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Damonic: Okay, that is an awesome sales pitch. Well done!
Massive $6,000 commercial cooler... for FREE
- Thread starter Damonic
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Baldy_Beer_Brewery
Well-Known Member
I'm sure the hero status just took a climb among many here.
Brewers Hardware
Well-Known Member
Welp... I know mine costs me about $20-$40 a month depending on SCE's arbitrary overage scale... Just depends on whether I decide the A/C is getting juice first and then the giant fridge or vice versa
Arkador
Well-Known Member
I sold Swmbo on letting me sell the old 2door fridge for a keezer ($150 to upgrade) Because i estimated $100/yr difference in electrical use (That fridge was running almost nonstop)
This is a good sign. Check the evaporator fan before you call somebody. If that thing is not running, there is no way it will cool. The fact that it could build head pressure and the sight glass shows no moisture is promising.
My freebee was a True two door bottle cooler. A customer gave it to me. It was missing a door so I added the wooden collar and top. I looked at the condensor coil and it was shinny and new. Nobody had even used this thing.
![Craft A Brew - Safale S-04 Dry Yeast - Fermentis - English Ale Dry Yeast - For English and American Ales and Hard Apple Ciders - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [1 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fVGNh6JfL._SL500_.jpg)
ClutchDude
Well-Known Member
That's a very good point. I switched to a keezer and it cycles maybe three times an hour outside. Compared to the kegerator I had before hand, which had to run almost constantly, I'm saving a good bit on electricity.
Damonic
Well-Known Member
So I took the shroud off the evaporator area and here's what we've got...
All in all, it's fairly clean and nothing a careful scrub and some rustoleum couldn't fix. All three fans kick on with no problem. They pull air from the back of the bays, through the evaporator fins, and down into the two vents leading back to the bays. The lines going to the evaporator started to get cool to the touch but that's it. Coils and fins are in decent shape. I can't tell if the wiring is factory or rigged but I would guess the former.
Here's the compressor and lines again shaded to show which got warm and which got cool. Again, I'm no HVAC expert...
I watched the sight glass when the compressor kicked on and didn't see a thing. No liquid, bubbles, or pink elephants. I also looked for a schrader valve and didn't find one. I did find two separate bungs (circled in white). Maybe fill/bleed valves?
I'm getting the cart before the horse I think it totally feasible to make the cooler dual zone. The lefts vent could be rigged with shutters to open or close based on a signal from a LOVE controller. I'd probably need another fan to keep the air in the left bay circulating. The white things are light bulb sockets for each bay and apparently the only source of light. I'd probably just rip those out and install some white LED strips or rope lighting in each bay for illumination. Mounted on the back of the front door face would make for some neat backlighting.
All in all, it's fairly clean and nothing a careful scrub and some rustoleum couldn't fix. All three fans kick on with no problem. They pull air from the back of the bays, through the evaporator fins, and down into the two vents leading back to the bays. The lines going to the evaporator started to get cool to the touch but that's it. Coils and fins are in decent shape. I can't tell if the wiring is factory or rigged but I would guess the former.
Here's the compressor and lines again shaded to show which got warm and which got cool. Again, I'm no HVAC expert...
I watched the sight glass when the compressor kicked on and didn't see a thing. No liquid, bubbles, or pink elephants. I also looked for a schrader valve and didn't find one. I did find two separate bungs (circled in white). Maybe fill/bleed valves?
I'm getting the cart before the horse I think it totally feasible to make the cooler dual zone. The lefts vent could be rigged with shutters to open or close based on a signal from a LOVE controller. I'd probably need another fan to keep the air in the left bay circulating. The white things are light bulb sockets for each bay and apparently the only source of light. I'd probably just rip those out and install some white LED strips or rope lighting in each bay for illumination. Mounted on the back of the front door face would make for some neat backlighting.
ausdb
Member
The "bungs" you have circled in white are service ports to where you fit gauges to measure the gas pressure, the one at the front inline with the pipe leading into the compressor is the suction / low pressure side of the system and should be cool. The other one should be lukewarm as it should be filled with high pressure liquid refrigerant which is stored in the the black cylinder (called a receiver) and then feeds down into the evaporator section. In the evaporator section the valve you see with the diaphragm on top is called the expansion valve and controls the amount of liquid refrigerant going into the evaporator coil based on the demand/load on the coil. If the liquid line is cool then it indicates the refrigerant is expanding upstream of this valve. which it shouldn't as the valve requires a constant supply of liquid refrigerant to function correctly, So in a nutshell I would say the system has some refrigerant in it but nowhere near enough!
The most obvious places for leaks on refrigeration systems are on flared or screwed connections look for signs of oil. As the lubricating oil in a refrigeration system circulates around with the refrigerant it tends to leak out when there is a gas leak as well. Otherwise the next places to look are the brazed joints or in the coils them selves. Was this cabinet ever used for fresh produce or foodstuffs? as often acids/odours given off by foodstuffs can cause the copper tubing of the coils to corrode and you get tiny little pinprick leaks. I was dealing with some air conditioners recently which were installed in the food service area of a fast food store that sold "subs" you can guess the one yourself! After four years of use and no maintenance the evaporator coils all developed microscopic leaks and became porous in places. When I inspected the coils they smelt just like salad and salad dressing as if you had walked into the store and the copper tubing of the coils behind the fins was all black.
I am not totally sure of the laws regarding refrigerants in the US of A but unless you have the facility to reclaim any remaining refrigerant in the system then you are probably best doing what you say and getting a technician to look at it for you as they need to find the leak, repair it and the recharge the system with the correct refrigerant.
HTH
The most obvious places for leaks on refrigeration systems are on flared or screwed connections look for signs of oil. As the lubricating oil in a refrigeration system circulates around with the refrigerant it tends to leak out when there is a gas leak as well. Otherwise the next places to look are the brazed joints or in the coils them selves. Was this cabinet ever used for fresh produce or foodstuffs? as often acids/odours given off by foodstuffs can cause the copper tubing of the coils to corrode and you get tiny little pinprick leaks. I was dealing with some air conditioners recently which were installed in the food service area of a fast food store that sold "subs" you can guess the one yourself! After four years of use and no maintenance the evaporator coils all developed microscopic leaks and became porous in places. When I inspected the coils they smelt just like salad and salad dressing as if you had walked into the store and the copper tubing of the coils behind the fins was all black.
I am not totally sure of the laws regarding refrigerants in the US of A but unless you have the facility to reclaim any remaining refrigerant in the system then you are probably best doing what you say and getting a technician to look at it for you as they need to find the leak, repair it and the recharge the system with the correct refrigerant.
HTH
Lucky .... guy.
chemman14
Well-Known Member
what ever happened?
Haven't read the rest of the thread yet, but this approach seems the most in keeping with the spirit of home brewing.
Just be sure to have sufficient beer on hand when the tech arrives.
Damonic
Well-Known Member
I dropped off the face of the earth for a while. Sorry guys, haven't been on HBT or brewing much at all due to a series of personal crises. The cooler sat all winter with no change other than refreshing the pans of baking soda inside. I'd like to get a tech out within the month to asses and repair. As soon as I have an update I will bring this thread back from the dead...
JOHN51277
Well-Known Member
Subscribed!
