Keezer temperature control issue

I built a four tap keezer, out of a 5 square foot keezer. I used a twelve inch collar to get four kegs in, and have a Johnson temp control hooked up. The keeer is in an un air conditioned shed. My issue is I can't get the top level of the keezer cool enough, without freezing the bottom half.

I am confused about where to position my temperature probe, and what temp to set the controller. I also am going to place a small PC fan to distribute the cold air. I am concerned that it just won't work with the super tall collar, and in the heat.

Is the collar insulated? Should be fine once you get the PC fan in there. You can tape the probe to one of the kegs or a bottle of water or something...

My collar is 1x12 cedar, with two inches of styrofoam.

The fan will help tremendously. I have 2 Of these http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0026ZPFCK/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 in my 8.8 cu ft keezer and temperatures are constant throughout.

I agree that the fan will make a huge difference. I attached a mere 80mm computer fan to a small EVA-DRY desiccant holder and put it on the bottom of my 10cf keezer, and immediately noticed it was stirring the air very well indeed. Bonus!

Cheers!

Thanks for the responses, I hung a tiny pc fan inside it tonight. Hopefully that will spread the cold air around and even things out.

I leave my probe dangling about mid level. Be careful taping it to the walls as they are obviously colder. The bottom is colder as well., so don't let it rest on the botom.

The fan will even out the temperature swing.

tgreene7 said:

Thanks for the responses, I hung a tiny pc fan inside it tonight. Hopefully that will spread the cold air around and even things out.

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That will be fine, I have the same size keezer, and it doesn't take much air flow at all to keep things pretty even. I taped the probe to a small water bottle, placed it on the hump, and set the controller temp to serving temp.

kellzey said:

I leave my probe dangling about mid level. Be careful taping it to the walls as they are obviously colder. The bottom is colder as well., so don't let it rest on the botom.

The fan will even out the temperature swing.

Click to expand...

Be careful dangling the probe mid-air, especially if your controller doesn't have an ASD setting. It can cause short cycling every time the lid opens, or if you ever run the freezer empty, or if you place a ferm temp keg too close to the probe. Short cycling can kill the compressor in short order, and there have been a couple threads here from people who inadvertently killed their brand new freezer this way. Taping the probe to the wall will give poor temp control, and lead to more than necessary cycling, but IMO it's actually safer than dangling it in mid-air.

I did what someone in the "aquarium temp controller" thread suggested, I drilled a hole in the top of a white labs vial, filled it with sand, and stuck the probe in the middle. Perfect amount of thermal mass and no worries about water getting in the cheap probe.

Thanks again. The tiny fan made a big difference. I also taped my probe to a water bottle and placed I on the hump. I think it's just a matter of fine tuning from here. I am being greedy, and squeezing four kegs in this freezer is not easy, but hopefully it will work out. If not I will just get a bigger freezer. This was a used Craigslist unit.