Keezer questions

Hello all,

Just finished up my Keezer and have a few questions:

1) I have the A419 programmed as follows: 44 setpoint, 6 degree differential, ASD of 10 minutes. It's programmed to SP at cutout so it runs down to 38 since that subtracts the differential. I put a cup of liquid near the top, and a cup of liquid near the bottom and let them sit there for 2.5 hours or so. Then I took them out 1-by-1 and measured the temp. Oddly - the one at the top registered 40.5 and the one at the bottom measured 41.1. I'm guessing it could either be a slight volume difference and/or the efficiency of the DC muffin fan I have inside pushing air around.

So the question is: is this normal and are the temps ok or should I make an adjustment?

2) I noticed something I don't like. I bought the faucets, line and tank as a kit. The line is Bevlex 200 5/16" ID, 9/16" OD. What I don't like is it seems the input to the manifold, and the output from the three check valves on the manifold are all 1/4" nipples. So the tube fits a bit loose. The problem is all the hoses are are already pre-connected to the ball-lock QD's so I'd rather not have to replace it all. I'm wondering if maybe they sent me the wrong manifold. Or is this common?

Thanks in advance!

5/16" ID tubing for your beer lines may prove problematic, unless you're willing to use a lot of it for each faucet. The resistance is much, much lower than the typical 3/16" ID tubing for that application, hence the likely length issue.

If you have the opportunity to exchange the 5/16" stuff for 3/16", you should. 10 feet of 3/16" ID tubing per faucet would be a fine place to start...

Cheers!

Sorry I should clarify: I'm only talking about the CO2 line. I have 3/16" for the beer line.

It's 5/16" ID hose, connecting to 1/4" nipples on the input and output of the CO2 manifold. I heard if I use stepless clamps it should be fine.

Definitely would love to hear on the settings though. One flaw I might have is placing my probe up high - I may need to relocate that because as soon as I open my lid the temp flies up almost instantaneously.

jcaudill said:

Sorry I should clarify: I'm only talking about the CO2 line. I have 3/16" for the beer line.

It's 5/16" ID hose, connecting to 1/4" nipples on the input and output of the CO2 manifold. I heard if I use stepless clamps it should be fine.

Definitely would love to hear on the settings though. One flaw I might have is placing my probe up high - I may need to relocate that because as soon as I open my lid the temp flies up almost instantaneously.

Click to expand...

The freezer will eventually reach equilibrium inside. It can take a while as you noticed with your test.

In my ferment chamber, I tape the probe to the vessel halfway up. To me, it makes more sense to monitor the beer temp than some cup of water that I don't plan to drink anyway. I think that would apply in a keezer as well.

I haven't used the controller you have but why such a large differential? My Love's are both set at 0.5 and I do not get any cycling.

Ya I have no intention of leaving the probe submerged - that was purely a test to see the difference in zones of the freezer and to see if the fan is helping to push air around.

As for differential: purely based on what I've read in other forum posts. I suppose the reason is two-fold:

1) To prevent frequent cycling - if you set it at 38 with a differential of 1, you'll get a lot more frequent cycling than if you set a greater differential.

2) The larger volume of liquid will not change temperature as quickly as the freezer itself. So to let it creep up to 44 and then cool back down to 38 won't have much of an effect on the beer itself.

That is the theory I think anyway! I noticed two things so far:

1) Wow does opening the lid sure drive the temps up fast
2) It can creep from 38 to 44 in not as long a period of time as I'd expect. I have not timed it but maybe in 30-45 minutes?

Thanks for the replies!