What's up with my Johnson a419?

So with this being so close to Halloween, I thought maybe I'm just having a "ghost in the machine" experience, but I thought I'd throw this one out to the community to get your opinions...

I am an all-grain brewer who has the pleasure of owning 3 (count 'em 3) fermentation chambers/lagering chambers/keezers. Each is powered by a separate Johnson a419; allowing me to digitally control each one for proper temperature maintenance for all of my brewing needs.

Until today, each a419 has worked flawlessly (all are less than a year old). I had recently unplugged one of my freezers (and the a419 attached to it) because I wasn't using it. Today, I plugged it back in to use as a lagering chamber (I'm making a Helles) and the strangest thing happened; my settings were all fine, (SP, Asd, OFS, and dif were all fine; I can share the values, but you'll soon see that this isn't the issue.) So I plug the unit in, and a few moments later, the little green light lit up on the a419 indicating that it was making the connection to the freezer... but the freezer isn't turning on. (Yes, I tried directly plugging the freezer into the wall to make sure it is working... it is.) I even swapped the a419 with one of the other freezers as a "double blind" check to isolate the issue to the controller. It doesn't work on my other freezers either.

So, any ideas? It seems to be trying to make the connection, but isn't creating the circuit to actually turn the freezer on.

Any ideas? Thanks for your help.

Loose wire in the controller??

Bad plug end where freezer plugs in.

I did pop open the unit and everything seemed to be secure... I'll have another look. Any other suggestions?

If you have a volt meter, use it to test and find where you are loosing the connection. First test the controller output outlet and then go back from there.

Good suggestions... I'll check the connections...

Could be a bad relay. Not sure if the indicator light works off the input to the relay, or the output. If it is powered from the input to the relay, then the light might indicate that they unit is TRYING to power the fridge, but if the relay is broke, then it won't connect.

I know that when mine turn on, I can distinctly hear a clicking sound as the relay engages.

Homercidal said:

Could be a bad relay. Not sure if the indicator light works off the input to the relay, or the output. If it is powered from the input to the relay, then the light might indicate that they unit is TRYING to power the fridge, but if the relay is broke, then it won't connect.

I know that when mine turn on, I can distinctly hear a clicking sound as the relay engages.

Click to expand...

+1 on the mechanical relay click

Well, after taking my A419 to a buddy who is an electronics genius, I discovered that the relay is fine, but something on the circuit board that regulates the amperage flow from the 110v input through the relay is fried.

Having purchased the unit from Midwest Supplies back in June, I thought I'd give them a call and see what they might do for me. The Customer Service rep who took my call was friendly, helpful, and patient as I explained my situation. He said, "Let me see what I can do... hold on a minute, please." After about 2 minutes, he came back on the line and said, "Okay, I'm sending you a new one today. I'll put a RA form in the box, just send the busted one back when you get a chance." According to FedEx, my new A419 will arrive day after tomorrow. Talk about great customer service! So kudos to Midwest Supplies!!

Mine is doing the same thing. It worked fine for a little over a year, and now the green light comes on but the keezer doesn't get power. I have verified that the keezer is fine, as it powers on when plugged into the wall.