used chest freezer not cooling!

[motobrewer]

So, I bought a used chest freezer. He had it disconnected and de-iced. I plugged it in before I bought, and the compressor kicked on and sounded fine.

Had it sitting in my garage for about 2 months because I was busy. Finally got it downstairs. Got my kegging equipment, hooked that up and installed. I build a collar, i didn't go thru the side, so I didn't drill any holes in the actual freezer.

So, last night I plug it in, compressor kicks on, go upstairs and go to bed. wake up this morning, go downstairs, and...it's still warm. well, it's at 55F, my basement's at 60F. It is a 26 cubic foot, but it should have gotten a little colder in that time, I would have thought.

anyway, what are my options here? What do you think's wrong? anything to check? the compressor is on and sounds normal. its just not cooling...

 

[Mountainbeers]

Hope it's not your freon...

 

[motobrewer]

me either....

the sides are cool to the touch, but defiantly not cold.

 

[david_42]

It certainly should have been cold by then. If you have your controller hooked up, plug the unit directly into the wall. If it gets cold, that just means your controller was lying, a fairly common problem. You'll have to fiddle with the settings to get it right.

 

[motobrewer]

I'm pretty sure the controller had it cranking solid. I can check when I get home, i have it trending the compressor status every 5 minutes.

regardless, I am gonna plug it into the wall and see what happens. but is there anything else to check for?

 

[greeneyed]

How long was it in the basement before you turned it on?
Was it ever on its side?

 

[motobrewer]

a week.

yes, it was on it's side. we tilted it on it's side to get it down the stairs.

why.................i'm not likin' that question.....

 

[greeneyed]

You are fine if it has been sitting upright for a week. Honestly, not sure. I have been told to leave any fridge/freezer unplugged at least 24 hours if it was ever on its side or back.

 

[Ichthy]

It's hell on old freezers to shut them off, especially for two months. I got a used freezer that had sat unplugged and had the same thing happen. It cooled to 55F and no lower. It is now my grain storage unit.

The reason you were asked about tilting is because when the freezer is tilted you can get air bubbles in the freon line. If you don't let them settle out (i.e., don't plug in the freezer for a day after moving it) the compressor can be damaged and not run correctly.

 

[JesseRC]

yeah, if you carried it on its side downstairs , then plugged it in, you should have waited atleast a day b4 pluggin it in. Not sure if any damage is done or if you just need to unplug and let it sit a while.

 

[motobrewer]

damn...

what if I "primed" it? Put a few (maybe like 30, lol) bags of ice in, then turn it on?

 

[electric_beer]

Sounds like your freezer just became a fermentation chamber.

 

[motobrewer]

I'm in wisconsin, i don't need an ale ferm chamber. what I need is a lager chamber

 

[Hermit]

It's hell on old freezers to shut them off, especially for two months. I got a used freezer that had sat unplugged and had the same thing happen. It cooled to 55F and no lower. It is now my grain storage unit.

The reason you were asked about tilting is because when the freezer is tilted you can get air bubbles in the freon line. If you don't let them settle out (i.e., don't plug in the freezer for a day after moving it) the compressor can be damaged and not run correctly.

No. The problem with tilting them is running oil out of the compressor into your lines.

 

[Hermit]

Look to see if there are any taps on the lines. Sometimes people have them filled with freon so they can sell them. These things are pretty simple. If the compressor is on it should cool. Most likely it is low on freon though on rare occasions I have seen compressors go low capacity.

 

[motobrewer]

taps, like for a freon recharge?

i'm not quite sure what you're talking about

 

[Hermit]

taps, like for a freon recharge?

i'm not quite sure what you're talking about

Exactly. I've told people that they had leaking units and they asked me to fill them up so they could sell them. If it has a tap then it probably has one for a reason.

 

[motobrewer]

oh, so you're saying the guy had it charged so it'd act like it's working when sold.

man, i'm depressed. i just bought all this kegging equipment, 3 tap system, I have two beers ready for the keg that I wanted for our new years party, and i just bought a commercial keg of beer that's room temp right about now. and no cash for another chest freezer

 

[Hermit]

oh, so you're saying the guy had it charged so it'd act like it's working when sold.

man, i'm depressed. i just bought all this kegging equipment, 3 tap system, I have two beers ready for the keg that I wanted for our new years party, and i just bought a commercial keg of beer that's room temp right about now. and no cash for another chest freezer

If there is a tap on it then that is probably what happened. That is why I am asking. If it an old unit it probably has r12 in it so you can't just go out and buy some. Price is through the roof on it and you need a license. I have 30+ pounds, but that does you no good. And if it leaked out in a few months......

 

[motobrewer]

the only thing that confuses me, is the sides are definitely cool to the touch. if there was a freon leak, why would they be cool? i understand that the sides should be, well, freezing....but still....

 

[greeneyed]

How exactly, do you have your controller wired?
Before making too much hoopla, I would just plug it in, and see what it does.

 

[Hermit]

the only thing that confuses me, is the sides are definitely cool to the touch. if there was a freon leak, why would they be cool? i understand that the sides should be, well, freezing....but still....

Is the outside warm? That is where it exchanges the heat. You can get some minimal cooling with a low charge.

 

[motobrewer]

How exactly, do you have your controller wired?
Before making too much hoopla, I would just plug it in, and see what it does.

yeah, will do. right now the freezer is wired to a relay (15 amp), being controlled by my controller. controller says turn on freezer until temp sensor reads 38 degrees.

the outside walls of the freezer are actually cool as well. actually, this is just the front wall; i'm not sure it has any coils in it. maybe this wall is just passive. i haven't checked the others. i would assume most (if not all) the coils would be near the back....

 

[Hermit]

Most chest freezers wrap the condenser all the way around the outside and the cooling starts at the top. Some actually have pictures showing the configuration on the wiring diagram.

 

[motobrewer]

ah, interesting.

well......i'm headed home in an hour. it's been on all day. i doubt anything has changed, but we'll see what happens when i plug it directly into the wall. take some amp measurements.....not optimistic, but....

btw, thanks for your help

 

[david_42]

At 55F, you could always use it as a conditioning cabinet or learn to love REAL ales.

 

[greeneyed]

Any luck??

 

[motobrewer]

had it plugged directly into the outlet for an hour.

not one degree change.

f**k.

 

[motobrewer]

Ok, so I found another used chest freezer. GE, about 10 years old. Same size, about 6' x 3' x 2.5'. bonus is that he's currently still using it, so I know it works right now.

In order for me to get it down my stairs I'll have to put it on its end, so that it's standing straight up. Does anyone see a problem with this? I'm wondering if this is what killed my other used one.

Also, this one has a high-temp alarm. Are those easily accessible/silenced? Obviously it would be on 24/7....

Buy, or not buy? $100...

 

[Hermit]

Let it sit a good 24 hours to make sure any oil drained out of the compressor has a chance to drain back into it before starting. I've seen a picture of how GE loads a truck full of refrigerators. Some are laid on their sides so it must not be a huge issue. Some alarms are adjustable. Worst case, pull the power, cut the wire to it.