Summit 490BIFR

[YuenglingFan]

So I've had this fridge (Summit 490BIFR, sold on here as well) for a while, and struggled with two issues: getting the fridge to cool to a liquid temp to at or below 40, and probs with the so called "auto defrost" considering I get a 5lb block of ice every few weeks built up on the cooling plate.

Now here is where it gets strange....I recently disconnected it, and used a heat gun to remove all the ice build up. I also unscrewed the cooling plate from the back to inspect it, and to move the end of the temp sensor (in hopes of solving the 40deg prob). I was doing this while building the tower cooler.

All went well, tower cooled, etc etc so I set a glass of water in there to take liquid temp, and in anticipation that moving the sensor worked, set thermostat at "normal". I woke up to find a frozen glass of water. I dumped it, raised the thermostat to "warmer" and checked again to notice the glass starting to turn the ice again. Now I can't get the temp UP to 38deg!!! I even moved the temp sensor back to the lower part of the fridge behind the cooling plate.

Temp is steadying out around 33-34 deg, liquid temp.

No clue whats going on....is this a side effect of the tower cooling fan running? I am also immediately getting ice/frost starting to build up on the cooling plate again.

Any help is appreciated.

[THE ICEMAN]

Originally Posted by YuenglingFan

No clue whats going on....is this a side effect of the tower cooling fan running? I am also immediately getting ice/frost starting to build up on the cooling plate again.

Any help is appreciated.

You are correct in thinking the fan is having an effect. From what I could see on the images of that model it is designed as a 'static' air type of cooling. This meaning that normally the unit pulls the heat out of the box & whatever is in it (beer) without air circulating around the box. The evaporator plate would get colder quicker & the temperature control would sense this & shut off resulting in your higher temperature.

When you added the fan you are now circulating the air around inside causing a slightly higher heat load over the evaporator thus resulting in the temperature control sensing this, staying on longer & you get the colder temperatures.

I'm not sure what type of defrost mechanism that unit uses so its tough to tell if it is working as designed. Typically the defrost timers are set to turn the compressor off about three times a day for 20 or 30 minutes each.

What you might try is heading down to Home Depot or similar & pick up a timer that you could plug your unit into. Make sure you get one that will handle the load. Check the data plate on your cooler to see how much amps it uses & get a timer close to that rating. You could set it to turn the unit off for about an hour or so in the middle of the night. You might want a timer you could set for multiple events just in case once a day is not enough to keep the plate defrosted.

I hope all that makes sense to you. Later, THE ICEMAN

[YuenglingFan]

Thanks for the response! I ended up playing around with the positioning of the thermostat sensor, and think I found balance right at 38/39deg mark. The thermostat is still set warmer than normal, but it is a great problem to have...that is, being on the colder side and dialing it up, rather than not being able to get the fridge cold enough!