Danby Temperature Modification Question

[elder-of-dogtown]

I have a Danby kegerator which has been having the same temp problems as the other Danby owners seem to have had. I've been reading over the different ways people have fixed the problem and I have a quick question. I was considering adding a 33K ohm resistor to the temp sensor as lunkhead did
Danby Kegerator Improvements
I just wanted to double check how exactly to hook the resistor up before I begin. I've attached a picture of how I believe it should be wired.
Also should I wire the resistor to the lead that comes out from the side of the kegerator or to the section that is right next to the sensor?
Thanks in advance for the assistance.

[psychodad]

lunkhead put the resistor in series which increases resistance, you are showing it parallel which will lower resistance.

[elder-of-dogtown]

Thanks for the reply
If I put the resistor in series does it matter which lead I attach it to?

I was originally under the impression he wired it in parallel because of this:
"Putting a resistor in series with the sensor would only raise the temp in the unit but putting a resistor in parallel with the sensor would should make the unit cycle cooler."

I took the above quote from lunkhead it the thread I linked earlier.

[elder-of-dogtown]

psychodad,
would you suggest I follow the route you did ( with the new temp controller) as opposed to using the resistor?

[psychodad]

I misread lunkheads post, I take it he did put the resister in parallel. As for if I would recommend what I did over what he did... It depends. Both seem to work with his mod being less expensive. However I was glad to rid myself of the Danby daily defrost.

[lunkhead]

Yes I put the resistor in parallel as shown on the little drawing "elder-of-dogtown" has attached I'm trying to attch the picture here, hopefully this works.danbytempsens.JPG Looks like it did. I cut the wires open with a razor blade and soldered it in once I was sure it would work. A couple warnings, if you don't think you have enough electrical experience to do this get some help. Also your temp readings will not be accurate so use a thermometer inside the unit so you don't end up with a frozen keg. Your unit may not act the same way as mine.

[lunkhead]

Originally Posted by psychodad

I However I was glad to rid myself of the Danby daily defrost.

The defrost cycle is a little annoying. Mine does it once a week, but it takes 12 hours, so the beer warms up a little. I pull the plug for a few minutes it will take it out of defrost. But, if you plug it back in to soon it stays in defrost. I wonder what others are seeing for their defrost cycles??

[elder-of-dogtown]

Originally Posted by lunkhead

The defrost cycle is a little annoying. Mine does it once a week, but it takes 12 hours, so the beer warms up a little. I pull the plug for a few minutes it will take it out of defrost. But, if you plug it back in to soon it stays in defrost. I wonder what others are seeing for their defrost cycles??

My defrost cycle runs the same as yours does, weekly. I normally disconnect the temp sensor for a minute and it resets, however with a half barrel in there it is difficult to get at the sensor. I have noticed that during the defrost cycle my beer temp will raise a few degrees. This morning during the weekly defrost my beer temp was 47 normally it hovers around 42. My goal is 38.

[lunkhead]

Originally Posted by elder-of-dogtown

My defrost cycle runs the same as yours does, weekly. I normally disconnect the temp sensor for a minute and it resets, however with a half barrel in there it is difficult to get at the sensor. I have noticed that during the defrost cycle my beer temp will raise a few degrees. This morning during the weekly defrost my beer temp was 47 normally it hovers around 42. My goal is 38.

Probably better to reset it before the beer gets to warm. It's far easier for me to unplug the thing than to dig out the temp sens.

[lunkhead]

Have received a few questions, here's the pics of what my mods look like

danbyblower.jpg

danbyinside.JPG

danbytempsens.JPG

The blower is from MPJA - Power Supply, Power Supplies, Security Cameras, LCD, Fans, Etc.. This is a 24volt unit that I power with a 6volt dc wall transformer with the wires fed thru the co2 tube opening. Note mpja has a min order amount. Everything is mounted to a 1x2 which is attached where 2 of the cooling plate screws are. Just add extra lenght to the screws to make up for wood thickness. The majority of the blower output (which is plenty even at the low voltage) is open blowing up the cooling plate, but it puts plenty of air up the copper pipe to cool the tower. I could not get a fan to do this. The pipe top opening is about 2" below the tower top and you can feel the return air coming out the bottom of the tower. The 33k ohm resistor works good in my unit. I suggest trying a bucket of water in the cooler first just to make sure it will work for you.

[psychodad]

I like lunkhead's blower setup.

[lunkhead]

Originally Posted by psychodad

I like lunkhead's blower setup.

Thanks psychodad, you got the ball rolling on these danby mods. I even surprised myself at how well this blower setup works. It just plain moves air. You can almost hear it with the door open, not at all with it closed.

[jyoho]

I added a 33k ohm resistor to my Danby on Thursday. That value also reduce the temperature in my Danby by 5-6 degrees as it did for Lunkhead. I am off to purchase a blower now. I actually pulled the pins out of the connector, soldered the resistor to the crimped part of the pins, and clicked them back in the connector.

I am going to try it this way for awhile.... if the defrost cycle gets on my nerves I may buy a temp controller later.

Thanks everyone!!!
Jason

[Cajun]

I picked up a Danby unit from Sam's on Friday. I am picking up my 1st keg tomorrow. I have already done the resistor fix (big thanks to lunkhead) and I am seeing a 5-6 degree difference as others have noted. I will pick up a blower tomorrow from frys and I will probably use flexible copper tubing since it will be easier to work with.

I have 2 questions:

For those of you with the resister mod what temp are you setting the unit at?

Did you guys add more insulation inside the tower if so was it similar to the stuff that was already there?

[lunkhead]

Depends on the beer and your taste as to what temp to set it at. With the unit set to it's lowest setting, 36deg, you'll get 31-33 deg beer. For me I like this with Mic lite. With a non lite lager (mic or labatts) I set the temp to 37, gives me 34-35 deg beer. Note it's not a linear change. Other beers may / will have their own temp / pressure requirments. As for extra tower insulation I wrapped a couple layers of foam floor underlayment, it's thin, over top of the existing foam.

[Cajun]

Thanks for the quick reply lunkhead. I picked up my fan today and ended up using regular copper pipes as you did. My setup looks exactly like yours except I used velcro to hold my blower in place. The copper pipe after assemble basically stayed in place by itself I just taped it to the Co2 tube for added support. I do need to add insulation in the tower as it gets very cold to the touch now, but thats much better than before.

One question has anyone looked into the voltage available at the standard danby fan? I am thinking of powering my fan from there rather than using an external supply as I am doing now.

Thanks.

[lunkhead]

The fan I removed from my danby is 12v at .1amp, stated on the unit. The fan only ran when the compressor ran so it will not always circulate air. The tower would need to be insulated very well in order to stay cool when the blower is not running.

[psychodad]

Originally Posted by lunkhead

The fan only ran when the compressor ran so it will not always circulate air.

Even when it ran with the compressor I don't think it circulated any air IMHO. In fact I'll wager I can flatulate harder than that thing can blow.

BTW, I think I'm going to do the tower cooling piping like you did but use PVC instead of copper tubing.

[Cajun]

Originally Posted by psychodad

Even when it ran with the compressor I don't think it circulated any air IMHO. In fact I'll wager I can flatulate harder than that thing can blow.

BTW, I think I'm going to do the tower cooling piping like you did but use PVC instead of copper tubing.

Yea my plan was to use the 12volt power from their fan to power my blower. But since it only runs with the compressor I will scratch that idea and keep my external power supply.

Regarding the pipe I suggest copper over pvc. For one its not as thick and since the opening is only about 1.5-2" you don't have much room to begin with also its very conductive so copper will get cold and that will even help a bit. You don't need to worry about soldering the pipe just cut the 3 pieces to length and slide them them in the 90 deg couplings.

[dbigrunner]

Ok, I would really like to try the resistor mod...

I have never, ever in my life: cut a wire, soldered a wire or even really looked at a wire.

What do I need to do? Pic's would be great.

I need a:

razor blade
solder & gun
Electrical tape?
Electrical Engineering degree from Princeton?

thanks!

Also, I have a temperature contoller (Johnson Controls Dial) do I still need this or can I send it back and get my money back?

thanks

[dbigrunner]

Where do I buy a 33k ohm resistor ?????

[dbigrunner]

33K ohm 1/2W 5% Carbon Film Resistor pk/5


I found this on Radio Shack... for .99

will this work?