Help with cold

[backdoor]

I finished my bar last week (pic to follow). I ran the fridge all week and it held 36 degrees with three fans running inside and the power supply fan blowing on the compressor. After two days with the kegs inside its maintaining 46 degrees. Is this a matter of waiting longer since I know it’s capable of getting colder or am I missing something?
Mike

[mckdelbu]

It definitely takes time and DO NOT open the door!
At one point I figured out how to long it takes to cool a 1/2 and 1/4 barrel of beer and it’s about at least 48 hours…and sometimes maybe twice that.
Even the store bought kegerators take time to cool.

You said the plural “kegs” how many and what size?

I suggest you also place your thermometer probe in a glass or bottle of water to get a more accurate reading or the actual liquid temperature.

Any leaks, especially around the door will prevent you from reaching the target temp of about 36 to 38 degrees.
Opening the door repeatedly will also delay cooling by introducing warm room air.

One tip to further reduce the air space in your keg box is to add another inner later of insulation panels.

If you got down to 36 before, then you should be able to get there again.

[mckdelbu]

Also watch out for excess ice on the freezer (evaporator) plate. High humidity and constant door opening will cause it to frost up faster.

[backdoor]

Thanks for the info, I have a 1/4 and a 1/6 in there now, I’ll just leave it alone a bit, before I try another layer of insulation.

[backdoor]

I forgot to mention, there does seem to be excess ice on the freezer plate. I know that while hooking up the kegs I did have the door open for way to long. will this clean it self if I leave the door closed or do I need to clean it out??

[mckdelbu]

If the frost is over one half to three quarters of an inche thick of more, I would leave the door closed, remove power from the fridge for several hours until the frost clears.
I place a 10 to 12 inch square plastic tupperware bowl under the freezer plate to collect the water, otherwise it”s all over your keg box floor. Old rags help too.

Keep in mind…under normal frost free conditions the freezer plate (or evaporator) gets 20 degree or colder. Once it frosts up, not the surface is insulated with ice and only gets
about 32 degrees, this affects the efficiency and puts unnecessary load on the compressor.

So, always start out with a new keg in a frost free state. Keep the door shut and NO PEEKING! Use one of those wired thermometers so the display is outside the keg box.
Also, NEVER put your CO2 tank inside the keg box, just run the gas line through a hole somewhere handy and seal with foam. This way you’re not opening the keg box to check or adjust pressure.

Question: Is your keg box upstairs or in a basement and do you live in a high humidity area?

Don’t feel bad, I had the same frost issues on my first keg, but it worked itself out.

I’m seriously considering yanking my fridge out and replacing it with one of those slick new compact freezer units. There is no frost issues because it works like a chest freezer, the whole inside gets super cold. You just throw in a stack of water bottles and blow the fan across them.

[Author]

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