Ranco temp regulator will not run chest freezer

[dannyb]

My first chest freezer (24cf) went up and i replaced it with another (24cf) chest freezer. The ranco is on and will work on other devices but it will not run the chest freezer. Any thoughts?

I plugged the freezer directly into the wall socket until it reached my desired temperature of 34 degrees and then tried hooking up the ranco. Still no luck. I contacted etc and they couldn't think of reason why this would be happening.

Hopefully one of you out there has seen the same thing. Thanks.

 

[Bowtiebrewery]

what is the draw of the Freezer? What brand and Model?

According to Ranco: It will handle 15 amps or 1725 watts at 115 volts AC.

 

[dannyb]

Its a Kenmore modle # 253.145.42.103
Amps 5.0
115V
60HZ

 

[Bowtiebrewery]

Hmmm it should handle that no problem... There must be something internally that is preventing the ranco from working? That is strange

 

[Catt22]

Test the Ranco with something other than the freezer to see if it is working. A lamp or shop light would work well for the test. Check the settings on your Ranco, especially the anti short cycle delay setting. I suspect that the ASD is at the root of the problem. Please post back if you figure out what the problem is.

 

[Bobby_M]

Are you using a ranco that has a male plug and female receptacle wired in?

 

[robumba]

First thing I'd do is plug the chest freezer into the wall and make sure it works. Then I'd make sure that when you have the ranco plugged in you have it set right. You have to set it to cool, not heat. If you accidently have it set to heat then you're asking it to turn on when the temperature is colder than the ambient temperature. That's not what you want. You want the opposite.

If you really are stuck then I'd plug the ranco into another appliance, like a fan, to check it. But I'll bet you have it set to "heat" instead of "cool". I've made that mistake too.:cross:

 

[harpo]

Probably not important, but I thought I would mention...

The start circuit on these items will prevent a "hot-start" for lack of better words. If the compressor was just on to get it cooled down to 34°, then you plug it into the Ranco, it will need a period for the start circuit to cool before it tries to re-energize the start circuit again. I did the same thing when I moved my first keg fridge's control switch outside the unit instead of inside. I turned the thing on before I attached it permanently to the outside of the fridge, saw that I indeed hook it back up properly by letting it cool for a while, then tried to turn it back on once I attached the switch to the outside. It was a couple of minutes, but it wouldn't turn back on until I finally left it overnight. Then it worked like a charm and has ever since. All the while I thought I had ruined something.
I was finally informed of the no hot start feature after I asked our resident electrical guy at work.

Now, I am an amateur when it comes to things electrical, just sharing my personal experience.

 

[Catt22]

Probably not important, but I thought I would mention...

The start circuit on these items will prevent a "hot-start" for lack of better words. If the compressor was just on to get it cooled down to 34°, then you plug it into the Ranco, it will need a period for the start circuit to cool before it tries to re-energize the start circuit again. I did the same thing when I moved my first keg fridge's control switch outside the unit instead of inside. I turned the thing on before I attached it permanently to the outside of the fridge, saw that I indeed hook it back up properly by letting it cool for a while, then tried to turn it back on once I attached the switch to the outside. It was a couple of minutes, but it wouldn't turn back on until I finally left it overnight. Then it worked like a charm and has ever since. All the while I thought I had ruined something.
I was finally informed of the no hot start feature after I asked our resident electrical guy at work.

Now, I am an amateur when it comes to things electrical, just sharing my personal experience.

It's not a matter of the unit "cooling down". The proper term is anti-short cycle delay. It's time based, not temperature based and it is entirely a function of the controller whether or not it's hooked up to an appliance. The ASD duration is adjustable on most digital controllers. When testing the controller, set the ASD to the shortest duration (probably 1 minute). When actually operating the freezer, set it to the longest duration (probably something like 12-15 minutes).

Correction to the above. The freezer could very well have an anti-hot start feature built in, but mine does not. So, my comment could be way off base. Either way, waiting awhile and trying it again may solve the problem if it is a safety delay issue.

 

[harpo]

Thanks for the clarification! I knew I'd miss on something, just knew it might be an idea that things aren't broke, just working safely as they were intended.