Beer Forum

lunkhead · #41 (**permalink**) 05-02-2007, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lunkhead

That's a nice idea using an indoor/outdoor digital thermometer for inside the kegerator temp. I have a wireless unit laying around somewhere, gonna have to find it and give it a try.

I found the wireless unit, put new batteries in the outdoor sensor and main unit, put the sensor in the kegerator (on top of the keg) and it works great.

mdk6392 · #42 (**permalink**) 05-03-2007, 10:13 AM

I wish I new what I was getting into when I bought one of these Danby's 3 years ago. It has been sitting in my basement unused for almost 2 years, I just couldn't take the warm beer anymore. The wife wanted me to throw it out but I thought I would do a quick search to find a website that could give me any information. Glad I found this one.

I'm going to start modifying something...I'm kinda excited about getting this thing to work like when I bought this piece of junk.

Can I replace the existing fan with a bigger one? I plugged in the unit last night and noticed that the compressors didn't come on unless the fan was one. (maybe I didn't give the compressors enough time?)

I've taken the temp sensor out and stuck it in a glass of water which was at around 46 degrees this morning, hopefully it will be colder after I get home.

My wife says not to spend anymore money on it, so I am going to need to be sneaky economical.

By the way I sent an email to Danby complaining and they want me to pay more money to them for a control board that won't fix the problem. I've had a service tech out about a week prior to my warranty expiring, didn't fix anything.

All of the ideas I've read so far are great.

psychodad · #43 (**permalink**) 05-03-2007, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdk6392

I plugged in the unit last night and noticed that the compressors didn't come on unless the fan was one.

Could be. Air circulation is an important aspect of any refrigerated system. Killing the compressor when the fan is inoperable would be good design. However I have yet to see where Danby has been concerned with good design.

mdk6392 · #44 (**permalink**) 05-03-2007, 08:07 PM

After checking the temp when i got home it never read lower than 47 degrees so i took the sensor out of the water for a while. the compressor would kick on at 55 and turn off at 47, i watched for 3 different cycles. it is set to maintain 36, which obviously it isn't even close to maintaining. Is it even worth bothering if I'm almost 20 degrees off, will adding the resister help? I would hate to see the defrost cycle, I think it actually would end up being around 80.

I'm all about tearing this thing apart....as long as it'll work! I mean, 55 degrees c'mon, thats not even close. I stuck a little fridge thermometer in it and it almost always read 50.

psychodad · #45 (**permalink**) 05-04-2007, 05:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdk6392

the compressor would kick on at 55 and turn off at 47, i watched for 3 different cycles.

Is that according to the Danby temperature readout or the thermometer you are using?

I'm afraid you may have problems beyond the poor temperature control Danby built.

mdk6392 · #46 (**permalink**) 05-04-2007, 05:54 AM

that is according to the danby temperature readout. I honestly think the control board is toasted - it has no idea what it is doing, the compressor comes on and goes off after it cools 8 degrees so to me, the system is working but the temperatures are just completely off.

I did some searching about the evaporator fan and it is a 60mm fan with a whopping 13 cfm. They do make adapters for the casings so you could install up to an 80mm fan and get up to 8 times the airflow depending on what type of fan you install. Should be less than $5 for the fan and $5 for the adapter

psychodad · #47 (**permalink**) 05-04-2007, 03:26 PM

I'm almost afraid that it is more than your temperature control board. It may be the thermal overload on the compressor tripping out. Maybe with your empty kegerator, the compressor is running too hard to cool all that volume. Maybe you can put some containers of water in there to take up space before investing in a keg of beer.

mdk6392 · #48 (**permalink**) 05-05-2007, 03:47 PM

I just cut some wires to make the compressors run continuously, I'll see if I can get the temperature down around 35 degrees. I also noticed that I have a brown wire that in my setup. It isn't shown on the other diagrams but takes the blank space in the compressor plug. Maybe I will take a picture of it. I just connected the red and black wires, plugged the unit in and the compressor is on, so now the wait begins.

psychodad · #49 (**permalink**) 05-06-2007, 05:28 AM

Someone else had the brown wire and it was decided it was a fan. I'd leave it be.

Now that you have connected the wires and have bypassed the temperature control, you should have an idea of the compressor's ability to cool the cabinet. If it cooled satisfactorily, I'd bypass it permanently with a temperature control like I did, or leave the wires connected and get a Brewer's Edge control that Micro Matic sells.

After that, cool the tower and you'll be set.

mdk6392 · #50 (**permalink**) 05-06-2007, 08:34 AM

The brown wire controlls the condenser fan. I just tied it into the hot with the compressor so it'll come on whenever the compressor is on. So far it seems to be cooling fairly well. I ordered a new evaporator fan, the tornado, and will be ordering the controller as soon as this thing cools down to 32 degrees just so I know that it will be able to keep my beer cold. I will plan on using this new fan to cool the tower by using a smaller flexible tube that is sitting in front of the fan. The fan I bought pushes 85 cfm, hopefully its a wind tunnel in there.

Thanks for all the help to everyone in this forum, wouldn't have thought to do any of this on my own.

psychodad · #51 (**permalink**) 05-06-2007, 12:13 PM

Do you have a link to the fan you bought?

mdk6392 · #52 (**permalink**) 05-06-2007, 07:01 PM

This is the fan. You will also need an adapter be be able to fit this fan in the same spot as the existing fan.
Vantec Tornado 80mm Ball Bearing High Speed Case Fan TD8038H at TigerDirect.com
I will post a picture once I get it installed.
BTW the unit had the temperature down to 25 degrees with the compressor evap fan and condenser fan running constantly for a little over an hour. I think this will end up working.

Soaperstar · #53 (**permalink**) 05-10-2007, 08:08 AM

Thanks everyone. I made the resistor mod and set the temperature dial on the unit to the lowest setting. The beer temperature is about 36-37 degrees, PSI is set to 10-11 and the first beer I pour is about 1/2 foam, but after that I have no complaints. I do have a question though - where is the best spot to place a thermometer inside the kegerator to get the most accurate read? When I placed it on the "shelf" in the rear right I got readings of about 32 degrees and when I place it on the actual keg itself I get a reading of about 36.

Soaperstar · #54 (**permalink**) 05-10-2007, 08:18 AM

MDK - I am a total rookie when it comes to wiring. Does it take any real skill to install the fan you posted in that link above? Please write back and let us know what adaptor is needed and how to install it. Would this powerful fan aid in cooling the tower? It seems from reading all these posts that cooling the tower is very important.

mdk6392 · #55 (**permalink**) 05-10-2007, 12:51 PM

The fan was fairly easy to install, I'm by no means an electrician. First, my configuration will be a little different because I am going to use the brewer's edge thermostat for total control.

This is what I did.
I took off the existing fan, just take off the guard and the fan will unplug form the socket. I bought the fan in the link store. I got all my crap from directron.com, I had never heard of them before but got the stuff in 3 days.

I connected the adapter and the fan screws right into the adapter (make sure the air is blowing in the correct direction). Note: verify the fan ****s before everything is installed. The fan comes with a 4-pin connector but it won't fit into the existing fans socket. So to connect the fan you will need to cut off the connectors and use some electrical tape to make the connection. That should be it, the fan should be controlled by the Danby controller and the fan does move some air. - I did not do this, I bought a ac/dc adapter from Best buy and I am planning on controlling the fan through the digital controller so the fan will come on with the compressor. I could just plug it into a wall outlet and have it run continuosly but I don't think I'll need that. Also, with the adapter, I can choose different voltages which varies my fan speed. The fan is pretty noisy so I think this maybe a good idea.

Finally, I bought a bilge hose form lowe's and connected one end to the fan guard with a zip tie and routed it up the 1-1/2" hole into the tower. A 2'-0" piece is plenty long. by doing this you won't have to buy a costly blower. My tower is standard without insulation was starting to sweat last night while i had it on so it was ****ing. May have to add some insulation.

Hopefully this weekend I'll be finished and can post some pictures.

Sorry for all the rambling, hope some of this helps.

Soaperstar · #56 (**permalink**) 05-10-2007, 01:38 PM

I am excited to see the pix - thank you very much for taking the time to explain what you did. However, I am still al bit confused where you bought the adaptor - was it the same store you got the fan? If not, can you send another link? I am guessing/hoping all I have to do is take out the old fan and just "plug" in the new one? Is it that simple? I guess it will make more sense once I see the pix.

kujosp · #57 (**permalink**) 06-23-2007, 07:10 AM

Lunkhead, was wondering if your blower still works? Mine quit after 24 hours, same model.

Cajun · #58 (**permalink**) 06-23-2007, 11:18 AM

Kujosp if you are looking for a different fan I have been using this one for 3 months.
Antec - Super Cyclone Blower CPU Cooling Fan - 77194

I have it connected to an external power supply and it runs 24x7. I have not had any issues with it and the price was right.

kujosp · #59 (**permalink**) 06-23-2007, 04:37 PM

Thanks I will keep that in mind for air circulation within the kegerator, looks good! My problem was with the small blower I purchased to cool the tower. I attached a 1/2" line to the blower, which in turn was connected to a ac-dc converter. Lunkhead had a pic of the same one, but mine stopped within 24 hours.

kujosp · #60 (**permalink**) 06-25-2007, 07:00 PM

Loose wire
Here is a pic of my blower set-up
Very inexpensive

lunkhead · #61 (**permalink**) 06-27-2007, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kujosp

Loose wire
Here is a pic of my blower set-up
Very inexpensive

I used a couple of small wire nuts to connect to the blower. It's still working great. I have never unplugged it yet, even when changing the keg. I have most of the blower output opening open. The extra air just blows across the cooling plate, helps keep frost down and moves the air around the unit. Still moves plenty of air up the pipe even with most of the opening open.

eecamichael · #62 (**permalink**) 07-05-2007, 01:12 PM

Ok, so I am going to venture into beginning to mod my newly purchased Danby. I thing I am going to start with the resistor mod, and go from there. Will I get positive results by JUST doing the reisistor mod, without any blower or tower mods (wife will get bent out of shape if she sees that I am already working on a new piece of equipment), and also, does the resistor mod eliminate the auto defrost cycle? I have a 1/2 bbl of Fat Tire sitting in there, which has WAY too much foam and not nearly cold enough.

Thanks for all your help!