Good afternoon everyone. I’ve got an appliance conundrum that I was hoping a knowledgeable forum member could help me diagnose.

My kegerator developed an issue where it was only cooling to 50 degrees. I checked the evaporator and condenser fans which were both functional, I checked the coils to make sure they were clean. The condenser is humming. The coils don’t appear to be freezing over.

Where it gets confusing for me is I let the kegerator sit unplugged 24 hours and then plugged it back in. It cooled all the way down to where I set it (34) and held for a few weeks before the issue of only cooling down to 50 showed up again.

I unplugged it and let it sit again and then plugged it back in and once again it cooled all the way down to the set temperature (34) before coming back up to 50 degrees.

I am thinking the cooling system must be ok if it can reach the desired temperature but maybe something is wrong with the defrost system or the thermostat?

The kegerator I have is a kegco stainless outdoor kegerator, so I’d love to be able to save it vice purchasing another one at north of $2k.

Kegerator in question:

Kegco

Thanks in advance

edit to update:

So I started taking apart the kegerator and notice a couple of things.

1. The evap coil is freezing over
2. The door seal is still sealing but its not as pliable as it once was.
3. The door wasn't lined up correctly. Over time it got a bit of a tilt. I put a lantern in the kegerator and could see light between the door seal and the kegerator in the top right corner of the door seal. The door is on an adjustable bracket so I was able to get it aligned properly and eliminant that slight gap.
4. The door handle was a little loose. It is through bolted so that may have been letting in warm/humid air.

A lot of what I read pointed to issues with the door seal or tower seal being a cause of an evap coil freezing over and improper cooling. I am hoping these minor adjustments will solve the issue so I can get back to cold beer.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ACTEG,

I am not a specific expert on this appliance, but I did design compressors for a living for a while, for Copeland (now Emerson Climate).

If the unit does not have a defrost feature, your efforts to seal it properly are appropriate.

https://www.kegerators.com/art...st-keg-refrigerator/

The above article suggests that manual defrosting is required for that form of kegerator. Not sure about yours. I could not tell from reading the manual and peering at the circuit diagram.

Brad beat me to it

When we were having problems with icing and insufficient cooling with our new Whirlpool fridge, the repair guy told me that almost all of the time he finds the same problem, the door doesn't seal correctly, and air leaking into the unit screws things up. In fact, this was our problem. Took resetting the door with a shim kit to fix it. He told me that units are often (always?) shipped from the factory with the door bolts loose, and the retailer is supposed to hang the door correctly before selling the unit (something they usually fail to do). Seems pretty flakey policy to me. I did not ask about other brands.

From now on, when I encounter refrigerator problems, I will suspect air intrusion first.

Brad, you are correct it is a cycle defrost.

So, I let the unit sit unplugged for about 12 hours, toweled out the little bit of water that drained from the evaporator coil. Blew out the inside with my blower for a little while to dry everything out, and plugged it back in with the same result. It gets to temperature but then climbs up into the low 50s. I haven't removed the evap coil cover yet, but I assume it is frosted over again.

Is there an easy way to check if the refrigerant is low, or should I get a bullet piercing valve and a can of r600 with the assumption that the refrigerant is low? It's relatively inexpensive and seems like a no harm no foul kind of approach if it turns out to be at the appropriate level.

Seems like a good place to ask this question. I'm considering one of these units for an upcoming small remodel. I'd like an indoor under the counter model. What's the difference between the 2000 dollar model and the 1000 and cheaper models? What features should I insist upon?

Thanks Brad.

I’ll remove the access panel again and look. When I looked previously it was getting ice right on the tube coming into the evap coil and icing around the top corner of the coil where it meets that tube. I’ll check again to confirm.

So I set the thermostat since that is as lowest temp it would hold. About 8 hours later it was still 50 so I set it to 45 which I got to no problem. Then I set it to 40 and it climbed back up to 52. At that point I pulled off the evaporator coil access panel and snapped this picture.

Photo

How old is the unit?
According to the site, there is a five year warranty on parts.

https://www.beveragefactory.co...unter-kegerator.html

Might cost you labor but it would likely be cheaper than buying new.

Unfortunately, it is out of warranty. I will try and check the Freon level and recharge if needed, otherwise I will probably use it for wine or conditioning during fermentation when I am home brewing.

Just wanted to update this thread.

I got a bottle of r600a and a filling hose/gauge setup off eBay. I bought a supco piercing valve on Amazon. Total coast was about $44. I installed the piercing valve and attached the hose and r600a bottle. The system was reading a little bit low, just barely in the green (negative pressure). I topped it off with Freon and the kegerator is holding the set temperature now (39 degrees). I’ll keep an eye on it and see how long it holds. Since the Freon was low it must have a leak somewhere. Hopefully it’s a really slow leak.