Keezer not holding temp/ motor running

as it stands my keezer isnt holding temp. ive noticed the motor has been running nonstop all day, a large area of ice keeps building up near the top of the keezer. ive broken it away 3 times in the last 2 days. ive placed my temp probe in a glass of water and have a computer fan blowing the air inside. im at a loss, no idea whats going on........HELP ME. Will the 3 kegs inside the keezer be okay with this temp change??

I would say your refrigerant charge is low or you have a restriction in the evaporator coil. Best guess, low refrigerant.

is this something i can repair?

mike1978 said:

is this something i can repair?

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If you have to ask that question the answer is probably 'no'. What type of refrigerant is it?

not sure, ive never had this kind of issue. its a large 4ft chest freezer. im really just wondering if this is someting that can be repaired or not, or if anyone else has run into this issue.

How old is it? Quite often, symptoms such as you describe are caused by leaking/weak compressor valves. Consumer grade compressors of the last few decades just aren't designed to last. The repair costs are generally too high to justify.

If it's running constantly, the temperature control might be stuck closed, but it could have a leak and be low on charge as was mentioned.....

it says 2001. so far ive unplugged the unit and let it sit to defrost any ice build up. however, when i removed the cover to the housing for the motor i didnt see any coils to dust off. is there anything i can do for a leaky/weak compressor valve?? i would hate to have to scrap this keezer!

There is no way to service or repair a hermetic compressor. There are almost never service ports to test or add refrigerant. If you are not in the HVACR business it is probably not worth fixing. As previously mentioned the compressor valves may be worn. To replace the compressor would be a $300-400 service. The evap. and cond. coils are impossible to get to without tearing the thing apart. Finding a leak in a coil would be almost impossible. Sorry to be a Debbie Downer but I think you will have to junk it. It is NOT repairable like many refrigerators.

Do you have the ability to test the amp draw of the compressor? Is the larger pipe on the compressor cool? Is the smaller pipe hot?

One further note: Homebrewers often use chest freezers as fermentors and/or refrigerators (I have one myself). It should be understood though that this WILL shorten the life of the compressor and not to get to emotionally attached to your keezer. A freezer was designed to be a freezer. Higher temps mean higher pressures mean higher amp draws mean shorter compressor life.

You could have an air leak letting warm air into the keezer, look for it near where the ice keeps building up. Warm air entering brings moisture with it that condenses on nearby surfaces and forms the ice ball. Ice ball formation can also be a sign of a low refrigerant charge or failing compressor, but look for an air leak first. Bad gaskets or a crack in the collar could be the culprit.

Try taking your probe out of the water. If the water is not cooling down your compressor will run forever. Maybe this is why you are getting ice build up, and maybe the ice is fouling the coils. Let the compressor kick off every once in a while to thaw the ice a bit.

If you're building ice it's obviously cooling okay. Sounds like for some reason you're fouling your heat exchange. May be an issue with the coil.

Mikethepoolguy said:

One further note: Homebrewers often use chest freezers as fermentors and/or refrigerators (I have one myself). It should be understood though that this WILL shorten the life of the compressor and not to get to emotionally attached to your keezer. A freezer was designed to be a freezer. Higher temps mean higher pressures mean higher amp draws mean shorter compressor life.

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Hmmm.... Yeah, probably - but on the other hand, the compressor runs less often trying to maintain 40-ish rather than 0 or below-ish! I bought one 10yrs ago and it's only seen beer service and it runs very little.....

Like I didn't know that was coming. I'm surprised it took so long.