Tried the Corn starch/alcohol test, no obvious result

Hey all.

So all my kegerator parts came in today. I'm converting a Danby DAR340BL 3.4 cubic footer. It's a used fridge and I don't have any manual for it.

http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/DAR340BL.html

I recently tried the corn starch/alcohol test but was left without any noticible result. I plugged in the fridge (from room temp) and let it run for a a minute or two before spreading the solution across the top (consistency of a thick paint).

The results were pretty inconclusive. Is it possible there are no lines running across the top of this model? Should I leave the fridge running for a certain length of time and try again? The whole mixture seemed to dry out in about 5 minutes so how long do you wait for a result?

Thanks for the advice, I do not want to ruin this baby

Leave it on longer to make the warm spots. But on my Sanyo you could even tell just with your hand where the line ran because it was warmer than the rest of the top of the fridge. Make sure you set the fridge to it's coldest setting and then run it for a bit. It could be that they don't run any lines through the top, but it's best to test everything first.

I recently did this on a Kenmore fridge. It took a little while for the cornstarch and alcohol to dry. I very lightly brushed the "slurry" with a dry paintbrush as it dried. Some of the cornstarch dried and brushed right off - the rest stayed on the top. My line ran straight across about 7" from the back. I left about another inch clearance and drilled right through without any problem.

Good luck...

So I ran another test just to be safe, and the left and right sides dried before the middle. Where I was planning on drilling was still quite wet, which made me happy. I could definitely feel heat coming up the sides of the fridge but not really anything on top.

I drilled through the middle about 5.75" from the back of the unit, didn't hit anything. Just got to seal the hole I made and I'm ready to go

Thanks for the help guys.

crypt0 said:

So I ran another test just to be safe, and the left and right sides dried before the middle. Where I was planning on drilling was still quite wet, which made me happy. I could definitely feel heat coming up the sides of the fridge but not really anything on top.

I drilled through the middle about 5.75" from the back of the unit, didn't hit anything. Just got to seal the hole I made and I'm ready to go

Thanks for the help guys.

Click to expand...

Great to hear! Enjoy your new keggerator!

Does your DAR340BL hold a full-sized 15.5g Sankey keg? Thanks!

Theres no way it would fit a full sized keg. It's absolutely perfect for a homebrew keg and a 5 lb CO2 tank. I used to throw glasses in the fridge to chill too

It would probably fit the tall skinny torpedo kegs actually.

The real benefit of this fridge is its size, the fact that its completely silent, and it can chill your beer down to literally being frozen if you want to. I've actually already invested in a newer, larger fridge for a dual kegerator, but after running some tests it doesn't get the beer down as cold as the one I have now.

The evaporator coils on that unit are on the inside of the back judging by the pic in the link. The evaporator is the panel with the raised channels which are actually the tubes that the refrigerant flows through. There will also be condenser coils somewhere on the exterior of the unit. These are typically mounted on the back, but sometimes they are embedded in the exterior walls on the sides and/or top. You should be able to feel these radiating heat after the unit has been running for awhile. Be sure and be careful. There is little recourse if you damage a coolant line or passage.

Hi,

I just bought the same fridge second-hand and am converting it. Your info about the location of the hole in the top is really useful, thanks! Just wondering if that measurement was to the center of the hole or the back edge...

Any other "after the fact" advice or observations you might have would be helpful too!

Thanks!

Any chance of fitting two kegs in it the DAR340? I am looking to replace a small fridg ein my bar, under the counter. I want to put a draft tower ontop of the counter. But my opening is only 19" wide. I don't know if I can find a fridge to work for two cornies.

the 340 only fits one corney keg