Keezer problem

This is a question more for anybody who knows a lot about the workings of chest freezers. My keezer has been humming along for almost 2 years now on a Johnson 419 controller. Lately the temperature has been stuck at 41deg. I noticed an ice buildup on the front wall of the freezer and thought this might have something to do with the problem. I unplugged the freezer and let the ice melt so it fell off then started it up again. Now I'm getting ice buildup in the same spot again but the temp is down to 38deg, but the Johnson controller is always commanding the freezer to be on. I have a fan inside circulating air and I have the tower cooled with a blower box. Is the ice formation what's responsible for this problem?

EKennett said:

This is a question more for anybody who knows a lot about the workings of chest freezers. My keezer has been humming along for almost 2 years now on a Johnson 419 controller. Lately the temperature has been stuck at 41deg. I noticed an ice buildup on the front wall of the freezer and thought this might have something to do with the problem. I unplugged the freezer and let the ice melt so it fell off then started it up again. Now I'm getting ice buildup in the same spot again but the temp is down to 38deg, but the Johnson controller is always commanding the freezer to be on. I have a fan inside circulating air and I have the tower cooled with a blower box. Is the ice formation what's responsible for this problem?

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Where do you have the controller probe positioned? IMO and recent experimentation the best place to locate the probe is on the floor of the freezer away from the side walls. The coolest air will generally be near the bottom. The side walls generally contain the evaporator coils and the coils can easily get below freezing when the compressor is running. The ice build up is due to condensation accumulating and freezing on the freezer walls. Minor amounts of condensation are normal and mostly unavoidable, but excessive condensation accumulation is indicative of an air leak somewhere. It only requires a tiny leak to cause a dramatic increase in the condensation. This became obvious to me when ran a controller probe lead between the gasket and the freezer lip. It wasn't much of an air gap, but it was enough to let a lot of moisture infiltrate the freezer. The effect was most noticeable on humid summer days. Small air leaks can be difficult to locate. Sometimes using a bright light inside the freezer in a darkened room can reveal air gaps in the seal and such, but you may have to really scrutinize everything to detect them.

Yup, that was it. I put a Chimay glass on top of one of cornies and that just happened to be where the ice formation was. Got rid of the glass and all seems to be back to normal, thanks.