First Post - CM23

[Ritchie]

Hi all,

I just got a used BM23 Beverage Air Keg Cooler. It is an older unit, not sure how old but it uses R12. Has a wood look finish. The person I got it from said it was tripping the GFCI. I asked hi if he would sell it and he said yup.
I figured 350$ was a good deal for this unit. I opened it up and put the fulke meter to it and found a electrical leak. Some wires had got pinched n the condenser fins and over time wore through.
I fixed that and gave it a good cleaning. It runs fine now. The circulation fan is a little noisey but that is a easy replacement. Right now it is cooling at 42 deg F empty (no keg). Next I will clean the condenser some more and look at the temp probe to see if it is ok. What other things shoul I look at to get it down to 35-38 deg F range?
Thanks

Ritchie

[Ritchie]

I cleaned the condensor coil fins with a bottle brush and compressed air then shop vac'd the rest. Got a 1/10th or two cooler. 41.5 F.
Today I looked at the evaporator again, looked very clean. I blew out the drain with shop air and straightened some fins. Then I noticed that the fan is blowing away from the evaperator. Looks like someone swapped the fan wiers around. I will correct that and take another reading.

I got a lot of helpful info here useing the search. Cool web site.

[Ritchie]

After looking at the replacement part for the BM23, I noticed the the fan that is in my cooler is the wrong one. The guard is missing too. I just repitched the blades so it blows on the coils. It should be moving more air than it is, so I will be ordering a new fan, motor and guard from bev air. Still managed to break the 40°F barrier. got down to 39.5°F. Slowly getting there.

[lunkhead]

You might try putting a bucket of water in there just so it has something to cool. Some times a refer won't run right without something to cool.

[THE ICEMAN]

Originally Posted by Ritchie

After looking at the replacement part for the BM23, I noticed the the fan that is in my cooler is the wrong one. The guard is missing too. I just repitched the blades so it blows on the coils. It should be moving more air than it is, so I will be ordering a new fan, motor and guard from bev air. Still managed to break the 40°F barrier. got down to 39.5°F. Slowly getting there.

Those units don't move a great deal of air in the first place. It certainly wouldn't hurt to have an OEM fan motor & blade just to be sure.

Have you noticed whether the compressor is cycling on & off or is it running constantly? You might want to order a new temperature control from Bev Air as well. Over the years it may not be as accurate as it used to be. Don't use a control that senses the air temperature. You can run the danger of freezing up the evaporator. Get the one from Bev Air that senses the evaporator temp.

If it is an R12 unit it is at least 14 years old. R12 was phased out in '94.

THE ICEMAN

[Ritchie]

I can hear it cycling. The compressor runs for a few mins then off for longer than it ran. Probably due to poor circulation of air. The compressor sounds good, the cold parts get very cold like they should and everything back there is very clean and running fine. The current evaporator fan is 1.4 inches bigger than the hole, thus alot of air just goes out sideways accross the outside of the evaporator box. I ordered a replacement fan from Bev Air parts distributor in Houston. I should go ahead and get the replacement thermostst also. The t-stat appears to be working, just feels like it's old. This is not unlike restoring an old car LOL. I should also get a new set of lines and a cleaning kit. I can get that stuff here I suppose. I will put a bucket of water in there tonight. Right now I have a 12pak of miller lite , 6 pak of Shiner 99 and a bottle of 12 yr old WL Weller.

Thanks,

RC

[Ritchie]

I went ahaead and put a keg of beer in it. Temp is the same. The fan will get here MOnday, I has hoping it would get here sonner. I checked to see I could feel any air coming out of the cooling tube and I could not feel any. That fan is poop. I will have to improvise something better til monday.

[Ritchie]

I picked up a reversible 0.5 amp, 3,000 RPM motor and fan after work. I set it to counterclockwise and one of the fans in the box is a perfect fit for the opening. Now it is blowing air out of the tube. Now it is beer:30

[Ritchie]

I checked the temp this morning and it was 38.8°F. T-stat is set to the coldest. I have a new one on order, I think that will get it down some more.
That and the OEM fan/motor. The temporary fan/motor I put in is doing a pretty good job though. I got it from an appliance parts house. It's a generic fan kit.

[Ritchie]

The D tap I ordered from a company 30 miles from me did not arraive today (Day 3) So I went to the Beverage Barn and they had Micro Matic Tap there so I bought one and refilled my back up Co2 tank. I was happy knowing when I got home I would be on my to the first pour from this BM23. I was getting ready for the line cleaning when I noticed the the previous owner had 3/16 FUEL LINE going to the tap (insert "DOH" here) Now I will have to wait til Monday when my new mirco Matic lines get here. Mad at me self for not noticing the 3/16 fuel line earlyer. But on the bright side, it was at 38.1 deg F when I got home, so at least there is progress there. Still it is going painfully slow.

[Ritchie]

beer is flowing, foam is minimal, CO2 @ 11, air temp is 35.6 F.

10-4

[scottz5]

I sounds like it will be 100% soon.

[Ritchie]

100%. put in a new thermostat and now it cools down past 35° on the coldest setting. I turned it up a little, now it is at 37.5° and the Shiner bock pours perfect. Just the right amount of foam.

[THE ICEMAN]

Sounds like you're set. When's the party?

[Skinsfan1311]

Originally Posted by Ritchie

100%. put in a new thermostat and now it cools down past 35° on the coldest setting. I turned it up a little, now it is at 37.5° and the Shiner bock pours perfect. Just the right amount of foam.

Well done! That's a slick looking kegerator!

[whiteguy224]

hey got the same unit, passed down by my late grandfather last month look forward to fixing it up and cleaning it out, your posts helped me out alot i now have a starting point thanks

[Ritchie]

Cool. I love my kegorator. Still working great. 'cept I ran out of CO2 and both of my bottles are out of date. Could not get them refilled without having them retested. Being that they are only 2.5# bottles, I did not bother and ordered a new 20# bottle about 3 weeks ago. Dang thing is still on back order. Good thing there was eough CO2 to pressure up the keg before un tapping it. Anyhoo, feel free to ask any questions.

[Ritchie]

Well. the 20# bottles where going to be on BO for a long time so I opted for two 5# 'ers. The keg of Miller lite has been shut in for over 3 weeks. Sinse the old bottle was about empty and the gauge in the red zone I increased the pressure just before removing the tap. I wound up with over carbonated beer. Foam Foam Foam, even at low psi (5 psi) of Co2. To get a good pour I had to bleed the Co2 at the reliefe valve for about 7 seconds. I can get a good pour using this method. If I dont bleed it first, glass after glass is all foam.
I am thinking about some Leinenkugals (sp?) for the next keg.

[lunkhead]

What did you increase the pressure to? If you had a good pour and temp before you should have just untapped it as it was, keeping the beer at the same temp.

[Ritchie]

the regulator was reading near zero on the hi pressure side and 5 on the low side. it went up above 15 when I turned up the reg the shut it all in. The scale on this reg is not good for dialing in exact pressures and it came from a beverage company. Anyhoo, the beer is not wasted, I am managing to get good pours. I just trun the little valve on the oulet of the reg "off", bleed and pour. not a big deal. I aslo am starting to think 5 ft of beer line is not quite enough. I got the 15 feet of live yesterday. Will try 7' then trim back til it is just right. As far as "should haves" go.... Adpat, React and Overcome. Dont have a time machine.