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How loud is too loud?

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  • #1

    How loud is too loud?

    Just purchased a True TBB-3G back bar unit from a restaurant supply company to convert to a kegerator. This was - shame on me - purchased sight unseen as I wasn't able to get down there, but the price was too good for me to say no to ($400 delivered!)

    The unit just showed up, I let it sit for 12 hours or so for any oils thrown up in transit to settle back down, and plugged it in. Ho-lee-crap! The thing sounded like a dump truck. It's been running for about an hour now, and sounds like a fully laden washing machine on spin cycle. I'm typing this from the living room, and it's currently in the garage about 20 feet and two walls away, and I can hear it pretty clearly. (No TV on) Here's a video, and honestly doesn't really convey how loud this thing is:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUH78kqUhoE


    It does seem to be chilling down nicely, though.

    Any thoughts on this? If this is how it is (and have worked in bars, this definitely sounds louder than normal) then I might be in trouble since the wife has already commented on it being too loud.
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  • #2
    Kinda difficult to tell but it sounds like you have something vibrating badly. Unplug the unit & pull off the front panel. Then there should be a couple 3/8 inch screws holding the condensing unit down. You should then be able to slide the chassis out. Spin the fan blade & see if it might be hitting the fan shroud. If it is, the cardboard shroud can be trimmed with a sharp knife or a fan blade may have got bent. If so, carefully bend it to line up with the other blades. Also check for any of the refrigerant lines that may have been rubbing on something. Depending what you find you can plug the unit back in & see if you can localize the sound.


    THE ICEMAN
    My conversion ===------->> KILLER KEGERATOR
    "Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza."
    -Dave Barry-
    "We old folks have to find our cushions and pillows in our tankards.
    Strong beer is the milk of the old."
    -Martin Luther-

    Comment

    • #3
      Screwed down, eh? Cardboard shroud, you say? Not this guy. Here's what I saw when I popped off the front compressor cover:



      Rather nasty, which has now been cleaned off. No shroud at all around the fan. The condenser assembly wasn't bolted down (so starting to see where vibrations are an issue) Cleaned off as much as I could - the assembly won't slide all the way out, because I believe the capacitor is in the way, stopping it from coming out.



      More worrying is the fact that while it ran noisy as HELL, it ran. Chilled down nicely, and had a five gallon corny keg of water cold overnight. And when the compressor switched off, it was relatively quiet.

      Unfortunately, when I came down this morning to ponder whether or not I should figure out a way of returning it, I noticed a pool of water around the keg, and that it was covered in condensation. Not a good sign. And yup, when I popped the door, the temp inside was warmer than ambient. The compressor was still running, but not cooling.

      Additional info - the left door doesn't seal as tight as the right, so could be letting warm air in, overworking the compressor?

      Oddly though, I plugged it back in after a few hours, and it started cooling again. So now the question - do I fight to get the thing returned, or sink money into repairing it?

      Comment

      • #4
        I wouldn't worry too much about the condensation. Probably just came from the cold keg once the cabinet warmed up.
        You say that the cabinet temp was greater than ambient, that tells me the compressor was off for quite a while & the evaporator fans, simply by running, heated up the cabinet. Could be a temp control problem or the compressor could have cut out on overload. Are you sure the compressor was running or was just the condenser fan running? Given that you shut the unit down & it started cooling again later tells me that the compressor had shut down. You may have jarred something loose when the capacitor hit that bar. On some units the side panel comes off to give access to the condensing unit. I can see where that unit has been worked on before given that someone put an access valve on the system.
        The noise issue may be due to the chassis wasn't bolted down. A couple 1/4-20 threaded bolts should work for that.


        THE ICEMAN
        My conversion ===------->> KILLER KEGERATOR
        "Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza."
        -Dave Barry-
        "We old folks have to find our cushions and pillows in our tankards.
        Strong beer is the milk of the old."
        -Martin Luther-

        Comment

        • #5
          Yep, the condensation was squarely from the keg as it was sweating (un)happily as the icy cold water inside was warming up. Not worried about that, was more worried about the lack of cooling. So yeah, can only think that the compressor overheated and shut off - I know when I went to bed last night, it was running (could hear that whine amidst that rattling fan) and this morning... have to say, don't remember if it was running or not. I know the loud as @#$# fan was running, that's for sure. The capacitor would have hit the bar after the compressor shut down though.

          Would you think it's worth having someone come out to look at it, Iceman? Appreciate massively your input in all this, by the way - and if you feel like a road trip to the Bay Area to look at it in person, there'll be more beer than you can handle!

          Comment

          • #6
            Heh, heh... If it were baseball season I'd be tempted to make a trip over there & pick up a Giants game as well...

            Your problem may have been with the dirty condenser coils. Have you run the unit since you cleaned the coils? If you catch the compressor cutting out now that the coils are clean you may have a compressor or start components getting weak. Worst case - a new compressor, best case - new start components. Also, it wouldn't hurt to fabricate a fan shroud out of some cardboard & duct tape so the fan pulls the air through the coils more efficiently. It doesn't have to be anything fancy.


            THE ICEMAN
            My conversion ===------->> KILLER KEGERATOR
            "Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza."
            -Dave Barry-
            "We old folks have to find our cushions and pillows in our tankards.
            Strong beer is the milk of the old."
            -Martin Luther-
            • Likes 2

            Comment

            • #7
              Giants game, eh? I seem to remember you're in AZ - could also strap it to the roof of the car and drive it out there for spring training! :-D

              Yep, it's currently being used to keep two sixpacks of Aroma Coma from Drakes icy cold. I did notice yesterday when I was working in the garage that the compressor shut off but the fan kept going, so I unplugged it for a half hour or so. I assume that the fan will continue to run for a little bit in normal conditions to cool the coils after the compressor kicks off, but didn't want to take chances. Probably shouldn't have done that, given that it spoiled any sort of test result.

              Fan is definitely an issue though. Despite bolting it down, the fan is still horribly loud and can easily be heard in the house when it's running. Sounds like a car engine, and about the same volume. I know commercial units are loud, but not this loud.

              Comment

              • #8
                My family came from the Bay Area so I was a Giants fan long before the Dbacks came around. I've been known to wear a Giants t-shirt & a Dbacks cap to the games.

                As far as noise goes, sounds like you need to replace that fan motor. But, your cooling problem still exists... The compressor & the condenser fan are wired together & should run at the same time. If the fan is running & the compressor is not, then you have compressor problems. If you hear the compressor going "buzz/click" & the fan is running, the compressor is getting weak. It's a bit tough to give you a definitive diagnosis via the internet but I'd say you have a couple problems, a weak compressor & a noisy fan. You may want to get a low temp Tech to look at it - your call.


                THE ICEMAN
                My conversion ===------->> KILLER KEGERATOR
                "Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza."
                -Dave Barry-
                "We old folks have to find our cushions and pillows in our tankards.
                Strong beer is the milk of the old."
                -Martin Luther-

                Comment

                • #9
                  It's a catch 22 on getting it repaired... I did call a place for an estimate, which they wouldn't give beyond their rates - $160 for the first half hour, and then $110 an hour beyond that, plus the cost of parts which am sure will be marked up. (The joys of the Bay Area) So I don't know how much it'll cost to repair without committing to a repair.

                  Based on that though, I'm betting a new fan (installed) would be $300. If it's a compressor, then I'm up to $1,000. and at that point I'm starting to get to the point where I could get a new "knockoff" like a Migali or something if I can get this back to the restaurant supply place.

                  I'm not around it enough to know if the compressor is buzzing or clicking on switchoff given that it's in the garage. There's the typical hum of the compressor motor, when the unit is cooling but I haven't been around it to notice any sounds it's making when the compressor is off. I can compare it to my buddy's though, which seems to do a better job of holding temp. His will run once an hour or so for about 10-15 minutes. Mine seems to run for 30-40 minutes at a time. Might need a "boost" but who knows - starting to think it's a money pit, and could get to a point where I'm flinging good money after bad.

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Gone. Borrowed a buddy's pickup truck, loaded her up, and spent half a day fighting Bay Area traffic and got her returned. Back on the hunt again...

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      I have no idea of it. Stick RPG 2
                      Last edited by Likebemi52; 09-01-2017, 08:17 AM.

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