Help With My Sick Keezer

[mbg]

My keezer has served me well. Yesterday I pressure transferred two beers into kegs. The lid was open for maybe an hour but nothing different than what I have done in the past. I did notice a large hunk of ice near the front/top/inside of the freezer. I knocked it off and closed the lid and moved on. A few hours later I checked the temperature and it was 65F and seemed not to be moving. The compressor is running. I saw online to try first to shut it down and let it sit for 24 hours to let it thaw out in case it is internally froze up. I did this and fired it up this morning and in 7 hours it gone from 70F to 62F. It's only reducing about 0.5F per hour right now.

I see lots of help for units that have stopped working but not much for ill performing ones. This is a Frigidaire/Electrolux FFC13C3AW3 chest freezer - think 13 to 15cuft. Any help appreciated.

 

[day_trippr]

Given the symptoms and especially the ice build up near the top I'd put my money on loss of refrigerant. You could try recharging it with the proper refrigerant but the odds are it's going to leak out over time again. I kept my 2nd keezer alive for almost 6 months doing transfusions like that until I got my 3rd keezer up and running...

Cheers!

 

[mbg]

Given the symptoms and especially the ice build up near the top I'd put my money on loss of refrigerant. You could try recharging it with the proper refrigerant but the odds are it's going to leak out over time again. I kept my 2nd keezer alive for almost 6 months doing transfusions like that until I got my 3rd keezer up and running...

Cheers!

Thanks - I checked the run capacitor and it's fine. Checked the compressor for shorts and none. The relay seems fine too. Just as a last resort I ordered a relay/cap for around $15 and will try it tomorrow. The freezer just seems to be cold in the front top. I suspect you are right about the refrigerant.

This is sad because if the new cap doesn't fix it or I can't find one on clearance near by I may give up the hobby. I'm retired and pushing 70 and have more than enough hobbies. My kids are older and out of the house and they use to help empty the kegs. I can still enjoy crafts beers - just not my own. (problem is I have 10 gallons of cloned Zombie Dust that I need to figure out what to do with. They just got kegged so maybe take the heat from my wife and stick them in our basement fridge for a few weeks and then bottle them.)

 

[IslandLizard]

Just to hint to an alternative keezer, I have been using an upright freezer for over a decade.
Faucets come through the door. It can house 5 standard ball-lock corny kegs, or 4 pin-locks, on the floor. There's ample space left above the kegs for bottles etc, or possibly even a few short kegs.

I picked one up locally for $100 off CL, and I have seen them offered on Facebook Marketplace too.

Alternatively, regular old-fashioned top-freezer model refrigerators are very suitable too. Most of those can house 6 kegs on the floor. I've seen those offered for free. Just make sure they work.

 

[hottpeper13]

when my top freezer kegerator died I bought a new one to replace it. That's how much I love it. It has 4 taps and could hold 5 kegs, but the extra floor space cold crashes the starters in 2 L flasks. The freezer holds all of the hops and extra food. Just hit 66 so I sit in a chair and lift the kegs into the fridge. Nothing overhead. The only draw back I have is sometimes when taking out the empty and moving them around the first pour out of those kegs is cloudy. The door holds my over build starters, packs of yeast and a few bottles. I can't figure out why anyone would use a chest freezer unless they needed way more taps. Plus I never have condensation problems.

 

[mbg]

Given the symptoms and especially the ice build up near the top I'd put my money on loss of refrigerant. You could try recharging it with the proper refrigerant but the odds are it's going to leak out over time again. I kept my 2nd keezer alive for almost 6 months doing transfusions like that until I got my 3rd keezer up and running...

Cheers!

Last night I thought about it a little more and you are probably correct about the refrigerant. So, I did some looking and found you can purchase a device called a bullet piercing adapter to tap the compressor low pressure line. Then you use automotive hoses and R134a. My freezer even has the amount of R134a needed on the S/N tag.

 

[day_trippr]

Indeed.
Check the thread I linked above...

Cheers!

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Just to hint to an alternative keezer, I have been using an upright freezer for over a decade.
Faucets come through the door. It can house 5 standard ball-lock corny kegs, or 4 pin-locks, on the floor. There's ample space left above the kegs for bottles etc, or possibly even a few short kegs.

I picked one up locally for $100 off CL, and I have seen them offered on Facebook Marketplace too.

Yes, I did the same. One of the things that always weirded me out about a keezer was the condensation. They're not designed to live >32F, so when they do there are all sorts of problems. So when my keezer died, I went with an upright.

I specifically bought an upright that was designed as a convertible, so perfectly acceptable to run it at freezer or fridge temps. I have enough room for 6 kegs on the floor, have 6 taps through the door (no refrigerant lines so perfectly safe to run it through the door), and then have two shelves above the kegs for additional food/beer/wine storage, plus some of the in-door storage.

At the time I went with a brand new model as I didn't want to worry about how much life was left in a cheap CL purchase. And it is in my kitchen, not garage, so I wanted it to look nice and new. But you could do the same with a upright cheap convertible freezer or upright fridge from CL.

 

[mbg]

Indeed.
Check the thread I linked above...

Cheers!

Thanks - I read your link as text. Ha - would have saved me an hour or so of internet searching if I clicked on it. Never thought about air in the fill hoses. Will be sure to purge that. Thanks

 

[rallenhall]

This topic is timely, as my 15 yr. old, six-tap freezer/kegerator is showing signs of giving up the ghost. I figured that when this one died I'd move to a front loading commercial kegerator, as I'm now in my mid-70's and the days of schlepping kegs over the top are probably numbered. Had not considered a standard refrigerator or upright freezer, but after reading the comments above I'm intrigued. Could those of you who are happy with your uprights add a bit of detail, eg. models, capacity, any modifications or recommendations you've made ...... perhaps add a photo. Many thanks in advance.

​

 

[mbg]

This topic is timely, as my 15 yr. old, six-tap freezer/kegerator is showing signs of giving up the ghost. I figured that when this one died I'd move to a front loading commercial kegerator, as I'm now in my mid-70's and the days of schlepping kegs over the top are probably numbered. Had not considered a standard refrigerator or upright freezer, but after reading the comments above I'm intrigued. Could those of you who are happy with your uprights add a bit of detail, eg. models, capacity, any modifications or recommendations you've made ...... perhaps add a photo. Many thanks in advance.

​

I just turned 69 and even a few years back it was difficult to put a full corney into the keezer. I started counter pressure filling my kegs - no more heavy lifting.

There are many refrigerant kits available but I just used this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09S69H5DP?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

Fingers crossed in 20 minutes I just passed 60F - the lowest I could get before the recharge.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

This topic is timely, as my 15 yr. old, six-tap freezer/kegerator is showing signs of giving up the ghost. I figured that when this one died I'd move to a front loading commercial kegerator, as I'm now in my mid-70's and the days of schlepping kegs over the top are probably numbered. Had not considered a standard refrigerator or upright freezer, but after reading the comments above I'm intrigued. Could those of you who are happy with your uprights add a bit of detail, eg. models, capacity, any modifications or recommendations you've made ...... perhaps add a photo. Many thanks in advance.

​

Posted above. The specifics of the model are irrelevant as it's 9 years old, but it's a Frigidaire, about 20-21 cu ft or so, and as mentioned it's a "convertible" fridge/freezer.

Pretty simple build. I had to cut out a portion of that upper shelf to thread the CO2 tank through it to rest on the bottom shelf. There isn't enough room to put my CO2 tank on the floor if I have 6 kegs. But other than that, nothing unusual. I have a dual-output regulator so I've got a 4-tap and 2-tap CO2 distribution block.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

One more tip for really any kegerator build... Cut out paper circles that are the diameter of your corny kegs. If you can view the fridges/freezers you're considering at a store, take them there and place them on the bottom so you know whether you have enough room for the number of kegs you desire to hold.

I was going from a 6-tap keezer to a 6-tap upright, so given that I already had all the hardware to support 6 faucets, I really wanted room for 6 kegs.

One more idea now that I think of it... One of the guys from the homebrew club had a similar setup as I had--but he actually built a wooden shelf so that he could have two [vertical] tiers of kegs in the fridge/freezer. I think that gave him room for 11 kegs plus a CO2 tank, and I think he had 9 taps running. So if you want to go REALLY big, you can. But for those who are concerned about lifting kegs into a keezer, that's probably not for you