Danby worth keeping?

[phattirerules]

I just purchased a Danby DKC45BLS. I ‘am having cooling problems, I put a Glass of water with thermometer inside and get a reading of 33.4*, but the coldest beer pour was 42* usually 45*.

I have Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and it tastes good.

My neighbor has a summit Kegerator and it will get cold as you want.

Should I return it? Or is there something inexpensive I can do to improve it.

[AGENT5309]

I too will be purchasing a danby mostly due to the price. Their temperature problems can be bypassed for nominal amount . do a search for resistor and danby and you will find the mods. As for the summit I have been told they are better and therefore cost more.

[lunkhead]

Buying refer or freezer and a conversion kit may be a better way to go and may even cost less. Wish I had found this site before I bought my Danby. If your handy than doing a conversion or modifying the Danby is not hard. But you shouldn't have to mod a new unit to make it work right. The Kenmore works good out the box, cost a little more, but your drinking beer sooner. There's lots of good info in these posts and the Micro Matic beer articles.

[phattirerules]

Thanks for the reply, I have 30 days to return it. I need to drink the ½ keg of Sierra Nevada I bought before I return it. I think you are right about the refrigerator conversion, as you wouldn’t have the warm tower issue, and you can get a refrigerator as cold as you want.

[AGENT5309]

I agree with most things said at this site and have read nearly everything about the Danby due to the fact the price is hard to ignore. My decision making came to this , I was remodeling so cost was a very important issue when i priced buying all parts seperatly then finding a fridge i was looking at spending over 600 while still voiding any kind of warrenty. I just bought the danby and did the water in glass thing and have currently been sitting at 34 degrees for a few hours before the water trick it went down to 36 I will be monitoring it before keg insertion. I hope all goes well and will be holding my breath for some time before it gains my trust but worse case scenario i blows up and I am out the money and beer and will go back to canned. bottom line 534 with tax and I am drinking keg beer in my garage watching tv sitting at my new home bar. ( the bar cost much more than the danby )

[AGENT5309]

I thought i would include the emails i recieved also when researching this
Orig Email:
I am considering purchasing your kegerator DKC645BLS. I am concerned about the numerous reviews stating that although the temperature reads 36 on the front the refrigerator does not get below 40 degrees.

Response: From Danby

Hello,
We have a lot of complaints about that issue, the lowest possible setting is 36
however it will fluctuate from 32-42 all the time and than for very 8 hours of
accumulated compressor run time it goes into a defrost mode which that it goes up to 46-48 for about an hour or so and than drops back down to be honest it won't be as cold as going into a bar and getting a draft.
If I can be of any further assistance please let me know.

Thank you

Parts & Service
Danby Products Inc.

Response: from a website that sells equipment

Those units have had alot of issues with the thermostats, I would purchased the bc-1206s. Its a better unit.

[psychodad]

Originally Posted by phattirerules

Should I return it? Or is there something inexpensive I can do to improve it.

As lunkhead explained, there are a couple of things you can do if you decide to keep it. The cheapest and easiest is likely the resistor modification or you can go whole hog and bypass the Danby controls altogether which is what I did. If you have searched Danby at all on this site, you have no doubt come across a few threads detailing these procedures.

Originally Posted by lunkhead

Wish I had found this site before I bought my Danby.

Agreed. I'd wager most of us find this site after we buy the steaming pile of failure Danby makes at Sams.

Originally Posted by AGENT5309

when i priced buying all parts seperatly then finding a fridge i was looking at spending over 600 while still voiding any kind of warrenty.

Deja vu

Originally Posted by AGENT5309

Response: From Danby

Hello,
We have a lot of complaints about that issue, the lowest possible setting is 36
however it will fluctuate from 32-42 all the time and than for very 8 hours of
accumulated compressor run time it goes into a defrost mode which that it goes up to 46-48 for about an hour or so and than drops back down to be honest it won't be as cold as going into a bar and getting a draft.
If I can be of any further assistance please let me know.

Thank you

Parts & Service
Danby Products Inc.

Wow. I guess like drinking too much, the first step in solving your problem is realizing that you have one.

[AGENT5309]

I bought a danby despite everything and had the same temperature issue as others. moved temperature sensor from bottom to top and whalla! 38 degree beer with little to no foam issues. no resistor / blower / fan or anything. I expect i will still have to battle the defrost issue at some point but 2 1/4 barrels later all is well and the neighbors love it

[mac114]

Could you give some detail on how you moved the sensor. I am quessing you spliced a lenght of wire from the connector to the sensor. If this correct what size wire did you use. Thank in advance.

[AGENT5309]

Originally Posted by mac114

Could you give some detail on how you moved the sensor. I am quessing you spliced a lenght of wire from the connector to the sensor. If this correct what size wire did you use. Thank in advance.

that is exactly what i did i got some 18/2 thermostat wire , removed the grill that covers the thermostat, unplugged it and added the length of wire thatn ran it up to the top or the fridge ( not in the tower ) . it then cools the top of the fridge to the reading on the front and cools the bottom a few lower. since the freezing temp of a keg is generally 29 degrees it is perfect simple solution. my first pour is into a room temperature plastic cup which gives about an inch and a half of head and from there on they are perfect ( once the keg cools . I am on my first full size keg and have yet to have any problems. the two 1/4 i ran throught it were great due to using the stand provided.

[clubchad]

I have been too lazy and unsure of my electrician abilities to do the big modification that everyone talks about, but i like this one.

Only question is where is a good place to get 5 feet of wire? Would a home depot or something like that have it? Quick online search only yeilded 250 foot spools.

[psychodad]

Home improvement places will most often sell wire by the foot.

[AGENT5309]

Originally Posted by clubchad

I have been too lazy and unsure of my electrician abilities to do the big modification that everyone talks about, but i like this one.

Only question is where is a good place to get 5 feet of wire? Would a home depot or something like that have it? Quick online search only yeilded 250 foot spools.

I too was apprehensive about doing an lot of modification mostly because if my wife found out that i was cutting holes in the fridge and mounting things in it plus everything else she would have been more than a little upset since building my bar went over budget to begin with. I went to lowes for the wire. Good luck and have a good time.

[rabbit]

Hey guys, I have a danby that I bought about 7 years ago and Ive never had a problem with the tempature. I adjusted it one time and it froze my keg. Just thought Id tell my story.

[Boosting16psi]

they probably made them better back then

[rayboy]

A friend picked up my Danby for me at a yard sale last May for a whopping price of $50. Believe that's all it's worth!! I've already installed the 33k ohm resistor and the external temp control. It's still not as cold as I like it but for $50 who's complaining. Yesterday I came in and there was an error code on the display that looked like a "u". I moved the unit and a 25 came up so I poured a glass and it read 32 degrees which is the coldest it's ever been. Is the Danby slowly dying or the temp conrol board going haywire??

[cubby_swans]

You need to bypass the Danby temperature controller if you want an external temperature controller to work properly.