My farking chest freezer....

Hey guys, I posted not too long ago about how my keezer stopped maintaining temps. I thought I had the problem solved but I guess I was wrong. It runs through a Johnson A419. I have the temp probe dangling the airspace on the hump side of the freezer. It's holding at 40f and won't get colder. The Johnson is always running (pause for inuendo comedic moment). I'm also getting an ice buildup on the front wall near the top. The lid seal is in just fine condition and there is a wood top glued and screwed on top of the lid so there is a little bit of extra weight pushing down on the lid. It's been running as a keezer for almost 2 years now with no problems. I keep one of those rechargeable desiccant dryers in there to handle moisture problems.

Any other ideas on what might be the problem? It would suck if I had to replace the freezer because it was a lot of work to build...

You say the Johnson is always running....do you mean that its always on (i.e supplying power to the freezer).

Is the freezer compressor running the whole time?

Is the freezer dialed down to its max. setting?

How old is the freezer, it may be the compressor is dying? If you remove the johson controller...will the freezer go down to proper temperature?



I'm guessing the ice build up is just that...its building up where the freezer coils are located behind the inner wall. The dessicant is not pulling enough moisture to cause condensation and freezing there. But that sounds like the least of your problems.

Is this a keezer?

broadbill - Is the freezer dialed down to its max. setting?

Do you mean rotate the dial to the coolest or warmest setting?

You want it set to the coldest/coolest setting.

Why the coldest?

The freezer is a few years old, I bought it new. I'm not really sure what brand it is but I'd say its about 15 cubic feet. I cleaned it up and painted it to look pretty and I ended up wiping all the writing off the side of the freezer with Acetone (the writing included the hot-->cold scale near the dial). So I'm pretty sure I have it dialed to coldest rather than warmest. But like I said, this thing has been running perfectly for just about 2 years now and this is just starting to be a problem.

And yes, the Johnson is always running supplying power to the freezer. I'm gonna hafta pull off the side cover and see if the compressor is warm. The other thing I can try is unplugging the freezer from the controller and plugging straight into the wall. I would be able to monitor the temperature on the controller's display.

Ice build up on the coils is caused by low refrigerant level.

kingjam99 said:

Why the coldest?

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because the freezer has its own thermostat to control its temperature. You dial it down to its coldest setting so that it doesn't switch off the compressor independant of the Johnson controller.

[email protected] said:

Ice build up on the coils is caused by low refrigerant level.

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I was afraid of this. I have heard that converted freezers might have a shorter lifespan due to corrosion of the coolant lines due to condensation... That would suck.

Also make sure there are no obstructions blocking the outside vent. Heat has to escape from that vent.

I did appliance repair for over 30 years. Probably a freon leak. If it is under 5 years old they may replace it if it is unrepairable. Depends on who you got it from and the warranty and if they want to be pricks over your mods. In reality, you are running it much easier than it was designed to run. It is rare for a compressor to go inefficient but it does happen.

I got it used on Craigslist so no chance for a warranty claim...

EKennett said:

The freezer is a few years old, I bought it new.

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EKennett said:

I got it used on Craigslist so no chance for a warranty claim...

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ummm...... The company I worked for would go by serial number. If it was manufactured less than 5 years prior it didn't matter who owned it. Doesn't hurt to check.

broadbill said:

because the freezer has its own thermostat to control its temperature. You dial it down to its coldest setting so that it doesn't switch off the compressor independant of the Johnson controller.

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Um, not really. The lowest setting is WAY below anything homebrew related, it matters not where th freezer thermostat is positioned.

wildwest450 said:

Um, not really. The lowest setting is WAY below anything homebrew related, it matters not where th freezer thermostat is positioned.

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what? do you want me to tell the guy is keezer is dying...

broadbill said:

what? do you want me to tell the guy is keezer is dying...

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In the immortal words of Metallica, sad but true.

So you guys think I'm doomed on this one? Give it to me straight doc

If I need a new freezer they are all going on sale now so it seems like the time to do it.