Broken keezer? Help??

[kef300]

A couple of months ago I built a keezer out of a chest freezer, by adding a wood collar, as many have, and a single tap for now. I set my temperature control via a STC-1000 (I only wired the cooling part). I set my keezer to serve my keg and hold some bottles to 38F via the controller and it had been working perfectly.

A couple of weeks ago, after I had kicked the keg, I raised the temperature in the controller to 60F to use the keezer as a fermentation chamber for a pilsner.

I transferred the pilsner to secondary last night, and put it back inside the freezer, setting the temperature in the controller back down to 38F.

Here comes the problem, the temperature won't drop below 60F and will fluctuate between 60F and 62F. The controller is now in constant cooling mode, the keezer light is on, I can hear it working and I can't seem to detect any temperature leaks. The keezer is obviously not completely malfunctioning, as the room temperature here is currently 73, and the keezer is maintaining a lower temperature. It will even drop it down to 60F after opening the door for a while and closing it but won't go down any further.

Any ideas? I set my temperature back down by holding the S button until the F1 appeared on the screen, and then held the S button again while clicking the down button until my desired temperature, the pressed the on button to set it.

I'm pretty bummed since I was excited about setting up my first keezer and its not working correctly anymore.




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[day_trippr]

Remove/bypass the controller and see what the freezer does on its own...

Cheers!

 

[AnOldUR]

Had an $25 old Craig's List freezer that worked great for a few years, but died with similar symptoms.

day_trippr's test is the only way to know for sure.

Off-topic sort of:
Does the STC-1000 have the Anti-Short Cycle Delay like a Johnson A419?
Thinking that cycling too frequently may be the cause.

 

[day_trippr]

[...]
Off-topic sort of:
Does the STC-1000 have the Anti-Short Cycle Delay like a Johnson A419?[...]

It does - though the user has to set the delay...

Cheers!

 

[kef300]

Thanks guys. I plugged the keezer straight into the outlet and it's still not cooling below 60. Are these problems something that a repairman can easily look into or should I start thinking about a new chest freezer?


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[day_trippr]

Thanks guys. I plugged the keezer straight into the outlet and it's still not cooling below 60. Are these problems something that a repairman can easily look into or should I start thinking about a new chest freezer?

Unfortunately, unless you can foist your problem on a receptive friend in the business, the price of "easily look into" generally begins around $200. That's what it'll cost to add the ports needed to hook up a vacuum pump to test for leaks and ready the system for reloading with refrigerant.

If the pump won't hold a vacuum the leak will have to be found. Could be a hole in the plumbing, could be a failed seal in the compressor. The time to find and fix a leak will be added to the $200 entry fee - and god help you if it's the compressor, as you'd be looking at another $150 or so for the hardware and the time to cut out the old/solder in the new.

Bottom line, unless you have that friend thing going for you, a straight-out replacement is likely the cheaper route. I picked up a new 13cf chest freezer last winter for $300 delivered, and I'd be surprised if a failed freezer could be brought back to a worthwhile life for that much...

Cheers!

 

[AnOldUR]

. . . a straight-out replacement is likely the cheaper route. I picked up a new 13cf chest freezer last winter for $300 delivered . . .

Initially the keezer idea was a hard sell, but finding the cheap Craig's List one made the decision easy. By the time it died, we were spoiled and had to have another. Found a deal at Lowe's and to make it better, they removed the dead trooper at no cost.

 

[IslandLizard]

I feel some of your pain. I have a fermentation fridge with similar symptoms. Although a pin hole could develop or suddenly show in the tubing, I'd put my bets on a leaky compressor seal.

While you're replacing maybe the new one should be bigger. More kegs, more taps.

 

[Maxkling]

Is the compressor running? Buzzing and running aren't the same, could be as simple as a 5$ capacitor.

 

[kef300]

How can I tell if it's running? I can hear buzzing and it cools somewhat to around 60F but that's it.

Agree on the larger freezer thing but the budget is short right now


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