Let’s face it, sometimes you need to take time out from engineering cutting-edge electric vehicles to over-engineer a beer fridge. And to tell you the truth, after seeing what [Matt Brown] managed to pull off we now have a gut-felt yearning for one of our own. He took a beer fridge and added a vanishing dispenser handle from a Tesla Model S.
You might be thinking that this an expensive part, and you’ve be more correct than you realize. It’s not even a stock part. This is a prototype that someone threw in the trash. [Matt] plucked it from oblivion and milled a spot for it in the door of the fridge. Your average [Joe] probably doesn’t know that the Model S comes with handles that pull themselves flush with the body of the vehicle.
[Matt] dug out insulation on the inside of the door until there was room to cut a hole for the handle. The clamped the assembly in place and used spray foam to re-insulate as well as glue it in place. An Arduino monitors the area below the tap. When you put your glass under the spout the handle extends. When you pull on it a solenoid drives the tap handle forward. This sounds pretty dry, but we think the demo after the break will have you lusting after one as well.
Wow nice, glad something that cool was not only saved from the trash but used it to dispense tasty beverages!
awesome but there’s way to much head on those beers.
well cept at 00:51, he knows how to pour a beer.
Haha I was thinking the exact same thing . . . too much head for my taste.
I think they have their serving pressure too high. Unless it’s a wheat beer you shouldn’t get that much head from such a gentle pour. If it’s an IPA you want a lot of head. it helps release all those wonderful hop aromas you went through all the trouble to put in your beer.
Hmm. So what happens when you have enjoyed some beverages and take your cup away while pulling the handle ? It sheers off your fingers for spilling beer when it retracts the handle?
This machine won’t tolerate alcohol abuse! Punish the spiller!
I think the handles have a build in blockage detection system.
I thought the same thing and then realised the mechanism is probably very week like the draw on a CD drive and probably belt driven t allow slippage when a finger is stuck.
Love this kind of hack. Objectively useless as a device, but man it’s cool :) Having fun is part of what makes us human after all! Bonus points for saving something from the landfill.
I swear, someone has to get Elon Musk to make these things…
Before I went to the video, I was thinking the handle fit over the tap, disquising the tap to look like a regular fridge. Cool though…
I thought the same thing! I want one that has the beer built into the door and a hidden tap. Nice for when family comes over and you want to hide your alcoholism..
Great hack nonetheless!
Something tells me Tesla might want their handle back…Along with the fridge… :P
I’m all for the aesthetic, but this just doesn’t seem worthwhile.
Seems extremely complex and unnecessary just to pull, the throttle on a tapper. It is Murphy’s law, I’m thinking of? The more complex, especially with unnecessary parts to perform a function, the sooner this thing is going to break (especially when you mix alcohol).
I’m not exactly a minimalist but I don’t think swapping simple engineering for a novelty you will soon get bored with is among the better ideas.
Neat, but impractical with the extra steps it takes just to get a beer. I suspect this guy has already experienced house-guests foregoing the trouble and just manually pulling the tap..