Komos Kegerator Bites The Dust at 14 months

[camonick]

There is No shipping time by Ups or FedEx that takes 7 days inside continental US unless it is a lost shipment and then it would be indeterminate as it would be lost. I'll bet they don't have it in stock.

FedEx straight up sucks where I live and I have had, on more than one occasion, shipments take well over a week (from both MoreBeer as well as other companies) to make it to my doorstep. MoreBeer can’t be blamed for deficiencies in a 3rd party shipping company.

 

[Homebrew Harry]

Sorry I meant to write "connection," not "contact." We can't see inside how it's built.

With that clarified, I only see one (1) connection lug on that "relay." Unless there's another lug on the other side, (or a hidden female one, a socket) I don't see how that would switch anything.

If indeed a relay, what activates it then? A magnet, external coil, gravity, photon beam, or something else?

It looks like it has 2 female connections. I think the male one you see is the trigger, but I am just guessing from here.

 

[seatazzz]

+infinity on the Supco 3-in-1. I've got two of them, one in my ferment fridge and one in my house fridge; both have been running for over a year and no issues whatsoever. Dead easy to install, there is the issue mentioned above of figuring out which wire does what, but if you get them backwards it won't fry the fridge or the compressor. Just make sure you get the right one for your compressor's HP rating. $11 to fix a fridge that cost over $1100??? OH hells yes.

 

[Brownyard]

Well, the temp probe MoreBeer sent doesn't fit. Not the same as what's in my fridge. I hooked up the 3 in 1. Nothing. It has to be a dead compressor. I'm giving up on this piece of ****. Thanks a lot MoreBeer.

 

[superiorsat]

Does it still click when you first plug it in?

 

[Brownyard]

Does it still click when you first plug it in?

Yes.

 

[Brewdog80]

Strip it down. You have a tower and some other parts that can be used elsewhere. Oh, and I hope you can get rid if it without paying fee for refrigerant

 

[Brewdog80]

Click just means that the thermostat relay is working.

 

[superiorsat]

That's a shame the couple times I was able to fix my fridges they would do like multiple clicks like the starter on a car when the battery was to low to start it. The 3 in one fixed it both times. I did have one I couldn't save even though I thought the refrigerant had just slowly leaked out. I soldered on a new connector and put on an adapter to try and recharge. No go, but as others suggest strip down what you can you may want to reuse it or even sell it to a DIY person. I kept the tower and even the door as it was a bump out type door so a full half barrel keg would fit. After about a month of looking for mini fridges on marketplace I found one with the correct measurements to attach my door. An almost new mini fridge with less than 6 months use for a $100 and bingo back up an running with an almost new kegerator.

 

[Brownyard]

Surprise, surprise. MoreBeer has deleted my comments about this issue on their site.

DO NOT BUY FROM MORE BEER IF YOU EXPECT TECH SUPPORT OR SERVICE.

I ordered a replacement kegerator with a local hardware store where I could add an extended warranty.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

No surprise there, MoreBeer deleted my comments when I left a review of my experience with them.

 

[Brewdog80]

So, as I said the other day, Dont buy from a crap company. and Morebeer is a crap company..... anyone removing reviews is crap

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Maybe MoreBeer will read some of the great comments here.

 

[Brewdog80]

No, enough fans here to outweigh the negatives. They are cheap, but I have issue with their website listing free shipping on a page where you can't get free ahipping on that product. But nothing, including shipping is free. Sorry to hijack.

 

[Brownyard]

My official last word with MoreBeer...

Just a little note…

I have given up on this Kegerator and MoreBeer for good. After waiting a week for a response, I waited over a week for the part, and it didn’t fit my model. By my own means, with no help from MoreBeer, I’ve determined the compressor is dead, and since MoreBeer has no concern in standing by their product, I’ve ordered a replacement of another brand from a different company to replace it.

The fact that you guys have removed my comments on this matter from your website is the lowest form of business I’ve ever experienced. I have had nothing but grief over this, and will never recommend MoreBeer to anyone, ever. Your service is appalling.

I only hope that you guys all experience this kind of service in your lives so you’ll know how I feel.

Good Riddance
________________________

I'd like to thank all of the forum members that chimed in with suggestions. I had my fingers crossed that I'd be able to overcome this with your help. At least I know you all are here and supportive. I hate to come off like a "Karen", but this just wasn't right.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

My official last word with MoreBeer...

Just a little note…

I have given up on this Kegerator and MoreBeer for good. After waiting a week for a response, I waited over a week for the part, and it didn’t fit my model. By my own means, with no help from MoreBeer, I’ve determined the compressor is dead, and since MoreBeer has no concern in standing by their product, I’ve ordered a replacement of another brand from a different company to replace it.

The fact that you guys have removed my comments on this matter from your website is the lowest form of business I’ve ever experienced. I have had nothing but grief over this, and will never recommend MoreBeer to anyone, ever. Your service is appalling.

I only hope that you guys all experience this kind of service in your lives so you’ll know how I feel.

Good Riddance
________________________

I'd like to thank all of the forum members that chimed in with suggestions. I had my fingers crossed that I'd be able to overcome this with your help. At least I know you all are here and supportive. I hate to come off like a "Karen", but this just wasn't right.

Great reply to them, not that they care but the folks here do appreciate your words . . . . I know I have taken them to heart as I was thinking of giving them another chance. Nope, not now or ever again.

Sorry it came to this but thanks for sharing!

 

[Knightshade]

Man..this sucks...I was holding out hope that you'd get that sucker up and running again. I had an issue with mine which MoreBeer did take care of, but it was in the warranty period.

I seriously considered getting another Komos to replace my FC a couple months ago. Ended up with a Kegland Series X as the price ended up being over $100 lower.

 

[day_trippr]

I've always wondered if enough people pound on a specific search phrase if it could affect search results for somewhat similar queries.
Like, if everyone on HBT repeated a search for "Morebeer and KOMOS kegerators suck!" a few hundred times...

Cheers! (Or something like that )

 

[IslandLizard]

@Brownyard
Thank you for adding your negative review about MoreBeer removing your feedback in this thread.
MoreBeer poor experience, refusing fair but critical review

However, don't hesitate to also add your terrible experience in the main MoreBeer feedback thread:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/morebeer-com.262695/page-6

A quick synopsis of your bad experience and a link to this thread should suffice.
For ease, this thread's URL is: Komos Kegerator Bites The Dust at 14 months

 

[Brownyard]

Funny, since I made a stink, one of my comments magically re-appeared.

 

[Ridenour64]

I hate to bring spike into this because I love spike, but I’m pretty sure they do the same thing. I left a review once that is nowhere to be found. Unfortunately, I think this is common practice. I’ve ordered products from Amazon with glowing reviews and upon receipt the product is junk. No way they get the review they have naturally.

Edit: now that I am thinking about it, I know for a fact spike has deleted critical comments on their Facebook page.

 

[marc1]

Funny, since I made a stink, one of my comments magically re-appeared.

I don't see any negative reviews matching your experience on the Komos kegerator listings that I can find - which one was it?

 

[IslandLizard]

Funny, since I made a stink, one of my comments magically re-appeared.

MoreBeer is not the only (large) outfit that edits and removes responses... It's a totally despicable practice and very deceiving.
The "stars" rating system itself is badly flawed and skewed toward adding (fake) positives where none were intended or warranted. I.e., one cannot rate at 0 stars.

 

[IslandLizard]

Not sure if this was suggested before.
To verify the fridge/kegerator is actually functional or not, you could hot-wire the compressor right at the starter relay/capacitor, bypassing any other electronics, etc. See if it runs and cools as it should.

 

[newbrewer001]

details on how he might try the hotwire on this "turd" >Which i just ordered on their black friday sale before i saw the thread

 

[IslandLizard]

details on how he might try the hotwire on this "turd" >Which i just ordered on their black friday sale before i saw the thread

Sorry, I don't have one of those to give actual instructions on which wires to connect to 120V.
As always, don't tinker with electricity and electrical systems unless you know what you're doing and how to do it safely.

If you think you made a mistake ordering one of those, I'm pretty sure you can cancel your order. From what I gather they don't ship them out right away. If they refuse take it up with your credit card company.

 

[Ridenour64]

On morebeer.com there is a link at the bottom “where’s my stuff” I’m pretty sure you can cancel from there if the shipping isn’t in process.

 

[Bobby_M]

I don't know if this has been brought up but I would go directly to the manufacturer. They have a contact email on their site. I would explain the situation and maybe they will lend a helping hand since it is just out of warranty.

I'm glad morebeer is helping but this is on Komos. Hope you get it back up and running.

Komos Website

FYI, KOMOS is morebeer just like BrewBuilt.com, MoreWine.com and BrewMasterWholesale.com is morebeer.

 

[Bobby_M]

As a consumer of goods, I can completely understand how your situation is infuriating. No one buys a consumer grade appliance thinking it's going to need repairs or replacement right after the warranty runs out. As a vendor though, I do have an appreciation for the concept and practicality of warranty limitations. The warranty is a window of time and when it closes, it closes. If a vendor is expected to honor it two months past, why not 3 or 10?
Aside from lemon laws and related class action suits, would anyone expect an auto manufacturer to honor a warranty after that window closes?

The wrinkle in this particular product is that Morebeer likely contract manufactures the kegerators from a factory that builds OEM refrigerators for a bunch of brands and they just didn't set up a robust repair and replacement parts ecosystem due to the low volume, niche nature of this product. Contrast that with Whirlpool who have thousands of units out in the wild in any given city. I'm not defending that position at all. I think it would behoove Morebeer to source replacement parts and offer them up for when customers do find appliance repair techs that would be willing to install them.

 

[Bobby_M]

I'm not suggesting you do this, but if my KOMOS was misbehaving this is what I would do.
Unplug from the wall. Remove the cover of the circuit board and disconnect any wire harness connectors from the board and put them back on to rule out an intermittent connection problem at the terminals. If that fails....

Then I would start bypassing components that are not critical to the operation of the compressor. In the picture below, the first relatively easy test is to jump a connection between the incoming brown 120v "hot" and the "C" contact on the compressor as shown by the red drawn-in line. I'm not sure if the wire is still red between the overload switch and the compressor but you should be able to trace the wires. This would bypass both the controller and the overload switch. If the thing runs normally, you can isolate the overload protector by move the connection back to before the overload. If it stops working, you know it's the overload switch. If neither works, I would test the PTC starter by momentarily jumping across the two remaining terminals on the compressor. This essentially engages the startup winding of the motor (which is what the PTC Starter's function is). Keep in mind that I haven't gotten my hands into my own Komos so I'm not sure if the PTC starter is a separate module or if it's plugged ON to the three terminals of the compressor body. If you can figure it out, you can also remove the PTC module and test the resistance between the two terminals. If it's several hundred ohms or more, that's a likely problem.