Keezer Life Expectancy Question

[hbhudy]

My keezer died this past week (RIP Keezer), and it had a very good life of about 8yrs.

I am wondering if folks have any input on how long a keezer should last, as the chest freezer was brand new when I bought it.

8yrs seems like a short life span, but i am wondering if the cycling on and off without ever getting to a freezing temp had anything to do with the early departure of the keezer???

Thanks in advance for your responses, as I am now in wait mode for next steps as all chest freezers seem to be on multi month back orders OR they are just way to far over priced in my very humble opinion..

 

[eric19312]

Mine is going. Will probably not make it through this coming summer. I bought it new in Feb 2014. GE 7cf chest freezer. Still working but struggling.

 

[IslandLizard]

So sorry for losing your keezer. Not sure what could have caused her early demise.
You could be onto something with the frequent on/off cycles, wearing out the compressor.

I have a fairly large Gibson chest freezer I bought in 1988. It's been pretty much on for 32 years as a deep freezer, not a keezer, except for a few weeks while moving.

Look on Craigslist and those places. I picked up an upright freezer for $100, fairly new, in near mint condition, and very locally.
But people may be hoarding them now, actually using them for more than just a few TV dinners.

Disclaimer: I've never had a TV dinner and unlikely will ever buy or have one.

 

[day_trippr]

My first keezer "K1" was built on a 15 yo Craig's List freezer, lasted four years. "K2" was built on a new 13cf freezer, lasted almost 9 years. I built "K3" on a new 14.8cf freezer. We'll see how long this one lasts.

I will note all three keezers spent their lives cycling a max of 6 times a day, more typically five, one hour on and four off, for a roughly 20% duty cycle. Otoh, the system pressures likely exceed the normal for a chest freezer operated at chest freezer temperatures...

Cheers!

 

[stickyfinger]

Did u try replacing the compressor overload relay? I have fixed 2 freezers that way. Look it up online.

 

[IslandLizard]

I will note all three keezers spent their lives cycling a max of 6 times a day, more typically five, one hour on and four off, for a roughly 20% duty cycle.

Is that accomplished by increasing thermal mass, sticking as as many full kegs in there, even if filled with plain water (or seltzer)?

 

[day_trippr]

Did u try replacing the compressor overload relay? I have fixed 2 freezers that way. Look it up online.

I probably know way more about how domestic compressor-driven appliances work than the average schmuck, and I can assure you, a running compressor indicates there's no issue with capacitors, relays, or thermal cut-out switches.

Those two systems died because they bled out - I kept the latter one alive for almost six months with r134a infusions until my "K3" keezer was up and running...

Cheers!

 

[day_trippr]

Is that accomplished by increasing thermal mass, sticking as as many full kegs in there, even if filled with plain water (or seltzer)?

Mass is significant wrt cycle time. More important is how temperature is measured on behalf of the controller.

I strap my controller probe to a full keg under an inch thick pad of foam, so there's a ton of hysteresis on the measurement side.
Even in the middle of summer, with a full set of at least half-full kegs, the system typically charts out like this:

Right now I have 8 beer kegs plus my two shorty rinser system kegs in the keezer. Three of the beer kegs are almost full, three average 2/5s full, then there's two kegs filled with cold water - as I've only recently restarted my pipeline and am adding a keg every week on average...

Cheers!

 

[stickyfinger]

I probably know way more about how domestic compressor-driven appliances work than the average schmuck, and I can assure you, a running compressor indicates there's no issue with capacitors, relays, or thermal cut-out switches.

Those two systems died because they bled out - I kept the latter one alive for almost six months with r134a infusions until my "K3" keezer was up and running...

Cheers!

Meantto reply to OP

 

[Mark3885]

My small fermentation keezer was not cooling as well last summer. I bought a bullit piercing valve from Supplyhouse.com and got it back up running cold in less than 10 minutes for about $10. A can of auto AC refrigerant and hose adapter is all you need. Many YouTube videos on how to revive your keezer.

 

[matt_m]

My first one built for 2 kegs lasted maybe a year before I squeezed in another full size keg and a 1.5g Torpedo Keg. Made it another year before I decided to build a proper 4-keg unit Should have made it 6 or 12...

 

[jseyfert3]

Did u try replacing the compressor overload relay? I have fixed 2 freezers that way. Look it up online.

This is a good point. @hbhudy how exactly did it die? If the compressor hums for a bit then shuts off it's likely a starting relay or cap, and generally easy and cheap to fix. If the compressor runs normally but doesn't cool that's loss of refrigerant and while you can add more you probably can't fix the leak which will probably get worse over time.

As to the original question I wonder if this is where brand name freezers win out, with longer lives on average than the cheap ones. I have a Whirlpool 14 ft³ freezer in use as a freezer since 2014, still running great. As to kreezers I'm on my second one, only a few months old, made from a 14.7 ft³ Frigidaire freezer. Went name brand cause I just couldn't see the store brand special freezers lasting long, and I assumed parts support was next to nothing on them.

First kreezer was also a couple months cause it was a 1980 Montgomery Ward 10 ft³ freezer I got for free, starting relay died of old age and I couldn't find the exact replacement by part number. While I was sure I could do some measurements and find a suitable relay, I decided to upgrade to the Frigidaire unit as I realized power saving would pay for the new freezer in a matter of a few years, as the walls on the Frigidaire are twice as thick and have a higher R-value than the ones on the old Montgomery Ward one.

 

[matt_m]

You have to watch on smaller appliances like this. Some of the "name brands" are just licensing their name to someone else to slap on a commodity item. And all appliances have drastically lower quality than 10, 20, or 30 years ago. I always get a kick out of people who buy a Maytag washer because grandma still has hers from 1968. They find out just a few short years later that they bought a complete piece of crap with a Maytag sticker.

 

[Ayzala]

^^^^This^^^^
I needed a new dishwasher so I bought a Maytag, one month after the warranty ended the drain pump crapped out. All be it just a $12 part and 30 minutes to install but machines today don't last.

 

[greywolf]

I do my temp probe like this. The keezer stays very even in temps. Don't judge me on the O'douls, someone left it here and that's the best use I could find.
My keezer is around five years old with 2/3 of that out on the porch year round. Still chugging along just fine.

 

[matt_m]

Yeah I did the same but just used duct tape and a random can of something left in the fridge. Even more important than everyday consistency, it keeps the compressor from kicking on and the Inkbird from alarming every time I change out a keg or clean lines.

 

[Mark3885]

When they sit idle too long then the compressor locks up. My 2 large and 2 small chest freezers are on inkbird controllers even if they are empty. I set them a few degrees below room temp so they are cost effective.

 

[ITV]

I would be interested to see if there is a correlation between life of keezer vs. airflow. I see some designs where they encase the keezer with little to no air gaps on the outside which will cause the keezer to run hot. Also I have mine set for the maximum (10 min) restart to avoid short cycling the compressor.

 

[Mark3885]

I have 4 , 2 large and 2 small , all from 1994 -95. I have them up on 2x4 to allow air underneath and good venting on the sides . They have been all running since 95 only disconnected this spring when we moved then plugged in as soon as possible .

 

[c.b.bigelow]

I do my temp probe like this. The keezer stays very even in temps. Don't judge me on the O'douls, someone left it here and that's the best use I could find.
My keezer is around five years old with 2/3 of that out on the porch year round. Still chugging along just fine. View attachment 709499

Is the probe in the bottle or between the bottle and the koozie? Either way, I assume the bottle is full? I just bought a used keezer and home brewing setup and am still learning. Thanks!