Danby Kegerator Improvements

[gravymaker]

Sounds good Lunk. I've put the danby probe and the Brewers Edge control into the same jug of covered water. The Danby is usually within 1 or 2 degrees of the Brewers edge, so far.

[Rkymtntexn]

Great thread - Thanks to all. I went the parallel resistor route with a twist. I used a 100K pot and dialed it down to 33K ohms to start which resulted in an inside temp of 25 degrees on my unit. I dial the pot down to 30K ohms and waiting to see if the temp goes up or down. Here are my pics.

[lunkhead]

I see you use the old Fluke 77 DVM. Good workhorse meter. With your sensor relocated at the top and forward toward the door you may not even need the resistor. This is about the warmest spot in the danby and the unit will work harder to stay cool. Going below 33k will add even more error to the temp display in addition to making it even cooler.

[Rkymtntexn]

I think you maybe right Lunk - I may have not needed the resistor mod with my sensor located where it is now.
Increasing the resistance increases the temp makes sense – using the 'reciprocal rule' of parallel resistance it would be logical that the higher the resistance one puts in parallel with the sensor, the total resistance will be closer to the original resistance of the sensor. I am still tweeking, but at 50K ohms and with the sensor in the warmest part of the frig, the temp is now around 33 degrees. Still playing – and thanks to all for getting me motivated to say NO to warm foamy beer.

[PoMC]

I'd like to try the resistor modification along with cooling the tap tower before spending any money on temperature controls, etc.

Could someone explain how to do the resistor mod? I've seen it mentioned, and I'm sure it's simple, but I didn't see any explanation on how to do it - only that someone did it.

Thanks.

[lunkhead]

I'd like to try the resistor modification along with cooling the tap tower before spending any money on temperature controls, etc.

Could someone explain how to do the resistor mod? I've seen it mentioned, and I'm sure it's simple, but I didn't see any explanation on how to do it - only that someone did it.

Thanks.

Post #6
Danby Temperature Modification Question

[PoMC]

Perfect! Thanks. Already went to the Radio Shack here in DC near work and they don't carry any resistors. Will have to check the larger store by home tonight.

I did place the stock temperature probe in a glass of water inside the unit and placed a thermometer in the glass. With the Danby set to 36, the water lightly iced over and after a while the Danby displayed 34 degrees on the readout. Then later last night the Danby went back up to 39 and the thermometer in the water seemed to be within a degree of the Danby.

This morning I believe the Danby was showing 39, but the thermometer in the water was around 34-35.

Tonight I plan to place a 5 gallon bucket of water in the unit to test the water temp further. Not sure if I'll have time to do the resistor mod tonight though, but should have time to at least lengthen the wire on the probe so I can place it in the bucket.

I have time to play since I still have to get my c02 tank filled tomorrow evening and dig out a blower fan I know I have in a parts bin somewhere. Still need to order a 2 way secondary regulator and two tap tower as well. So I should have the temp issues squared away before even tapping a keg.

[PoMC]

Picked up the resistors tonight. Should have time tomorrow night to install one.

Tonight the Danby display is showing 37 degrees. The analog thermometer in the glass of water inside is showing 37ish also. It's just a Walmart cooking thermometer, but is for liquids also, so I'm not sure how accurate it is really. But both are showing the same, so I guess I'd be inclined to vouch for it.

I have another Walmart thermometer suction cupped to the top left corner inside just in front of the door. It appears to be reading 48 degrees. Again, not sure how reliable or accurate it is though.

At least I have a baseline established before doing the resistor mod though. Always helps to know what the situation is before doing a mod to be able to see what changed afterwards.

[lunkhead]

Make a thick ice bath, crushed ice and water, put your thermometers in this for a few minutes. Should read 32f. If not recal or note the correction required for correct readings.

[PoMC]

I finally did the resistor mod last night. Although I couldn't find my solder, but did find my soldering iron. So I used wire nuts for the wire and resistor temporarily. Any reason that wouldn't work?

Anyway, I placed a 5 gallon bucket in the Danby last night. I'll check on the temperatures this evening. What should I be looking for regarding the mod results? Higher temp displayed on the Danby but much lower air temp inside? Just want to know how to verify the mod did anything.

Should the sensor also be placed in a glass of water after the mod too?

[PoMC]

Just to update. Tonight the Danby display showed 37 degrees, while the water in the bucket was lightly iced over and the thermometer in the water showed 30-32 degrees.

I ordered my kegs today and will have them on Thursday. Hopefully my two faucet tower and regulator coupler will have arrived by then.

[BigBadJohn]

I see you use the old Fluke 77 DVM. Good workhorse meter.

Ive got the 179 at home. Use it at Ranken Tech.
At Ranken, theyve even got 15-20 Fluke 43's and Fluke 123's to use
Cool stuff!

[lunkhead]

Just to update. Tonight the Danby display showed 37 degrees, while the water in the bucket was lightly iced over and the thermometer in the water showed 30-32 degrees.

I ordered my kegs today and will have them on Thursday. Hopefully my two faucet tower and regulator coupler will have arrived by then.

Lightly iced over is what you want to see, but the coldest the water temp will be is 32 deg, unless you put salt in it. Good time to cal the thermometer.

[lunkhead]

Ive got the 179 at home. Use it at Ranken Tech.
At Ranken, theyve even got 15-20 Fluke 43's and Fluke 123's to use
Cool stuff!

We have a few 179s at work we use, also a very good DVM. But I just plug along here at home with my old Simpson 470. The 43s and 123s may be a bit overkill for working on a danby, You could buy 2 danby's for the price of either!

[ebluezx636]

question just curious how much will the unit actually hold? I am inbetween the danby and the kenmore wich is about 1 cu.ft. bigger.

[psychodad]

1 cubic foot isn't a big difference. I'd go with the Kenmore just because of fewer bad things I've read on the Internet about them.

[rtmatthew]

Question to anyone out there. I have a danby fridge and a danby kegerator, both the 5.8 c.f. models. I bought a custom setup to where i can dispense 3 different kegs, two mini kegs in the danby kegerator, and one pony keg in the danby frdige. My question is has anyone ever tried to punch a hole in the sides of either of these? i want to run my CO2 line and my beer line from the danby fridge into the danby kegerator and then up into my new tower. But i know the condensers for both of these are in the sides and disipate the heat through the sheet metal. Amyone know if there is a "safe" place to make about a 1" to 1 1/2" hole? PLEASE HELP!

[psychodad]

There has been at least one person on this board go through the side and hit lines.

[beergirl]

Everyone seems to be talking about Danby. Sam's Club has the Haier Kegerator. Has anyone had any experience with this system, or are we looking at the same problems? It looks very simular to the Danby.

[lunkhead]

Everyone seems to be talking about Danby. Sam's Club has the Haier Kegerator. Has anyone had any experience with this system, or are we looking at the same problems? It looks very simular to the Danby.

There are plenty of Haier threads and posts, just enter "haier" into the search forum at the top of the page.

[Fishbulb290]

So I work at Best Buy and can get the Danby on employee cost but I have to say I know little about what's going on in this thread. I just read the whole thing but it all is pretty confusing to me. My plan of course at first is to see how and how well it works out of the box but if I need to replace any parts or do any mods is there a simple and preferably cheap way to do it without too much complication? A lot of these seem too far out of my range as far as complexity goes. I had a Frigidaire 18.2 converted full size 'rator that I sold to make way for this guy but some of this stuff seems more complicated than I'm looking for...

Any response would be much appreciated.

- Joshua

[cubby_swans]

Joshua, I bought my Danby a month ago from Best Buy, and it worked pretty well out of the box. Not perfect, but I like to tinker. Yet I bought the Danby with the 2 year warranty, so I didn't want to make any permanent mods (drilling, soldering, etc) that would nullify this warranty. Believe me, when I read the mods that some of these guys have done, I was overwhelmed, but I narrowed it down to 2 simple mods that were most important and did those, and my Danby cooled a large mug of water down to 35.5 degrees when I set it to 36, vs 39.5 before I did these mods. I'm not an electrician or a mechanic by any means, yet I made two really simple mods that I think pretty much anyone with opposable thumbs could do. Simply move the sensor as far towards the front of the box as I could, and added a fan for some circulation. Check out the post about "Can I use this blower".... I could easily give you a list of parts, that if you don't have, you could get for very cheap, or most likely find a close substitute for cheap or free. My mods cost me under $15.

The biggest thing you really have to be concerned with is, does your Danby get cold enough. Believe me when I tell you the readout on the front of the unit is not accurate. I set mine to 36, and my beer was 39.5. Moving the sensor even just 6 inches closer to the front of the box allowed it to get much cooler, and adding the fan increases the air movement in the whole unit, moving the cold air from the cooling plate in the back to the rest of the unit.

[cavern]

i just thought i would mention that i own a dansby and have had many of the issues described in here.

this info should help SOME people for SOME of the year.

i have put my kegerator on a covered porch for the winter. i live in virginia and think there will be very few stretches where it is too cold for this.

the keg is staying at 34-38, and there are no problems with warm air in the tower. i would presume it is using less energy as well.

[freitalm]

I've been reading about this resistor mod and need an explanation once and for all please.

1) Can someone please explain the difference parallel and series wiring? I am ready to do this mod but don't want to screw it up...pictures showing examples of each would be great. The way I see it there is only one way to do the job...see attached.

2) I think I want to relocate the sensor too. What kind of wire do I need to relocate? What gauge of wire do I need to use?

Thanks to all of you,

Lou

[jdgstat]

I've been reading about this resistor mod and need an explanation once and for all please.

1) Can someone please explain the difference parallel and series wiring? I am ready to do this mod but don't want to screw it up...pictures showing examples of each would be great. The way I see it there is only one way to do the job...see attached.

2) I think I want to relocate the sensor too. What kind of wire do I need to relocate? What gauge of wire do I need to use?

Thanks to all of you,

Lou

1) I'm still learning as you are, but Series and parallel circuits - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia takes me to the conclusion that your zip file shows parallel wiring. I talked to someone that knows a lot more about this than I do, and he said to solder the resistor in the fashion in your zip.

2) I'd stretch the current wiring out as far as you can and see the results before lengthening it. If you do have to widen it, I'm told to use as close to the same gauge as your current wiring.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

[lunkhead]

The zip file shows parallel wiring which is correct. If it was series the resistor would be connected in line with only one of the sensor leads. Been gone for the holidays, sorry for the slow help.

[redhead]

Alright. I am more then confused.

I got the Danby and saw this forum long before. I got a good deal on it otherwise I would have gone for the Summit.

I have installed the 33k resistor, a indoor/outdoor thermometer and did my own mod for the tower cooling, using concepts started here. I also have a external thermometer for pouring and another inside that is non digital for a cross check.
And yet. Foam

My first keg was a 5g of Blue Moon which was all that they had on NYE with no warning or reservation. By the end, I thought I had this thing figured. Now, I have a 15.5 of Coors Light and can not get a good pour. I have tried the 16psi to the 12 psi and can not get a good pour at all. As well, the Danby temp is moving all over the place. Within 20 minutes it can go from 38 to 36 to 41 off of the external thermometer. I don't get it.

After all the post I have read, which has been since mid-Nov, reg in Dec I think..I am lost. I thought I knew what I was getting into and how to correct it all. Guess I was wrong. Any suggestions?

[psychodad]

Search for keg balancing. You need to have the temperature, the co2 you have appled to the keg and the length of line balanced.

Here is one link I googled up quickly: Draft system line balancing

[gravymaker]

Does anyone know how far we can reasonably extend the Danby's built-in probe? I'd like to extend mine up into the PVC pipe near my remote tower, which is probably 4 or 5' from the bottom of the fridge.

[psychodad]

In theory I'm sure you could put it that far away, but in reality, it isn't really going to control the keg temperature that way. You need to force cool your remote tower.

[gravymaker]

In theory I'm sure you could put it that far away, but in reality, it isn't really going to control the keg temperature that way. You need to force cool your remote tower.

Agreed Psychodad - I have my brewers edge controlling the keg temperature and a blower setup. I'm just trying to think of some interesting ideas for the danby internal probe, since its really not doing much at the moment for me!

[lunkhead]

Alright. I am more then confused.

I got the Danby and saw this forum long before. I got a good deal on it otherwise I would have gone for the Summit.

I have installed the 33k resistor, a indoor/outdoor thermometer and did my own mod for the tower cooling, using concepts started here. I also have a external thermometer for pouring and another inside that is non digital for a cross check.
And yet. Foam

My first keg was a 5g of Blue Moon which was all that they had on NYE with no warning or reservation. By the end, I thought I had this thing figured. Now, I have a 15.5 of Coors Light and can not get a good pour. I have tried the 16psi to the 12 psi and can not get a good pour at all. As well, the Danby temp is moving all over the place. Within 20 minutes it can go from 38 to 36 to 41 off of the external thermometer. I don't get it.

After all the post I have read, which has been since mid-Nov, reg in Dec I think..I am lost. I thought I knew what I was getting into and how to correct it all. Guess I was wrong. Any suggestions?

Redhead, if the resistor is installed correctly you can expect to see the temp display on front of the danby move 9 degrees. When set to it's lowest setting (36deg) the compressor will turn on at 40-41 deg. on the display. It will run until the display drops to 34 deg, than continue to drop until 32 than the cycle starts anew. Note that the inside actual temps will be 5-6 deg cooler than the danby display. After the compressor has about 24hrs of run time, the unit kicks into the dreaded defrost cycle. It can stay in this mode for 12 hrs or more with the resistor mod. If you see the temp display showing 42 deg or higher, it's defrosting. To defeat the defrost cycle unplug the unit for at least 5 minutes, this zeros the timer. Note that the warmer your keg the more the compressor runs and then more defrost cycles. Once the keg has been cooled the compressor does not run as much, which means less defrost cycles, but your keg will still warm-up a little in defrost mode. It's almost self defeating. That's why I finally went external temp contol on my danby, no more defrost cycle.

[redhead]

Redhead, if the resistor is installed correctly you can expect to see the temp display on front of the danby move 9 degrees. When set to it's lowest setting (36deg) the compressor will turn on at 40-41 deg. on the display. It will run until the display drops to 34 deg, than continue to drop until 32 than the cycle starts anew. Note that the inside actual temps will be 5-6 deg cooler than the danby display. After the compressor has about 24hrs of run time, the unit kicks into the dreaded defrost cycle. It can stay in this mode for 12 hrs or more with the resistor mod. If you see the temp display showing 42 deg or higher, it's defrosting. To defeat the defrost cycle unplug the unit for at least 5 minutes, this zeros the timer. Note that the warmer your keg the more the compressor runs and then more defrost cycles. Once the keg has been cooled the compressor does not run as much, which means less defrost cycles, but your keg will still warm-up a little in defrost mode. It's almost self defeating. That's why I finally went external temp contol on my danby, no more defrost cycle.

thank you Lunkhead for that post. I have noticed that and had some good luck in keep the temp in the right range.

What I am noticing and think I MAY have found my issue is in the regulator. I got long line 6' from Micro and installed it and the flow is more ideal, per the pressure for Coors Light, and its not flat, but its still over foaming. After taking a look at the tank, I noticed my 5lb tank is to the "need to replace line". I have only run at ~14psi for the TWO kegs I have had in there and its almost dead?!! I know that doesn't sound right, as the post I have read and everything else has said 5 kegs or more off one 5lb. One Keg was a 5gal and now I am on to the 15.5 and almost dead on Co2 yet a full keg.

Before I go blaming the regulator, any suggestions on this topic?
PS- Temps are correct as well. Pouring at 38 pretty constant.

[lunkhead]

Sounds like you may have a small co2 leak. With everything connected in a normal set up try spraying all the co2 fittings with a water/soap solution and look for small bubbles. Also I think coors may need a little higher pressure, about 16psi. Do a "search forum" on coors co2 pressure and see what comes up, unless some pops in in here. I am still using the danby regulator on my unit and it has worked well now for almost 2 years. When the co2 hits the need to replace line I let mine continue until near zero pressure. As long as the low pressure gage maintains pressure you should be ok. But get it filled quick if it runs out. I have 2 tanks, 20lbs and the 5lbs it came with so I always have a spare ready to go.

[redhead]

I do have a leak. Dont know from where yet...Co2 is now empty....suck.

[mugopain]

I do have a leak. Dont know from where yet...Co2 is now empty....suck.

redhead I also had a slow leak so what I did was use pipe tape on the threads before screwing them in. Working like a charm now.

[bosalls5]

I just purchased a Danby and I too would like ice cold beer. Can you detail out the install of the resistor?

[lunkhead]

I just purchased a Danby and I too would like ice cold beer. Can you detail out the install of the resistor?

Post # 6 in this thread. Danby Temperature Modification Question Just remember it's a 33,000 ohm (33k) resistor. Can be a 1/2, 1/4 or 1/8 watt, the smaller size fits easier. Some good reading on that whole thread. Would also suggest you do a Search Forum on "tower cooling" and do this also.

[cubby_swans]

Post # 6 in this thread. Danby Temperature Modification Question Just remember it's a 33,000 ohm (33k) resistor. Can be a 1/2, 1/4 or 1/8 watt, the smaller size fits easier. Some good reading on that whole thread. Would also suggest you do a Search Forum on "tower cooling" and do this also.

In the Danby, with NO keg installed, and a fan/tower cooler, I was reading 38 on my MM liquid thermometer when I set my Danby to 36. So I was going to buy a 150K resistor, as you had mentioned in the past, to cool a few extra degrees and probably make my readout accurate. But in order to get a 150K resistor at the Radio Shack by me, I would have had to buy a resistor assortment pack for 15 bucks. So I bought a 5 pack of 100K resistors instead. Stands to reason that if 150K cools it 2 degrees, and 33K cools it 6-8 degrees, I could split the middle and get some colder beer. And since I have the liquid thermometer, I really don't care if the display temp is inaccurate. So anyways, now when I set my Danby to 36, I got a liquid temp reading of 32. I put a glass of water in overnight, and the top 1/4" froze.
It would have been EFFIN COLD with a 33K resistor.

[lunkhead]

In the Danby, with NO keg installed, and a fan/tower cooler, I was reading 38 on my MM liquid thermometer when I set my Danby to 36. So I was going to buy a 150K resistor, as you had mentioned in the past, to cool a few extra degrees and probably make my readout accurate. But in order to get a 150K resistor at the Radio Shack by me, I would have had to buy a resistor assortment pack for 15 bucks. So I bought a 5 pack of 100K resistors instead. Stands to reason that if 150K cools it 2 degrees, and 33K cools it 6-8 degrees, I could split the middle and get some colder beer. And since I have the liquid thermometer, I really don't care if the display temp is inaccurate. So anyways, now when I set my Danby to 36, I got a liquid temp reading of 32. I put a glass of water in overnight, and the top 1/4" froze.
It would have been EFFIN COLD with a 33K resistor.

You are correct that the 33k would make it even colder. When i did the original tests I had started with a 24k and this put an inch of ice on a full bucket of water!! 2-1/2 gal. I worked my way up too a 33k and it would only lightly ice over the surface. So if you only put a 6-8oz glass of water in there it could freeze. So even with the 33k in my danby and I've run several kegs throught the 9-10 months I had it in there the coldest my beer ever came out the faucet was 34.5 deg. I would not worry about freezing beer under pressure with this mod. Don't think that happens until about 28 deg. The 100k you put in will give you close to an accurate reading, the display will be about 1 deg to high but the unit will get colder. If your worried about the water freezing, don't put it in there, the beer won't freeze. Too keep track of temp I put a good rf remote therm. in mine, sitting on top of the keg. It does not fluctuate as much as the display does becacuse the keg damp'ins out the the temp. movements. And remember, your unit may not act exactly like mine