow sensor installed in the beer line.
[Evan] scored an old Chevy gauge cluster and cleaned it up before installing a pair of analog meters which he used to show the keg’s temperature and “fuel” level. Since he feels no project is complete without some LED love, he added a few of them to the display without hesitation. The LEDs calmly pulsate when the keg sits idle, but spring to life and begin flashing when the flow sensor is activated.
As evidenced by this pair of keg monitoring systems, we think that you can never have enough information when it comes to your beer stash, so we really like how this project came together.
Be sure to check out his kegerator’s gauge cluster in the video below.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4cuNhe1pgk&w=470]
Hard way of doing it.
Hack a digital bathroom scale and simply go by weight like everyone else does.
If everyone did everything the easy way we would never get anywhere.
This is hackaday not easymodaday.
Make up your mind fartface.
You come here and troll constantly. one thread you complain that it is too easy, another that it is too hard.
Looks like I’m not the only one to notice either, someone already copied your very last comment here.
“Like many of us do, he started thinking up ways in which he could improve the project as soon as it was completed.” <– So true! :D
Very nice Evan. Can you elaborate more about the software side? How did you connect it to iTunes? ;)
@captain obvious: you can type in any name you want in the “Name” field of the reply form. there could be 15 different comments from “fartface” and that in no way means all 15 comments are from the same person. i figured that was obvious to everyone, but it must have eluded you.
@fartface,
wow, you’re totally right. I didn’t realize you were so e-famous as to have a horde of impersonators trolling the hackaday comments in an effort to make you look like you’re just being a contrarian jerk. Well then, I’ll just watch for the one polite and insightful one to know who is you.
my sincerest apologies,
captain obvious.
I like how the gauges look like a smiley face and a meh face.
i AM FARTFACE
Sweet keg setup- but can you tell me more about where you got the ceiling tiles from your last project- the light-up basement?
Hmmm, RGD LEDs could also be used to signify the conditions. As in Temp is Low = LED is Blue or Beer is Very Low = LED is Flashing Red!
@fartface – With the limited fridge space, I couldn’t find a scale that would fit so I had to make my own. Didn’t take too long either.
@mjrippe – The lights do act in a manner similar to what you described. I just had it in a “test” mode for the video.
I got a beverage air kegerator cheap from my neighbor. There’s not much spare room. My set used a load cell next to the keg connected by an “S” shaped bar and two pivot points. The guage is a 15V meter where 15V = 15 gallons. It’s very accurate.