Any fridge experts out there??

[joeunc]

I have a Danby 4.4cu.ft small one I keep 2 cornies in and my CO2.
It is about a year old and I have just put two new kegs in it. It used to be in an extra room in the house. But during the spring we moved it out to the garage and it has been unplugged up until this past weekend.

It is an all fridge model with that white plate in the back that gets cold.
Well, it doesn't appear to be getting cold??? The temp is measuring in the low to mid 40's inside while it is in a pretty cold garage.

It has been colder than usual the last week, and I have another full size fridge in the garage and this morning some of the sodas in there had some in them.

I can hear the fridge humming like it's running and I hear a sound like liquid moving around etc..Under the back it is humming and the electronics are good.

But even with it turned as cold as it will go the temp will not get into the 30's nor is that back white plate icing over and getting really cold.

any ideas?
thanks

 

[Bumbler]

Bring it back in the warm house. Fridges do not function well in the cold.

 

[joeunc]

but the full size has been out there for 2years through hot and cold and has been fine. This small one is less than 2yrs old.????

 

[Bumbler]

I type the truth.

You say the compressor is running, the electronics are fine, and it's cold in your garage.

There's only 1.8 oz. of refrigerant in the mini-fridge. The refrigeration cycle requires a pressure differential to operate efficiently. Pressure follows temperature.

There will be a point at which the large refrigerator will stop functioning properly.

Put the mini-fridge in a nice 70F room for a day and see what happens.

 

[joeunc]

i will try to get it inside the house and see if it cools down,unhook my kegs and get it in and rehook them. So what about all those folks out there that keep a garage fridge going for years and years no issue?
And don't some on here keep their kegerators in the garage? I looked on google and you get differing opions. Some say it is fine others say no,,so who knows??

I took my thermapen out to the garage, ambient air temp for 30secs 48degrees
30 secs in the large regular size fridge, temp at 36
30 secs in the mini fridge, and the thermostat has been turned all the way down all day, the temp gets no lower than 44. It is really screwing with my carbonation schedule.

So you think if I bring it to say a 68degree room, it should perk right out and kick on drop the temp into the 30's?

thanks much
joe

 

[cmuench]

Find a wiring diagram for the fridge. Over ride the thermostat by connecting the two wires that come into it (I'm not an electrician so feel free to comment if I'm way off base). Then the compressor will run constantly.

Then plug it into a ranco temperature controller and dial in your temperature.

I did this with a wine chiller that wouldn't get below about 46 degrees. Now it's a cool 36 degrees and works well for a kegerator.

 

[joeunc]

I guess I wonder why the larger fridge is working fine and the mini one just doesn't get cold enough.
I unplugged it last night at 10pm, just to see. This morning at 6am it was 24degrees outside, the ambient garage temp was 53, and the temp in the fridge after being unplugged for 8 hours was 48.
Instead of rewiring it, I already have a temp controller I am not using. I wonder if I could try setting it to say 37 or 38 and plugging the fridge into that and see that will kick the cooling on???

thanks

Find a wiring diagram for the fridge. Over ride the thermostat by connecting the two wires that come into it (I'm not an electrician so feel free to comment if I'm way off base). Then the compressor will run constantly.

Then plug it into a ranco temperature controller and dial in your temperature.

I did this with a wine chiller that wouldn't get below about 46 degrees. Now it's a cool 36 degrees and works well for a kegerator.

 

[EoinMag]

I guess I wonder why the larger fridge is working fine and the mini one just doesn't get cold enough.
I unplugged it last night at 10pm, just to see. This morning at 6am it was 24degrees outside, the ambient garage temp was 53, and the temp in the fridge after being unplugged for 8 hours was 48.
Instead of rewiring it, I already have a temp controller I am not using. I wonder if I could try setting it to say 37 or 38 and plugging the fridge into that and see that will kick the cooling on???

thanks

No the fridge thermostat will override the external one, you need to use one controller or the other. I hotwired my fridge internals and then run the fridge on an external controller as described, it works fine. As said your problem is more than likely related to the temperature gradient not being there.

 

[joeunc]

So what's the deal with the ranco's and johnson's then, people get them to lager all the time and keep fridge temp in low 30's but just plugging it in and setting the probe in the fridge. How does my situation differ with this temperature gradient thing you speak of? I can't wrap my mind around the fact of one larger fridge cooling and one small mini not in the same garage environment. It's not getting below freezing in the garage, this morning it was 24F outside but still near 50F in the garage???

thanks much!!!
Joe

No the fridge thermostat will override the external one, you need to use one controller or the other. I hotwired my fridge internals and then run the fridge on an external controller as described, it works fine. As said your problem is more than likely related to the temperature gradient not being there.

 

[Foosinho]

I can't wrap my mind around the fact of one larger fridge cooling and one small mini not in the same garage environment.

This is a total WAG (as I'm hardly a thermodynamics expert and barely remember the classes I struggled thru on this topic), but my guess is that the compressor is better/stronger in the bigger fridge, and thus it can operate in colder environments. At some point, it'll be too cold for your big unit to operate properly too.

 

[joeunc]

There has to be plenty of brewers out there with a garage mini fridge or kegerator or chest freezer using a standard temp controller in way more harsh temp environments than in NC. Is the temp controller more successful in keeping the unit warmer or can it work on a mini fridge and keep it colder??

This is a total WAG (as I'm hardly a thermodynamics expert and barely remember the classes I struggled thru on this topic), but my guess is that the compressor is better/stronger in the bigger fridge, and thus it can operate in colder environments. At some point, it'll be too cold for your big unit to operate properly too.

 

[r8rphan]

I type the truth.

You say the compressor is running, the electronics are fine, and it's cold in your garage.

There's only 1.8 oz. of refrigerant in the mini-fridge. The refrigeration cycle requires a pressure differential to operate efficiently. Pressure follows temperature.

There will be a point at which the large refrigerator will stop functioning properly.

Put the mini-fridge in a nice 70F room for a day and see what happens.

Bumbler, are you a refrigeration guy or have some expertise in that arena? If so, I have some questions about something I want to do this spring in regards to a custom ferment chamber or two.... I need someone who is versed in taking a refrigeration system apart and putting it back together and charging it.. as well as sizing...

What I need is to pick the brain of a commercial refrigeration repairman (or someone who stayed at holiday inn last nite anyways)...

 

[Flomaster]

here's the deal, if your fridge is only getting down to 44 or what ever it is hooking up an external will not get it any colder.

you need to bypass the stock thermostat with an external one that will allow it to run longer before shutting off thus allowing you to get colder temps.

-=Jason=-

 

[joeunc]

I called the source, Danby, a lady in their "techinical support" group said their mini fridges were designed to be indoors in a controlled environment or they would not cool correctly. She said the temp swings could not be handled.

In the literature that came with fridge there is no wiring diagram. At the bottom back of the fridge, there are not many wires, so I have no clue how to bypass the internal controller.

So it looks like I need to find somewhere inside for this huh. There has to be someone out there that keeps their mini fridge kegerator in the garage with temp swings.

here's the deal, if your fridge is only getting down to 44 or what ever it is hooking up an external will not get it any colder.

you need to bypass the stock thermostat with an external one that will allow it to run longer before shutting off thus allowing you to get colder temps.

-=Jason=-

 

[cmuench]

I don't understand why temperature swings would make any difference.

If you bypass the fridge's thermostat then the compressor's always on. Then the ranco will work correctly.

Guys use a freezer with a temp controller to lager or as a kegerator because it's designed to get to a temp lower than where you need it. The controller just turns off the appliance when it gets it down to your selected temp. Tunes it back on when the temp goes above your set point.

 

[KC10Chief]

I keep a small fridge like that in my garage in Alaska. It can get pretty chilly out there sometimes. Fridge still works great.

 

[HerotBrewer]

I don't understand why temperature swings would make any difference.

If you bypass the fridge's thermostat then the compressor's always on. Then the ranco will work correctly.

Guys use a freezer with a temp controller to lager or as a kegerator because it's designed to get to a temp lower than where you need it. The controller just turns off the appliance when it gets it down to your selected temp. Tunes it back on when the temp goes above your set point.

I may be completely wrong on this but here's my take.

You're using a mini-fridge. That by definition has a smaller amount of coolant than a normal fridge or chest freezer. It seems to me that the amount of coolant in your mini-fridge cannot cool the inside of the fridge down to the levels you expect. Fridges/Freezers work on heat exchange, they need to suck heat out of your fridge and exchange it with the open air. I can see how a large temperature differential between the inside of your fridge (44 degrees) and the outside environment (say 20 degrees or so) would cause your fridge to work less efficiently. Move it inside and see what happens.

 

[joeunc]

moved it back inside.The wife found a closet that we were using for storage that was wired for power. So after some moving things around, that is my keg closet now

I may be completely wrong on this but here's my take.

You're using a mini-fridge. That by definition has a smaller amount of coolant than a normal fridge or chest freezer. It seems to me that the amount of coolant in your mini-fridge cannot cool the inside of the fridge down to the levels you expect. Fridges/Freezers work on heat exchange, they need to suck heat out of your fridge and exchange it with the open air. I can see how a large temperature differential between the inside of your fridge (44 degrees) and the outside environment (say 20 degrees or so) would cause your fridge to work less efficiently. Move it inside and see what happens.

 

[cmuench]

I "hot wired" my fermenting fridge today. It was quite simple.

My freezer is on the bottom. There is a controller in the fridge compartment and in the freezer. I assumed that the fridge control was for the fan that blows cold air from the freezer up to the fridge.

With the appliance unplugged I took apart the freezer control. Inside was the thermostat. There was a ground wire and 2 other wires. I detached the wires from the T stat and connected them with a temporary wire. Plugged it back in and it fired up! Unplugged it, cut the ends off the two wires and connected them with a wire nut.

Now the compressor runs all the time. But I have the unit plugged into a ranco temperature controller. So when it hits my set point it cuts the power completely. So I can use it for fermenting temps and for serving temps.

I would suggest you do the same for your fridge and I'd be willing to bet it'll work great no matter where you have it sitting!

I'm not an electrician but this isn't rocket science. Just be sure you have a temp controller or your compressor will run until it's frozen!

Of course it could be something else. But I'd be willing to bet that the T stat in your fridge won't let it get colder. I had the same problem with a wine chiller that I wanted to use as a kegerator. It wouldn't get colder than about 46 degrees until I did the same thing to it. Now it easily sits at 34 degrees.

Just my 2C.

 

[joeunc]

its back inside now for good,,thx