A Maintenance-Free DIY Beer Lift Powered by igus Lead Screws

Who wouldn't want an underground beer fridge in their garden?

A second refrigerator in the garden requires lots of space and energy. To avoid having to use one, Mr Kessler of Kessler Engineering designed a beer lift. The DIY beverage lift is installed in a hole in the garden. It is cold in the hole, so drinks can be cooled without power. Up to 21 bottles can be stored in the beer lift. He saves room in the garden and in his refrigerator, and the lift is the highlight of all his garden parties.

Mr Kessler followed his concept starting with component selection. The following points were especially important:

► Maintenance-free
► Easy-care and weatherproof building materials
► Simple design for assembly
► cost-effective
► Lightweight and elegant design

He has upgraded the beer lift to a 2.0 version which standardised the special items such as the Bauhaus aluminum profiles , the Bosch motor, and the igus lead screw. The result of this, the new 2.0 version is significantly cheaper than its predecessor, making the lift even more cost-effective for people to build themselves.

Images and priorities when manufacturing the beer lift

Priorities:

The beer lift should be maintenance-free
Easy-care and weather-resistant construction materials should be used for the lift
Simple construction for easy assembly
Bottles of different shapes and sizes should fit inside the lift
Cost-effective
Visually light and elegant design

Parts used:

Outer housing of the beer cooler is made from a KG DN 250 pipe with a KG socket end cap DN 250
Most parts of the beer lift were milled from 6 mm HPL panels. HPL (multi-purpose construction board or balcony board) is a very robust and durable material
All connecting parts and small functional components were produced on an FDM 3D printer using PETG
The beer lift is powered by a Bosch geared motor and an igus lead screw

Why were igus solutions used?

The igus leadscrew and nut ticked a lot of the requirements needed such as:
Maintenance free
Cost-effective
Lubrication-free
Lightweight
Easy to construct
Weather resistant

"The igus® lead screw nut is inserted flush into the 25mm aluminium tube. The nut is securely fixed with several strokes from several sides with a centre punch and hammer. In order to avoid deforming the nut, I screwed in the lead screw first"