Yesterday an acquaintance called me up. He had inherited these soda fountains from his parent's skating rink. He just wanted someone to use them and remembered sharing a beer after work one day. Apparently they are pre-1985 Cornelius brand soda fountains and even came with a few kegs that still had pressure in them.
After doing a little research I found that other people have used these "pre-mix" machines for serving beer. The more modern "post-mix" machines blend carbonated water at the tap with syrup from a box. The syrup in a box is popular now and that's why we find so many used kegs! The post-mix machines do not lend well for serving beer. So here is my Pre-Mix Bonanza Beer Cooler experiment.
Rick is an appliance repairman so he showed me how simple these machines break down. Noting that the cover grill has to face the correct way for the fan to push air correctly. It looks like the fridge unit can be installed either way by just moving it's plug from one side to the other.
I'll be replacing these little hoses between the cooling lines and taps.
This part is filled with water. Each tap has it's own tube that you see running up and down through the ice water. That is the only thing between the kegs and taps. Pre-mix units are cool like that.
The first thing I did was fill the tank with water and bleach. I used a cloth to scrub the upper part because the overflow hole won't allow water to go all the way to the top.
The refrigerator coil shown here sits down in the water and cools it. There is a paddle which stirs the water. I believe it's purpose is to keep the tank from freezing up, I'll check the water temp after I get one running.
Fountains and tanks arrive at the Bonnie Brewery. Soon to serve a more important role!
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