[rjharper]

Anyone bought one of these cold plate chillers from sodadispenserdepot? They seem pretty cheap compared to some of the ones on beer related sites.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cold-Plate-4-Pass-/380435252761?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5893b54619#ht_2516wt_987

[tschmidlin]

For whatever it's worth - I talked to a guy a couple of weeks ago who rents out jockey boxes.  The have both stainless coil and cold plate versions.  He said the cold plate ones don't chill quickly enough for serving quickly, but for occasional pulling of beers they're fine (a party with 10-15 people).  With a coil you can pour cold beer faster for larger crowds.  With four slots available, if they're pouring equally you can serve cold beer to more people, but if one is a clear favorite it will end up pouring the warmest.

[smkranz]

Our club has a 4-circuit jockey box with a cold plate that looks exactly like the one you're looking at.  I bought it on eBay a bunch of years ago but I don't recall who the seller was.

I say go for it.

Our box serves beer nice and chilled, even if poured continuously.  We have used it for many a Club Night, camping trip, and Brew-Ha-Ha in the sweltering summer heat. It has never served warm beer no matter how quickly we poured.  We have the plate resting on a wire basket with ice packed underneath as well as on top and all sides.  It helps if the beer keg is pre-chilled and setting in a bucket of ice, but it's not necessary. We have been roundly impressed with how well it chills our beers.

[dcbc]

For whatever it's worth - I talked to a guy a couple of weeks ago who rents out jockey boxes.  The have both stainless coil and cold plate versions.  He said the cold plate ones don't chill quickly enough for serving quickly, but for occasional pulling of beers they're fine (a party with 10-15 people).  With a coil you can pour cold beer faster for larger crowds.  With four slots available, if they're pouring equally you can serve cold beer to more people, but if one is a clear favorite it will end up pouring the warmest.

This is a good summation of it.  I had a cold plate box for a while.  Ice cold if you gave it 30 seconds between pulls.  But for one after the other, you might want something that did a bit faster transfer.