wessmith
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 10/1/04
- Messages
- 855
- Reaction score
- 74
I know some of you have single and 2 door drink cooler cabinets being used for fermentation so thought the following advice might be of assistance. Over the Christmas period I needed to brew some ales (pilots for a new brewery) and consequently had my 2 door cabinet running at a nominal 16C. All was fine - the 7year old compressor maintaining an exact temp. Then in February, the cabinet stopped cooling and we found a very small gas leak. No probs, recharged the system (R143A) and put down another ale. Five days into the ferment and the motor suddenly stopped - seized solid.
The problem with these cooling cabinets is they are designed to run at 3 to 5C and when the temp is set at 16C or so the back pressure on the compressor is massive. Continuously running at this temp had literally stuffed the compressor. OK, so I got 7 years which is OK I guess, but in the course of finding a replacement compressor, we discovered that nothing is rated to start continuiously at 16C and in the end we settled for a 10C unit. Even at that temp there was only 1 make that would do the job, most compressors being rated at 5 or 6C max. starting temp.
Just a small point to note - if you intend to run the cabinet at 16 or so then the life of the compressor will be shortened. Needless to say, I wont be running higher than 11 or 12C with the new unit!
Wes
The problem with these cooling cabinets is they are designed to run at 3 to 5C and when the temp is set at 16C or so the back pressure on the compressor is massive. Continuously running at this temp had literally stuffed the compressor. OK, so I got 7 years which is OK I guess, but in the course of finding a replacement compressor, we discovered that nothing is rated to start continuiously at 16C and in the end we settled for a 10C unit. Even at that temp there was only 1 make that would do the job, most compressors being rated at 5 or 6C max. starting temp.
Just a small point to note - if you intend to run the cabinet at 16 or so then the life of the compressor will be shortened. Needless to say, I wont be running higher than 11 or 12C with the new unit!
Wes