Fridgies: Help Needed! Please!

[Cocko]

Anyone with Freezer operation knowledge, please help!

I recently purchased a chesty setup off a fellow AHB member with collar fitted etc...

It has not missed a beat for the first month.

Last night I notice my beer is a little warmer than usual, look across at the temp-mate and its reading 8* [Usually between 2&5]... Woke up this morning, compressor still running and its reading 11*. Get home from work tonight and 12*...

Obviously it is still cooling to some degree as it has been 31 today in Melbourne and if it had shat itself it would be a lot warmer....

Can any one shed any tips before I call out a Fridgie?

Surely it can handle the warmer weather... ?!? Not relying on its own thermostat, what else could it be??

Guys coming into summer, I think this is about as serious as a crisis situation gets!! :angry:

PLEASE HELP!

Cheers

 

[Carboy]

Could be a couple of reasons, but at a guess it may be the Temp-Mate setting. If you don't have the user manual/sheet, then search the Web for the default settings then check yours.

Good luck.
Cheers
Carboy :icon_cheers:

 

[Cocko]

Could be a couple of reasons, but at a guess it may be the Temp-Mate setting. If you don't have the user manual/sheet, then search the Web for the default settings then check yours.

Good luck.
Cheers
Carboy :icon_cheers:

Cheers for the reply and wishes... I run 2 other fridgemates on my fermenting fridges and have the manual/sheet. Never had an issue with them.... but the compressor is running so it should be getting colder, yeah?!!! :angry:

Things is all was working perfectly, nothing touched, only different is the actual weather is up a couple of degrees, and this happens...

Any other thoughts?

 

[WildaYeast]

Not a fridgie, but I'll stick my neck out Mate, based on the research I've done trying to solve my various problems.

Based on your symptoms -- compressor starts, but runs "a lot" and temperature doesn't drop enough, sounds like you have a low gas situation.

Topping up the refrigerant would probably cure the problem, but... Most domestic stuff is disposable once it leaks. The main reason for this is that a lot of the 'plumbing' is buried, hidden, inaccessible. Theoretically, if you could find the leak (very hard) you could then fix it (reasonably easy) and all would be wonderful. With the commercial units, plumbing is often exposed and units are dearer, so repairs do happen.

The other drama is that domestic stuff doesn't tend to have valves and ports to allow easy testing and re-gassing. So, extra $$ just to diagnose and then repair. If you do have a leak, it has to be evacuated -- vacuum drawn -- as moisture can interfere with performance (also cause corrosion issues, I think).

Bottom line, it's probably stuffed Mate. I did keep one going for a bit that way, but it eventually died and in the interim you are paying for electricity. I reckon you need to start looking for a new one. Sorry, but that's what I'd reckon. Still trying to get educated, so I'd be happy to have a refrigeration or AC guy correct me...

Brian

 

[QldKev]

Not a fridgie, but I'll stick my neck out Mate, based on the research I've done trying to solve my various problems.

Based on your symptoms -- compressor starts, but runs "a lot" and temperature doesn't drop enough, sounds like you have a low gas situation.

Topping up the refrigerant would probably cure the problem, but... Most domestic stuff is disposable once it leaks. The main reason for this is that a lot of the 'plumbing' is buried, hidden, inaccessible. Theoretically, if you could find the leak (very hard) you could then fix it (reasonably easy) and all would be wonderful. With the commercial units, plumbing is often exposed and units are dearer, so repairs do happen.

The other drama is that domestic stuff doesn't tend to have valves and ports to allow easy testing and re-gassing. So, extra $$ just to diagnose and then repair. If you do have a leak, it has to be evacuated -- vacuum drawn -- as moisture can interfere with performance (also cause corrosion issues, I think).

Bottom line, it's probably stuffed Mate. I did keep one going for a bit that way, but it eventually died and in the interim you are paying for electricity. I reckon you need to start looking for a new one. Sorry, but that's what I'd reckon. Still trying to get educated, so I'd be happy to have a refrigeration or AC guy correct me...

Brian

Yep, I agree; gas leak. Depending on the value bin it.

Kev

 

[dmac80]

It sounds like it could be low on gas, but if you know an Electrician with a tong ammeter you could ask them to check how many amps the compressor is drawing. If the compressor is drawing less current than what the name plate says it should, it is low on gas.
Cheers

 

[chadjaja]

same symptoms as mine when it died, a week later it was on the nature strip. I feel for you, I stood and looked at mine for a good hour before walking back inside.....ahhh the despair

 

[gjhansford]

My 2 bits worth ... the gas is all gone.

My first unit was a brand new little 2 keg chesty that I got cheap as showroom damaged due to a small dint in the side. No worries for me as it's built in. So I drilled two holes in the top for the beer lines and screwed on the font. Also no worries as there's no gas lines in the lid. All worked well for about one month and ... just as described by the OP ... the unit started to get warm even though the motor was running.

One professional (meaning high cost) inspection later the news was all bad:

No gas, unknowable leak location ... equals unrepairable ...

No warranty (not because of the dint but because I'd modified the lid) ... :angry:

Built in space unmodifable ...

Meaning I have to buy exactly the same unit again ... this time full price ... to have cold beer for the weekend. :angry: :angry:

Just one of the many sad stories that makes up a home brewer's life.

PS: All's well with the new unit ... been in now 2 yeasr and still working ... I think ... let me just check that ... yes that beer is cold!

Signing off ...

ghhb

 

[Cocko]

Thank you heaps for the replies Gents, especially Wildayeast for taking the time to explain... :icon_cheers:

I was hoping, knowing it wouldn't come but hoping, a simple - "Oh, just dance a jig with the left tap open and everything will be fine" ..... fark it.

Ok, so I buy a new rig and are excited it fits 6 kegs, sell my old battle axe that I know is still running like an race horse, and a month later I am heading into summer with no keg fridge or the expense of a new... :angry:

Anyway, enough feeling sorry for myself so:

This has discouraged me against a chesty as a keg fridge, is it the fact its a freezer or just simply bad luck ya reckon? Or have people had bad luck with freezers too?

Thanks again.

EDIT: Cheers ghhb, I guess that answers the above.... FAAAAAARCCCK!

 

[MHB]

Found this a while ago, been looking for a chance to use it, thanks, sadly when it comes to domestic freezers its usually (considering what fridges charge) the case.

MHB

 

[Cocko]

View attachment 42383

GOLD!

Wish it wasn't in this case but hey...

 

[rotten]

What if you had a fridge freezer, the freezer worked fine, but the fridge is doing what cocko's is? Mine actually spends a few days about 20ish, then drops to freezing or close to it. Mind of it's own. Would you still go to the trouble of hooking up a tempmate?
Sorry for stealing your thread for a minute.

 

[Batz]

Found this a while ago, been looking for a chance to use it, thanks, sadly when it comes to domestic freezers its usually (considering what fridges charge) the case.

MHB

View attachment 42383

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[MHB]

Sounds like the cyclic defrost has had the richard.
Without a circuit diagram I'm only guessing, but it is sometimes possible to bypass the fridges own controller and just rely on the external one.
One of those "if you don't understand it call an expert" situations.

MHB

 

[stux]

After reading the whole keg setup threads, there are lots of stories of people setting up chesty's with a new collar, and having the chesty give out within months or a year.

Which is very strange, considering fridges/freezers normally last decades.

Is there something inherently bad about running a chest freezer at fridge temperatures?

 

[Whiteferret]

What if you had a fridge freezer, the freezer worked fine, but the fridge is doing what cocko's is? Mine actually spends a few days about 20ish, then drops to freezing or close to it. Mind of it's own. Would you still go to the trouble of hooking up a tempmate?
Sorry for stealing your thread for a minute.

After some serious mods to my fridge(external glycol pump housed in a non working chesty feeding my fermenting fridge) and the recent rise in temps I thought my keg fridge had had enough . It was doing a similar thing to yours rotten(no cyclic defrost MHB) even after I had turned all the external stuff off. I had this idea that it could have been a bubble lock like I had heard about in the old absorbtion fridges that could be fixed with some gentle rocking and rolling of the fridge to fix it.(while it was off and some time to let the gas settle) low and behold it worked. Ive reinvented my fermenter fridge to only go through the keg fridge and so far everythings ok and the temps in the keg fridge are ok fingers crossed this week has been hotter than the other one . why do it this way because I can h34r: oh and my plan is to have a remote flooded font on my bar but it seems that will need a good chiller.
PS: It could be your cyclic defrost like MHB said if you've got one or a frost free which has a derfost cycle too you just cant see it.

 

[Cocko]

Is there something inherently bad about running a chest freezer at fridge temperatures?

This is what I would love to know....

Maybe a poll is in order.... <_<

 

[WildaYeast]

Would love to know as well, but I can't see any logical reason why. I have seen this discussed in a thread before somewhere and the logic was along the lines of -- all you are doing is making it work less hard than it would have otherwise. Makes sense to me...

Mine's about 6-12 mos old and no probs (knock wood) so far. I got it new. If a pole, would like to know if many people have had dramas with new ones (like ghhb). Mine is a Chinese cheapo, I reckon (Hisense) and I do sort of wonder whether, like many things, they just ain't what they used to be. Sadly, we live in an increasingly disposable society.

Brian

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

I've forgotten exactly when (I think this time last year), but I bought two F&P slimline 215litre chest freezers and sat them next to each other. One is a freezer and one is used for important work. I nearly bought a second-hand freezer for the kegs, but eventually decided that the peace-of-mind that comes with a multi-year warranty was worth a fair bit of money to me. Of course, that means I have to use the thing in a way that is quick and easy to undo if I need to call upon the warranty and always buying new stuff is a great way to rid yourself of excess cash.

 

[davo4772]

Hi all.
Doesn't help anyone but my parents have had the same GE chest freezer since 1967. It's never missed a beat.
I plan to inherit the thing.
Dave