Keg King kegerator series 4

[Hostage_85]

Thats a good idea, i'll try that too.

Cheers.

 

[Jrrj]

Quick question for everyone who has a series 4 already who has put soda water on tap. Do you ever get issues with the line freezing? I have an old KK kegerator, possibly the first series they did, and whenever the weather warms up above 20 degrees I get issues with the my soda water line freezing. Every time it happens I need to pull the keg out and bend the line around where it goes into the font, so that the ice breaks up and I can pour again.

I assume the issue is caused by poor temperature consistency in the fridge, which causes the cooler to run longer and the cooling unit to frost up pretty significantly (by the end of summer I get a massive ice block across the back). I'm hoping and assuming this sort of issue does not exist for newer models. Could anyone confirm? I'd be especially interested to hear from anyone in a hot climate who has a permanent soda water tap and doesn't run the font fan 24/7.

Thanks

 

[peteru]

My use and climate totally doesn't fit your criteria, but I can tell you that even with the KK4 set to 4C at 25C ambient, the back wall and drip channel will get ice forming if you are not running the fan. If your line touches the back wall, it will freeze.

On KK4 the temperature sensor is in the right hand side wall, just past half way back and fairly high up. There is a slim plastic cover over it. It just happens to be at around the place where a keg will mostly block it. With three kegs in the fridge and the fan off, the temperature gradient and consequently delay between the cooling at the condenser on the back wall and what the sensor reads inside the side wall will be huge.

My tip would be to run the fan and if possible keep the sensor area as clear as is practical.

 

[Jrrj]

Great advice, thanks peteru. Maybe first task should be to install a fan blowing up the font on the current unit rather than buy a KK4...

 

[Rocker1986]

Or use one of the front keg spaces for the soda water. I usually run a keg of soda water when one of my beer kegs runs out and its' almost always one of the front ones that blows dry first, so it goes in there and the line is away from the back. Unit set to -1C and never get freezing of the water.

 

[Jrrj]

Yep I definitely need to look at the location of the soda water line as it enters the font. Based on your reply and peteru's, I'm thinking I might put some foam insulation around the line and possible shorten it too (it is a permanent soda water tap but previously beer so longer line than necessary).

 

[fdsaasdf]

I have a decent ice build up on the back wall of my (pre-4) kegerator in summer, so on a weekday every month or so I bump the temp up to 5deg for a day or so. This allows it to all thaw out and then I drop it back to 2 or 3 to keep the beer at appropriate temps for tropical conditions.

 

[benju63]

just another question for those of you with this keg master series 4 if you can please help me out!!
is it possible to use the font through a stone bench top using a locking but from the underside of the bench.
As opposed to the four bolt holes at the base of the font??
By using a insert/adapter or some sort of other set up?

 

[Rocker1986]

You'd probably need a flooded font to do something like that easily without using the four bolt holes on the standard fonts. They come with a longer threaded pipe sticking out of them with a nut to hold it in place.

 

[bradsbrew]

Bought one of these just over a month ago. The back wall is currently ice and the drain area is full of ice. I have it set to 1 degree and it has been sitting at 12 degrees for the last 3 hours. Anyone else having these issues?

 

[Bribie G]

I've had that problem with my series one.
There was a blocked drain hole (where the condensate runs out of the cabinet then down to the top of the compressor to be evaporated off, just like in a domestic fridge).

You could check that. The blocked drain causes ice to form then, with nowhere for water to run off to, the ice just keeps on growing like upside down icicles.

 

[bradsbrew]

Yeah the drain is currently full of ice, have pulled the font fan conduit out of the font and directed it at the back wall to try and melt it.
Don't really want to have to defrost it and wake up to a pool of water in the dining room.

 

[peteru]

Make sure that the door seals well and that the gas hose hole is also well sealed. The ice is forming as a result of moist air making it's way inside the fridge and condensing. Setting the temperature to 1C means that the cooling coils will spend most of their time at below freezing temperatures, so the ice has very little chance of melting and draining out. You might want to set a slightly higher temp to alleviate the problem.

 

[bradsbrew]

Yes i sealed around the gas hole with blutac last night.
Had set it to 1c to help with the font. Might pump him up to 4c and see if i can get the ice to melt away.

 

[Bribie G]

Man up and defrost the bugger.
That's what SWMBO's towel collection is for.

edit: I can't believe that this is this the kick arse Brad that we have come to know and love? Get those loins girded, big fella.

 

[huez]

Definitely needs a defrost. You will end up doing damage if you let it go. Your kegs will stay cold long enough, just break away the ice once it starts defrosting enough so you're not waiting ages.

 

[bradsbrew]

Man up and defrost the bugger.
That's what SWMBO's towel collection is for.

edit: I can't believe that this is this the kick arse Brad that we have come to know and love? Get those loins girded, big fella.

Haha, it's not about making a mess in my newly aquired area. It's my pig headed stubbornness telling me, i am $800 odd (font & taps)into a new kegerator, why the **** am i defrosting it 1 month in. Well if it's because i didn't plug the gas hole, i will cop that on the chin. If i have to defrost it each month, I'll head back to craftebrewer and ask Ross to promptly shove this big clump of ice up keg kings clacker.
It currently turned of to defrost, so i can also change the position of the gas manifold.

 

[Bribie G]

More than likely an obstruction in the water drain tube, definitely poke something through and see how it is. Might even be a bit of plastic or something from assembly.

 

[peteru]

Qld weather is different enough to Sydney, but the frost formation is purely a function of moisture and temperature. That's good news for Ross, because there won't be any need for icicle showing in kings clackers. ;-)

Just a bit of customer education. Don't set the fridge to freezing temperature and keep it sealed.

Here's another tip to help you. The KK4 has the ability to "calibrate" the temperature setting. You might want to do that, so that when you think you have it at 4C, it is actually at 4C. Mine was off by about 2 or 3C from the factory. I adjusted it on the first day.

I realise that everyone has a different preference for beer serving temperature. I find that for my needs a setting between 6C and 8C is a good compromise. It's cold enough for the lightest beers I tend to serve and with the more complex beers, I tend to pour them and let them sit for a while until they come up to drinking temperature. Sometimes that temperature is in the 14-16C bracket. If you find that your beers warm up too quickly, you might want to consider using pre-chilled thick walled glasses and serve a smaller volume more often.

The physics behind the frosting in the fridge are fixed. If there is moisture and temperature is at 0C or bellow, ice will form. It won't be able to drain.

 

[peteru]

Errrr. I probably should have put more smilies in the above post. It was my attempt at humour, but perhaps it didn't quite come across that way. :unsure: