Older Bevair BM23 Questions

[Patois]

I have the opportunity to grab an older BM23 for $75, but there is not much information available about it. It has not been used in a couple of years, but the seller plugged it in and it still gets "cold" but no idea on the temp. I don't need the tower , regulator, or taps as this will be a nitro set up and I have ordered new parts.

The interior is beat up while the exterior is in decent shape. I like a project and have read that these things are tanks. Just curious if it is worth the effort cleaning this thing up and gambling on it being in okay mechanical shape? Does anything look really problematic in the interior?

Appreciate any feedback or resources to restoring these things. I am completely new to this.

 

[sudsy]

I had one for at least 15 years. They are very rugged, but I found mine to be too noisy for indoor use, ok for patio or garage.

 

[Patois]

I ended up getting it. It will be for the garage. It came with a full sized keg which I can have a friend exchange for $50. I cleaned up the inside and the condenser coils, but unfortunately discoverd the evaporator fan motor is locked up. I ordered a new one and hopefully will ahve it functioning within the next week or so.

 

[sudsy]

I ended up getting it. It will be for the garage. It came with a full sized keg which I can have a friend exchange for $50. I cleaned up the inside and the condenser coils, but unfortunately discoverd the evaporator fan motor is locked up. I ordered a new one and hopefully will ahve it functioning within the next week or so.

Good luck with it!

 

[Patois]

To update: I purchased the unit. They threw in a keg shell which I got $50 for so it cost $25.

Now for the bad: the evaporator fan had seized up, so I had to order a new evaporator fan motor, blade, and mount. I installed that and it got down into the upper 30’s. I cleaned it up and painted & sealed the interior, but when I put it back together the thermostat went out.

Now the question is do I order a new mechanical thermostat or can use a plug in Johnson digital temperature controller instead and just bypass the internal thermostat?

 

[Patois]

An update for anyone who comes across this thread working on a BM23:

I took out the thermostat and found out the unit is from ‘91. Installed the new thermostat last night and the compressor kicked on right away. Success! Afterwards I stuck a couple of 2 gallon jugs of water in there and cranked it down to the coldest setting since previously I could only get to 38 degrees and that was after 2 days.

This morning I went to check on it and the compressor had cycled off and the evaporator fan was running. The jugs were about 60% frozen in less than 10 hours

So after replacing the evaporator fan assembly and the thermostat as well as cleaning the condenser coils, I appear to have a perfectly functioning BM23.

 

[timperkins]

I came across this thread while researching a BM23 that I got on Craigslist. Mine was built in 1993 and I'm using an Inkbird ITC-308 to power the unit on/off and keep the temperature at 33-35F for lagering.

I've noticed that it doesn't maintain the temperature very well. It gets down to the mid 30's easy enough, but then the compressor seems to come on more often then it should. I added 1/2" foam insulation to the interior right/left walls and the interior door... can't tell if that's helping or not.

Is it normal for this unit not to hold temperature?

 

[Dr_Jeff]

I came across this thread while researching a BM23 that I got on Craigslist. Mine was built in 1993 and I'm using an Inkbird ITC-308 to power the unit on/off and keep the temperature at 33-35F for lagering.

I've noticed that it doesn't maintain the temperature very well. It gets down to the mid 30's easy enough, but then the compressor seems to come on more often then it should. I added 1/2" foam insulation to the interior right/left walls and the interior door... can't tell if that's helping or not.

Is it normal for this unit not to hold temperature?

No.

Your problem is the Inkbird.

When the Inkbird cuts off the unit, the interior fan shuts off as well, it keeps the air moving around and until it get warm at the location of the temperature probe, it says off leading to large temperature swings. The Inkkbird is a good unit, but not suited for the BM-23. Just get on amazon, you can get a new thermostat for ~$20 or less if you look around. It's a simple job to replace the thermostat. Usually two thumbscrews on either side of the evaporator box at the top back of the unit. Use the Inkbird for something else, such as a fermentation chamber.
The BM-23 units are great units. If it needs a door seal, you can get one on Amazon as well for ~$25 or so, just soak it in real hot water for 20 minutes or so to soften it up prior to installing it.

 

[timperkins]

Thanks, Dr. Jeff! I added more interior insulation, filled the empty space around my fermentor with 1 gal jugs of cold water and firmly closed the door. It's holding the temperature within 3 degrees of my target for 50-52 minutes and taking less than 10 min to cool back down. Seems like getting a firm seal on the door is what really made the biggest difference.