Destroyed 1 mini fridge, second wont go below 45 F, + more ??

tag0304 said:

So I made the jump to kegging. Put 2 batches in kegs and bottled a 3rd. I did not have a keezer set up yet. Was still hunting down a deal and between a keezer, or using a mini fridge with a tower. My kegs were stored at basement temps at 67 ish degrees. I put them on gas at 28 psi after consulting beersmith. Which would give me the volume I wanted. First question is they sat with gas on them for 2 weeks. I had read others turn gas off just incase of leaks, I kept it on and observed no leaks. As I understand it keeping it on wont overcarb them right? At a set temp they can only absorb so much CO2, correct? In the future I wont keep gas lines on probably but I wanted to make sure nothing was leaking new lines.

Next issue was I got a deal on a nice danby mini fridge. Would hold 2 kegs + CO2 tank inside. Many have used it here and its the one with the freezer top that you need to carefully bend out of the way. Well, I wasnt careful enough. Ended up cracking it, and not where I was expecting it to at the pipe. But more in the flat area. Anyways it was a goner, everything leaked out. Luckily it was pretty cheap on craigslist.

So then I stumbled onto a freebie. My mom had a Danby Beverage cooler with glass door she wasnt using. Its not as wide as the other so only holds 1 keg and CO2. Plus is no freezer compartment to mess with. Minus is it only gets to about 45 F. Now some beers I know this is ideal temp. I like my beers a bit colder. Its a model #DWC310BL and the thermostat dial is externally mounted on the back. I cant find much info on that model and was wondering if anyone knows if there is a way to tweak it some? Only 2 screws are holding the Thermostat outer housing to the back and I was going to remove those just to see what was under it. I have an external Temp controller that I think I could wire up and get to work but wanted to consult with the beer experts here first.

Side note. So the corny was at 28 PSI at 67 F for few weeks. I put it into the Danby and its been in there at 45 F for 24 hours now. I also bled off the 30 psi and put the gas on 11 psi. I was anxious to try some today and hooked the fluid line up. 3/16 at 5' picnic tap. Lots of foam. After reading here I see many go with the 5' line kit finding out they need 10'. So I plan on doing that. But could the foam also be the temp? Perhaps 24 hours not enough time, and also 45 F not cold enough to not get foam?

Ultimately I am building a keezer. Just undecided on what one to get. Torn between getting a new one, or waiting for something to pop up on craigslist. Already have the temp controller. Just this freebie fell into my lap and would like to get it working as well.

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jjbanks said:

You can over carb at 28psi. I would leave it there for only a couple days (36 hours). Then drop it to serving pressure.

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sandyeggoxj said:

He had it at 28psi AND 67 degrees. So in that case it will not over carbonate. It will reach equilibrium just.

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Homercidal said:

So far so good. I'd recommend working that screw until it gets down to 32, and then wire an STC-1000 in there so you have a digital display for the temp. I think you can get those STCs for about $30 now.

If you get to building that keezer, you might wait and install it right into the collar on that.

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C4valent said:

Idk if I missed someone above saying this, but careful with the picnic tap. Many people tend to partially open thinking it will slow the flow of beer. This will create foam no matter how well you have everything balanced. Tap needs to be fully open. I learned this the hard way [emoji28]

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barnaclebob said:

That might have been a wine cooler which is why it wouldnt go cooler than 45.

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tag0304 said:

Well to answer one of my own questions, I took the cover of the thermostat. Removed it from the housing and found it had a coarse adjustment screw. Actually had what looked like 2 adjustment screws. I turned the one on the same face as the normal dial and temp was going up. So I unplugged it and turned that one back to about what it was before, and instead turned the one that was on the side of the thermostat and heard the thermostat click. Turned it a little bit more, plugged it in and after running for a little bit now temp has gone from steady 45, to 41. Now I just need to keep an eye on it. See where it steadies out and where to go from there.

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