Keezer Not Cooling - Repair or Replace?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I have ac gauges and a vacuum but with a car you have low and high side connections and are using around 3 cans so being off an ounce or two is not really an issue. With such a small system it just seems really difficult to get it right as there is not much wiggle room. Weighing the can with a hose attached is quite challenging
 
All very true and I agree 100%. This was my thought process. either I'm going to throw this one away and buy a new chest freezer or I'm going to spend $40 in parts and attempt to fix it and worst case I have to throw the chest freezer away and buy a new one anyway. also I wouldn't attempt this if I had $500 of USDA prime beef frozen in the freezer. With beer the worst thing would be that it would end up at room temperature. Your mileage may vary
 
Still rocking since last post. For me, this "fix" is holding and is well worth the minimal investment and effort!
I'm experiencing the same problem and glad I found your update. I'm wondering if you bought the R134 with sealant or without. Thanks.
 
Update on my fix. I must have more of a leak than I thought. It keeps drifting warmer. I used the uv dye freon and can't see anything so I assume that the leak is internal. If I put another ounce in it buys me some time but long run my keezer is toast. Oh well it was worth a shot.
 
I got it without the sealant. Knock on wood but its still holding.
Can I safely assume that your keezer is still working? I just ordered the parts from Amazon (although I need to take a drive to get the R134). My keezer is set between 38-40 degrees. After it turns off at 38 degrees, it stays off for over 5 hours and the temperature creeps up to 40. That tells me that it maintains temperature pretty well. But when it kicks on, it takes close to 20 hours to get it back down to 38. Hopefully this thread is able to solve my problem!
 
Can I safely assume that your keezer is still working? I just ordered the parts from Amazon (although I need to take a drive to get the R134). My keezer is set between 38-40 degrees. After it turns off at 38 degrees, it stays off for over 5 hours and the temperature creeps up to 40. That tells me that it maintains temperature pretty well. But when it kicks on, it takes close to 20 hours to get it back down to 38. Hopefully this thread is able to solve my problem!

Sounds like an a/c problem that's low on feron or other cooling liquid. No way should it take 20 hours!
 
Agreed, something's amiss with the cooling system. Even in the dead of summer (ie: now) my 13cf keezer will drop two degrees with all six kegs filled in under 1-1/2 hours.

This case is different from most. Typically they tend to get stuck in the mid/upper 40s°F when they're really low on refrigerant, and may develop frost that increasingly isolates near the top of one corner before it disappears completely.

But perhaps a refill will bring it back to life. Worth a shot...

Cheers!
 
It's an actual freezer. Frigidaire 9cf with 6 kegs in there right now. It does develop some frost on the front wall (just under the taps), but then it's been melting during the hours that the compressor is turned off. That causes some puddling on the bottom of the keezer. I do have two EvaDry units in there, and they had kept it dry for months. But I noticed the puddles starting just around the same time it has been taking forever to get to temperature.

And yeah, I thought it was a little weird that it's still able to get to 38 degrees (rather than high 40's or low 50's. That tells me that there's a decent amount of refrigerant in there - but clearly not enough to get it to 38 degrees quickly. The parts should be here today and I'll stop by the store to buy the can of refrigerant, so hopefully this is resolved by tomorrow.

I had actually considered downsizing to a 4-keg keezer because I'd rather not have the temptation of 5-6 kegs on tap all the time, but I want to do it on my watch and not the keezer's watch.
 
It's an actual freezer. Frigidaire 9cf with 6 kegs in there right now. It does develop some frost on the front wall (just under the taps), but then it's been melting during the hours that the compressor is turned off. That causes some puddling on the bottom of the keezer. I do have two EvaDry units in there, and they had kept it dry for months. But I noticed the puddles starting just around the same time it has been taking forever to get to temperature.

And yeah, I thought it was a little weird that it's still able to get to 38 degrees (rather than high 40's or low 50's. That tells me that there's a decent amount of refrigerant in there - but clearly not enough to get it to 38 degrees quickly. The parts should be here today and I'll stop by the store to buy the can of refrigerant, so hopefully this is resolved by tomorrow.

I had actually considered downsizing to a 4-keg keezer because I'd rather not have the temptation of 5-6 kegs on tap all the time, but I want to do it on my watch and not the keezer's watch.
If it a old, 10 years or more it could very well be a mechanical issue. Worn rings and valves cause excessive heat build up. That will lead to shut down on thermal overload. Bad motor windings will also shut it down on thermal overload. To OHM it out with a meter disconnect power and discharge capacitor (common to run) will be the lowest reading. Next (common to start) is middle reading and last (start to run) will be the sum of the first two readings. Any open windings or the numbers don't add up means the compressor is shot.
 
Hi all,
I am just going to add an tidbit or two here. (a little long winded)
I had an old "beer" fridge and I mean old. It had a mechanical latch on the door and it broke (the latch) after many years of use. I thought of doing a "McGyver" on the latch but decided that i wanted a little bigger box. I found one I liked and knocked the old one in the head. (sadly i might add, just the thought of how many hangovers that box had a part in,,, :rolleyes: ) The new box wasn't much bigger on the outside but more cu. in. on the inside.

WOW, what a difference it made on my electric bill, paid for it's self in a year or so. Better insulation/gaskets and a more efficient cooling system. Just saying, something to think about when doing the repair/replace computations. Yes I know that my example was an extreme one but it still applies to any thing 10+ years old. (This includes your home HVAC system also)

Now on the frost line issue. Yes that does indicate a probable "flash off" point as pointed out above but also look at the sealing / gaskets in that area, it very well could mean an air leak in that area also. Slide a dollar bill around the gasket areas, between the gasket and sealing surface, it should drag heavily when pulled.

Now back to your regularly scheduled thread,,,,:mug:

Joel B.
 
Well, following the video didn't go quite as I thought it would. I initially hooked everything up, and the gauge went to -10 PSI. Then when I turned the valve to let freon in, it barely seemed to go in. In the video, it shot up to around 60 psi right away, then came lower once he closed the valve. In my case, it only spiked up to about 10 psi and then it started coming lower even the valve open. I tried it a few more times and the same thing happened. I tried disconnecting and reconnecting, and now it seems like nothing is working. The gauge reads 0 psi all the time, and I don't hear any freon going in now matter how much I open the valve. My instinct is that it's just not a secure connection, as the blue self-sealing adapter is very cheap.

I'll head to the store and see if I can find any of the old-style cans that don't self-seal. Maybe that will help.
 
Glad to see yours still works well! Unfortunately, mine isn't back to normal. I was able to get some Freon in there after stopping by Home Depot and buying an old-style (non self-sealing) can. That worked so much better, and I added until it read about 2 psi. But ever since my first attempt (with the self-sealing can), I hear a whooshing noise above the compressor. Almost like I'm outside in a blizzard. That side of the freezer gets very hot, although it's been getting hot since before my attempt to fix.

On the bright side, it's still able to maintain 38 degrees. It just takes longer than it should. Before adding Freon, it took about 20 hours to drop 2 degrees (it's about a 13 CF freezer - I mistakenly listed it at 9 CF last time - and there are 6 kegs in there). Now I have it at a 1 degree differential and it takes about 6 hours to get from 39 to 38 degrees, and then it shuts off and maintains the temperature for several hours. To be fair, maybe it had been on for 6 hours when I first bought it (used) off of craigslist and I hadn't paid attention.

At this point I'll just leave it as-is since it's still keeping the beer cold and I haven't noticed any increase in my electric bill. I'll also keep an eye out for other keezers or kegerators, as I ultimately want to get a 4-tap instead.
 
UPDATE:
3 Years, 7 months and 3 days have passed since I "fixed" my Keezer using the awesome tip from @OG-wan Kenobi .

Well, I found my Keezer to not be cooling very well again and also found the ice buildup inside just like before. So, I grabbed the same can of Freon that still had the charging hose and gauge attached and repeated the steps as before. It was once again low but it did take a Freon charge. This time I put just that "tad more" in.
And I'm happy to say that its only been ~<30 minutes and the temp is already dropping. AWESOME!

Not sure how many times I can keep doing this but as long as I can, I can! :bigmug:
 
Hopefully it will last another ~3 years or so. And also hopefully I'll be afforded time to build another one like you were when it decides to lay down for good.
 
How long it will last being recharged has a lot to do the level of contamination is getting into system when refrigerant leaks out or when you fill, and of course that the refrigerant has leaked out. As contaminants get in, especially water vapor, the recharges will be less effective and needed in shorter duration.

One can always try to take then next step, and try to vac out the system and install new refrigerant. But that is another can of worms.... I've dabbled in this myself, and would not waste my time on anything but commercial refrigeration equipment that is meant to be serviced.

On the other hand, if one is successful and finds this sort of work enjoyable, there seems to be room to move in commercial refrigeration repair and HVAC in general.

Chances of making a good living at that probably better than trying to open a brew pub anyway...[;
 
My luck may have run its course. It was doing fine after the last recharge but I started noticing it running longer and the temp not dropping as quick. Looked for ice forming inside but wasnt seeing it... until today; it's back! Just got through hitting it with another charge of freon. It seemed lower this time and seemed to take more freon.

Hopefully it holds a little longer but I'm thinking I should start planning for a replacement. :(
 
Last edited:
UPDATE:
All had been well for a while longer. I did start planning to build my next keezer. But after returning from a week long vacation on 10/28, I poured a beer and was surprised that it was warm. My keezer had finally bit the dust.

I, of course, pulled out my trusty freon charging stuff again but found it wasn't low this time. So whatever was the demise, it didn't seem to be the freon unless there was some related problem that didn't manifest as low levels. What ever the case, it was running but not cooling at all now.

Sadly my new keezer build hadn't progressed more than buying the new chest freezer and some misc parts like CO2 distribution manifolds etc. So that's what I've been working on every weekend since then.
I'm looking forward to my new keezer but to anyone reading this, it takes longer than you'd think it should; especially when you have limited time to work on it.
I think I'll be lucky if I have it finished and put into "production" serving beer before Christmas. SWMBO isn't too thrilled with all the time I'm spending building this thing over the weekends. Not letting this project monopolize my weekend free time is only extending its finish date. :(

If you've found this thread because you have found yourself in the same low freon boat I was in, the takeaway is that you may be able to squeeze some more time by charging it. Heck, I got a little over 4 years more time. But don't get complacent thinking you'll just recharge freon till the cows come home. Because they will come home when you aren't expecting it and leave you with warm beer and a pressing project.

I think most, if not all, of the new chest freezers use cyclopentane instead of freon. I know my new one does and I've noticed that big cyclopentane sticker in several others keezer posts.
I have no idea if they can be recharged like this, I'm thinking not. Hopefully this new keezer lasts long enough that I wont need to find out. Time will tell...

EDIT: I may be confused about cyclopentane. Sounds like it may have more to do with the foam insulation than the referigerant. Hard to tell though; I find many references to it being a referigerant as well.
 
Last edited:
There should be a manufacturer build plate on your freezer that spells out the refrigerant type and even the amount for a full charge from empty. But afaik Cyclopentane is used as a blowing agent for foam-in-place usage...

Cheers!
 
Back
Top