Cleaning the chest freezer kegerator.

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Kauai_Kahuna

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 3, 2008
Messages
2,275
Reaction score
19
Location
Hawaii
What a pain.
I saw a good amount of ice building up on the inside of my keggerator (converted ice chest), and also noticed a slight increase in my kilowatt per hour usage. Most likely not due to my keggerator but hey, it was time to do some cleaning.
So last night I unplugged it, left it open and today I pulled out the kegs, and cleaned out all the ice. This entailed climbing into the chest as I have a high collar.
I also took the opportunity to cleaned out the lines with oxyclean (no BLC on hand), rinsed them and ran star-san sanitizer through them.
I have two Eva-Dry in the chest, and I take them out and plug them in once a week at different times and I still get massive ice build up.
Now being in Hawaii the humidity is kind of high, just imagine walking through a fine mist. Is there anything else I can do for a chest freezer?
 
I thought that most chest freezers were kept above freezing ( > 32*F) for serving beer using a temperature controller. I believe that should keep ice from forming inside of it.
 
I have mine set at 32F-34F, any higher and the current system gets unbalanced.
I am looking at re-doing the collar and making it a little shorter and insulated. Currently at 7" with no insulation, but the wood is 5x coated with polyurethane so no mold forming yet.
I think I just need to resign myself to de-icing, at least it will force me to clean the lines once in a while. I bought the 50' of lines just in case I get too lazy.
 
I keep mine at 39, I get mold from over pouring while intoxicated. :(

Only way you'll stop icing is to raise the temp.
 
My keezer is on a dolly and has a drain plug on the bottom right. At first I thought it was just a manufacturer emblem, but it's also a drain cover.

I have all those problem too, but all I do is pull out the kegs, move the keezer over the drain in the garage, run a hose in there to drain all the messes then use a MOP to dry up any excess water.

There's no way I'm climbing into that. ;)
 
Yup that's what I do. I have mine sitting on the outside back porch. Either I pour in hot water or take the hose to it. I pour a little bleach in there. Let it sit for 15 min. Then pull drain on it. As for the lines, I clean the liquid lines as each keg blows. I do get Ice on the sides, but I keep it at 34.
 
When you guys say that you keep your keezers at a temp above 32* F is that the setting on your temperature controller or are you actually taking a reading of the internal temperature?

It's been a while since I took 3rd grade Science, but I wonder know how ice can form at above 32* F. Maybe the coils in the side of the freezer get colder than the internal temp when it kicks on (allowing ice to form), but wouldn't that just thaw out when it kicks back off?
 
It's been a while since I took 3rd grade Science, but I wonder know how ice can form at above 32* F. Maybe the coils in the side of the freezer get colder than the internal temp when it kicks on (allowing ice to form), but wouldn't that just thaw out when it kicks back off?

I only get ice on the front panel where the taps are, and yes the ice forms off of the coils in the wall. It seems I get a little more moisture in the front and it slowly builds up.
I might try lowing the pressure down to around 9 lbs and upping the temperature to 36F, just to see.
The two extra capacity stay-drys have at least kept any mold from forming over the last year or so. Outside of the ice the inside is really clean.
I think I need to look at building a base so I can roll it out on the balcony to give it a good bleach rinse out at times.
Thanks for all the responses, I'm just happy with lots of beer on tap. It makes football season great. :mug:
 
In order for a chest freezer to keep interior ambient temps at 33-34F, the walls of the freezer get a bit colder like 29F which is enough to freeze condensed moisture. I have no problem with icing because I run at 43F so that my pours are ready to drink immediately.
 
yup, I just pour in some bleach and use a cheap sponge mop I bought at the dollar store to clean the bottom and side. Then just drain.
 
:off:

I "organized" my freezer to make more space a few weeks back. By the time I was done what I took out didn't even fit back in! :mad:
 
LOL- not a big Tetris fan, are ya? I had the same problem when trying to figure out how to fit my drum kit into my station wagon- I had it right the first time!
 
Back
Top