My new Kegerator.

Well, I decided to build a new kegerator. I started looking, and I decided to get the Sanyo one that everyone raves about. I found one on CL, emailed them, and hadn't got a reply. I saw a half dozen within 50 miles for around $50 of the 4912m model. I figured that I would be about $150 or so when all was said and done.

Then I remembered that I know a guy who owns a local bar that was trying to sell his old commercial one because it stopped working. I stopped in and had a few beers. I asked him about it. I got a non working True 4 tap kegerator and a pint of the new Cigar City Invasion for $100.

I am capable of fixing it. He told me a tech came out and told him it was the coil. I could get a new one for $100-200, but I might be able to fix this one. It might even just be on one of the ends and not inside the coil (fingers crossed). The refrigerant doesn't cost much. It wouldn't surprise me if it was something minor. Repairmen are pretty eh most of the time.

If I find that I can't source a replacement or that it is insanely expensive for the correct part and I can't cobble together a working one using pieces laying in my hvac friend's junkpile, then I plan to do one of two things.

1) Toss the cooling unit, buy a small cheap mini fridge, cut a hole where the old cooling unit was, and stick it in there. I think I can actually fit one in pretty easily and completely conceal it. I think it would be able to keep it cool, since it is pretty well insulated.

2) Take the towers off and use the kegerator as a work bench in my garage.

Nice set up! I wish I had room for something like that.

For the leak, I would get a Mars H-10 (your HVAC buddy will probably have one), Throw a little gas in it and start searching. Keep a fan running or you will get hits every where. To fix the leak, add the silfos as cold as possible, then feather the edges. On tube that small it takes heat quickly and you can fill the lines with silfos if you are not careful.

Good luck!

The last cooling system I 'fixed' needed a coil too. Turned out it was just the Schrader valve. I was explaining to my wife what dye did and I took the cap off to show her and saw the dye bubbling.

I just ordered a few line taps. I am going to charge it up with r134a and probably just spray it with soapy water on the coil to see if it bubbles. If I really need to, I will borrow the refrigerant detector from him, but it seems like it would be pretty easy find the leak due to how the system is set up if it really is in the coil. If it needs brazing, he has everything on hand and can do it for me.

I don't have much room for it either! It is about 8 foot long. I thought about putting it in my gun room, but I would have to build some serious shelving for my guns as they take up 3 of the 4 walls at the moment with my books/records taking up the last one. I will probably just park it against the wall in the garage where I set it.

So, we tested all the circuits, it didn't appear the compressor wasn't starting. It was full of R134a, but we added a little and then had to let it out. The previous owners had replaced the original capacitor and relay had been replaced by a 3n1 unit. I ordered the correct one, but I left it plugged in. I think maybe the wires were put on incorrectly or just loose. They were wire nutted into place. So, anyway, all back together and it still didn't appear to be working. The weird part is that it cooled completely within 15 minutes. I thought maybe it was intermittently working or something. I put a couple 5 gallon buckets of hot water into the kegerator. It cooled them down to the low 30s in short order. It has been holding for 24 hours. It is currently in the mid 70s where I am, and it is in my garage. The air temperature fluctuates between 31 and 38 as I believe it is designed to do for condensation purposes.

The thing that bothers me is that even when it is running, the cold line doesn't feel that cold and the compressor doesn't feel like it is running. It could be that this is just so efficient that the compressor only runs for a brief moment and that is all it needs to cool the tank. Either way, I am just going to leave it running and see how it goes. No one has even put a gauge on this compressor, as I had to put the line tap on it to check it out. Seems like it was a pretty crappy/shady repairman that tells you that you need a condenser coil when maybe a wire was loose without even checking the charge levels.

I guess it is possible that the leak only leaks enough to leak when it is on and the leak is so minor that once it dropped a ounce or so it stopped and we just happened to add enough to bring it back into operating parameters and that it will stop working in the next day or so, but I seriously doubt it.

I think maybe this unit is just so overpowered that it was only taking a couple seconds to cool the unit once the wire was connected correctly and it just appeared to not be staying on. True lists it as being overpowered for the TDD-4.

Either way, it looks like I have a working 4 tap kegerator that will hold around a dozen cornies. I'm going to have to start brewing more.

Nice. You're going to need to throw lots of parties now.

nice find

Already planning a St Patty's day get together. I also have the room to lager, store cases of beer, and everything now.

Update: The Kegerator has been on 24/7 since I got it. Works perfectly.

Awesome unit. Glad it worked out for you!


Travis'n'Texas

Your friend at the bar is probably hating your right now. :smack: Nice score!

Yea, I mess with him a lot.