Beverage Air Help!

[jhouse]

i have the opportunity to buy a beverage air BM23 used, it is approx 3 years old, personal use, never any problems (as long as seller is being honest) for $650 including everything needed

i just have a few questions about it from people who have this unit:

-does it get and keep the beer coooold and i mean COLD!
-any common problems with the unit that requires repairs? and how much do they typically cost?
-what is the typical lifespan of these units?
-would you recommend buying this?

any other help or suggestions are appreciated!!! thanks a ton!

[THE ICEMAN]

Originally Posted by jhouse

i have the opportunity to buy a beverage air BM23 used, it is approx 3 years old, personal use, never any problems (as long as seller is being honest) for $650 including everything needed

i just have a few questions about it from people who have this unit:

I don't own one but I do work on them.

-does it get and keep the beer coooold and i mean COLD!

It can but you have to be careful you don't set it so cold that the compressor runs all the time & freezes up the evaporator.

-any common problems with the unit that requires repairs? and how much do they typically cost?

Temp controls & fan motors fail most often. Parts cost from about $30 to $100 bucks, depending.

-what is the typical lifespan of these units?

Treat them right (keeping the condenser coil clean etc.) & I have seen units out there that are 15 years or more old.

-would you recommend buying this?

Why not?

any other help or suggestions are appreciated!!! thanks a ton!

The biggest thing is to keep the condenser coil clean & supplied with plenty of fresh air. In other words, don't stick it back in a hole or a closed closet somewhere & expect it to work well.

THE ICEMAN

[jhouse]

thanks for the reply!

are there a lot of people who work on them around? so if i have problems i wont have any problems locating someone to come work on it? (i am going to be living in the state college, pa area)

how cold would you recommend keeping it at? there is a bar where i live now where i go just because the beer is the coldest and i love it, they advertise that their beer is served at 29 degrees, which i highly doubt that i will get it THAT cold but would love to have it as close as possible

is cleaning the compressor coils hard? what needs to be done to keep them clean (im a newbeeeee lol)

the unit would be in a garage pretty much in the open so there should be plenty of air getting to it

also, iceman, i would like to shoot you an email with a link to another beverageair unit that i am looking at, i want to see if you could take a look at the pictures of it and let me know if you think it looks to be a safe buy (from the looks of it) or not.....could you give me your email OR shoot me an email at jhouse@chilitech.net ? thanks a ton!!!

[bard]

Keep digging around and you'll find that the Bev Air is one of the most highly recommended units if the purchase price is not a priority. It comes from the mfg with all the 'upgrades' most people make to the more economically priced units in their quest for the perfect pour. The fact that you can get this fairly new unit for the same price as one of the lesser priced units makes it a 'no brainer' for me. As for keeping it in the garage, you'll want to clean the coils every 2-3 months depending on how dusty or how many critters try to nest in there. Doing it is pretty straight forward. Remove two bolts from the bottom of the cover and loosen two screws at the top and it slides right off. I find that blasting it with compressed air works great. It's a little messier than using a vacuum, but it reaches more places.

[BrewGuru]

Agreed.

The BM-23's are generally solid units, I've got one that's been in constant operation now for 6+ years, the first 4 in a residential setting, and the last two commercial. The unit has been strapped to the back of a large fishing vessel, and poured countless thousands of pints and with regular maintenance and cleaning, never needed any repair work. I know of units in the field that have been operating in commercial settings for 10+ years.

That said, make sure you inspect the unit, fire it up and make sure it blows cold - the air coming down the back wall should get cold relatively immediately after firing it up when the compressor is running. Also inspect the condenser fins and see if they are clean, if so, the unit may have been cared for, if they are dirty and plugged up with dust and debris, the unit may have been neglected and have a shorter life.

Good luck!

[Kpt42]

I have a Bev Air DD78 from sometime in the 80's that still cools. I would put Bev Air in the top three manufacturers (Perlick and True being the other two). I'm sure others on here would agree.