Keg cooler build (Was "Cooler with a hole cut in the lid")

[BeerPal]

...I can't open the lid very much to get ice in with the keg inside. I'm thinking I'll have to defeat the hinge and simply lift the lid off when I want to put ice in.

Problem solved! It turns out the little "hinge pins" are really nothing more than small, round tabs that are easily pried out of their receiver holes in the hinge body with a flathead screwdriver. So it looks as if removing the lid to fill the cooler with ice while the keg is in place can be easily done with no additional modification to the lid.

[BierTodd]

That is a sweet looking rig. Cool that you don't have to modify the hinges.
I have more 5's than 3's, and being able to take a 5 convenient and cold is probably more important. The cobra tap is a lot easier to plumb than a faucet, and I can use the spare change for getting into one of those mini-regulators.
What is the diameter on those cup holders? I'm gonna go for refillable 20oz CO2 if I can, one less thing to throw away.

[BeerPal]

What is the diameter on those cup holders?

2.5"

[skibikejunkie]

A six gallon bucket is the perfect size for a corny keg + ice. Obviously not insulated, but just add ice from time to time and you're good to go. The top sticks above the ice, but since you're drawing from the bottom, it doesn't matter.

Yeah, but the coolness factor is low and the ghetto factor is high. Pass.

Yes, but the cost factor is low and the dick-dance factor is even lower.

Of course I don't ascribe to the "anything worth engineering is worth over-engineering" ethos either.

[BeerPal]

Yes, but the cost factor is low and the dick-dance factor is even lower..

To each his own. For me, the toys are half the fun.

Of course I don't ascribe to the "anything worth engineering is worth over-engineering" ethos either.

My cooler setup will keep beer cold for days without recharging the ice. No mere bucket is going to come close to that performance.

[tlael]

My cooler setup will keep beer cold for days without recharging the ice. No mere bucket is going to come close to that performance.

Pfffft, My cooler kills flies with a Hydrogen Fluoride Laser Array.

[BeerPal]

I'm still pondering using a similar setup for a 3 gallon with a faucet, and this cooler might do the trick with no keg top showing.

It would be pretty simple to build a "stand" out of PVC pipe for the inside of the cooler that would support a 3-gallon corny at any height you wanted. That way the cooler would work for both 3 and 5-gallon kegs.

[Stinkfist]

I would just save the piece I cut out and duct tape in there if I needed it for carrying a 3 gallon keg....and take it out when carrying a 5 gallon keg, a little ghetto with the 3 gallon keg but makes it dual purpose...for no extra money (except duct tape..lol)