Full Size Fridge Kegerator Temp Control

[RedRaiderDavid]

Hello, I just purchased a full size fridge that has been converted to a kegerator. It was already done, I picked it up for $150 including a new 10# stainless CO2 tank and nice dual guage regulator, I figured it was a steal. The fridge itself is your basic older model Fridgidaire freezer on top fridge, on the smaller side.

My question is a little bit about my theories. So the compressor on your basic fridge is not that robust and is designed to keep a somewhat full fridge cool. When you look in most fridges you have solid shelves which serve 2 purposes, 1 is obviously to hold your food without having huge stacks of it and 2 it breaks up the air flow so when you open the door the cold air doesn't all come rushing out. The first thing we do when we convert to a kegerator is remove all of these shelves causing all of the cold air to escape every time you open the door at which time the compressor has to run for hours to get it back down to temp. I have been monitoring my temps with a temp probe and the fridge temp goes up to the 60s when I open the door and it takes hours to get back into the 40s. I have tried to compensate somewhat by filling the corny keg that will eventually have my homebew with water and putting it in its place. I also have a 1/6 keg of commercial micro brew and have also added a couple 2.5 gallon jugs of water.

My question is assuming my assumptions are correct has anyone done anything to their refrigerator conversions to compensate for these issues? Granted after everything settles down and I'm sure everything is leak free and my CO2 pressures are where I want them I won't need to open the door much (faucets through door). I'm wondering if adding fans will help or if anyone has done anything to add extra insulation? Or, should I just leave it alone and not worry about it. lol

 

[day_trippr]

If it literally takes hours to bring the air temperature back to set point after merely opening the door for a minute or two, I'd say there's a major underperformance thing going on. Sure, there isn't much thermal mass in there right now, but that's a two edged sword, so while it'll slow the temperature drop, it'll also be slower to recover.

I have three fridges in the house and I doubt they take more than 10 minutes or so to chill back down after a brief opening of the fridge compartment (if they come on at all while I'm within earshot). And those are at least half filled, so when the compressors kick on they're cooling down more than just the air...

Cheers!

 

[number40fan]

What do you have in the freezer? If nothing, fill it will buckets/bottles/jugs of water and let it freeze.

 

[Doed]

I would agree with @day_trippr, if the fridge is taking hours to cool back down from opening the door, you might have a coolant problem. You could try one of those kil-a-watt devices to see how much/long the fridge is actually running. You could also use a stopwatch/timer to see how long the fridge is running, but you have to go back every few minutes to check to see if it is still running. Or you could just have an appliance guy check the refrigerant level.

Maybe this is why you got a steal of a deal? The other owner knew there was a cooling issue, maybe?

 

[RedRaiderDavid]

Thanks for the feedback. After a few days things have gotten a little better I guess as everything inside has cooled to temp but the fridge still run quite a bit. I have about decided that it isn't so much a cooling issue as an insulation issue. I can't detect any air leaks but this was a cheap fridge to begin with. Since the fridge is in the garage if we ever have a winter in TX it won't be much of an issue until the spring and between now and then I can look for another donor fridge to move everything over to.

As far as your comment on whether or not it was a steal, well if you remove the fridge from the equation I essentially got a dual tap fridge conversion kit with 10# stainless CO2 tank and dual guage regulator, all less than a year old for $150. Yeah, I'm still happy with the deal. lol Donor fridges are cheap if not free if one is patient enough.

 

[sputnam]

i put a sheet of 3/4" foam board on the door and spray foam around the edges, works well.

 

[NBBrewer]

I tested my thermister and replaced it as the evaporator coils were icing up and the defrost heater was not coming on. It fixed it but I also had a plugged defrost drain so the water could not drain. Clearing that helped even more. Its a tired old fridge.