Natdavis777
Well-Known Member
My fermentation chamber has finally bit it. To start, I first bought this upright freezer over a year ago at a used appliance store. Got a great deal, and it was in great condition. Worked well using a Johnson single stage controller. Once winter hit though, I needed a heat source, as ambient temps in my garage can get down to 40F.
So I make a heater from a lightbulb in a new paint can. Worked great. Basically kept the heater on all the time, and let the freezer ping down the temp to keep me where I needed to be (I feel this has caused my failure).
Around 7 months ago, I noticed my freezer light was on, and the light on the controller was on, but the freezer wasnt running. I thought it was a start relay issue, but it ended up being the defrost timer. Just needed a small turn and voila, back to working. Had to do this a few times here and there, but it saved me from having to buy a new unit.
Finished my ZD clone this past week and was starting my dryhop when I noticed the fan was running, but the amibent temp was 74F in the freezer. It was not blowing cold air. I tinkered with the defrost timer again, but these were new symptoms, and it wasnt resolving the issue. Then I noticed the compressor wasnt running. I checked voltage to the unit, and it was 120v. So I then looked into the relay. Tinkered some more, and thought it might be the overload protector. I bypassed the overload protector and BOOM, compressor kicked on. Just need a new overload. Wrong.
The overload had continuity, so I tried it on the compressor again, and it would pop after a few seconds. So it was basically tripping. I then decided to check amps being drawn from the compressor. The unit is rated @ 5amps. Bypassed the overload, hit the power, and waited about 20 seconds (to record running amps and not startup amps) and it was drawing a consistent 7.5amps.
Therefore, I think the compressor has suffered an electrical failure. I will ohm it out later just as a second verification, but I have already found a almost new chest freezer for a steal, so I am picking it up Sat. Cheaper than replacing the compressor.
I feel that it was kicking on too much (even with the ASD on 3) since I was supply a constant heat source. So I plan to build an STC-1000 so I can utilize a dual energy source and hopefully keep the compressor from kicking on so much.
Long story, but hey, if anyone else is experiencing any similar symptoms with their units, maybe this could help point someone in the right direction to diagnose the issue.
So I make a heater from a lightbulb in a new paint can. Worked great. Basically kept the heater on all the time, and let the freezer ping down the temp to keep me where I needed to be (I feel this has caused my failure).
Around 7 months ago, I noticed my freezer light was on, and the light on the controller was on, but the freezer wasnt running. I thought it was a start relay issue, but it ended up being the defrost timer. Just needed a small turn and voila, back to working. Had to do this a few times here and there, but it saved me from having to buy a new unit.
Finished my ZD clone this past week and was starting my dryhop when I noticed the fan was running, but the amibent temp was 74F in the freezer. It was not blowing cold air. I tinkered with the defrost timer again, but these were new symptoms, and it wasnt resolving the issue. Then I noticed the compressor wasnt running. I checked voltage to the unit, and it was 120v. So I then looked into the relay. Tinkered some more, and thought it might be the overload protector. I bypassed the overload protector and BOOM, compressor kicked on. Just need a new overload. Wrong.
The overload had continuity, so I tried it on the compressor again, and it would pop after a few seconds. So it was basically tripping. I then decided to check amps being drawn from the compressor. The unit is rated @ 5amps. Bypassed the overload, hit the power, and waited about 20 seconds (to record running amps and not startup amps) and it was drawing a consistent 7.5amps.
Therefore, I think the compressor has suffered an electrical failure. I will ohm it out later just as a second verification, but I have already found a almost new chest freezer for a steal, so I am picking it up Sat. Cheaper than replacing the compressor.
I feel that it was kicking on too much (even with the ASD on 3) since I was supply a constant heat source. So I plan to build an STC-1000 so I can utilize a dual energy source and hopefully keep the compressor from kicking on so much.
Long story, but hey, if anyone else is experiencing any similar symptoms with their units, maybe this could help point someone in the right direction to diagnose the issue.
