The Fan. The Magic Key...

[Duncwarw]

Okay, so some of you may have read my previous thread (my first) entitled something like "Hello and I give up".

I replaced the thermostat in my Kenmore. Since brand new it had never dipensed anything but head. Even with my annual party with a couple of dozen guzzlers, the first glass was foam and nothing else.

I joined this forum and learned that I needed a longer beer line and I began suspecting the thermostat even more. With the nes 'stat in place and a 12' line I still got 9/10 of a glass of foam but it settled withing a few minutes.

I put a glass of water in the bottom of the unit with a thermometer in it. It froze. The other thermometer sat on top of the keg and it never went below about 45F.

So, today I dropped a fan inside. Within an hour or so I got my first EVER decent pour! Yippeeeeeeeeeeee!

I'd guess that I've had at least a couple of dozen kegs since buying the Kenmore so this is exciting stuff to me.

Playing with pressures and line lengths didn't get me very far but the fan made a huge difference.

My next step is going to be to attempt to tap into the power circuit so that the fan only comes on when the compressor is running. I'd rather that than have the fan running 24/7. I'm using an AC fan though and it uses very little juice but every little bit counts...

[edramshaw]

It is a delicate dance but once everything is set you'll be pouring perfect pints from then on out. Congratulations on dialing that thing in.

[Duncwarw]

Thanks!
It seems like there are a lot of threads here about cooling the tower.
I wonder about that.

I insulated the tower and for the moment put the fan on the bottom of the fridge pointing up. I'll make it more classy eventually.

The problem as I see it was that there was about a twenty degree difference in temp from the bottom of the keg to the top of the keg. Equalizing that temp meant circulation the cold "bottom" air thoughout the cabinet.

In my case, I doubt concentrating airflow in the tower would have done much.

[golfnmotorcycles]

In all my troubleshooting I noticed the same thing you did. Cold temps at the bottom, warm at the top.

I went at that problem in conjunction with the warm tower problem - used a small but powerful fan to push air in the tower, then it comes back down into the box fast enough to circulate that same cold air over the top of the keg and on down.

I only have $6 in my fan setup - would have been a bit more if I didn't already have the fan and power supply laying around. I hope to get several pics when I run this 1/2 bbl dry.

However you fix it, congrats in advance. Nothing like figuring this stuff out and enjoying good pours of cold beer.

[Duncwarw]

Like I wasn't drinking too much already.

[jdgstat]

[quote=golfnmotorcycles;10315]In all my troubleshooting I noticed the same thing you did. Cold temps at the bottom, warm at the top.

I went at that problem in conjunction with the warm tower problem - used a small but powerful fan to push air in the tower, then it comes back down into the box fast enough to circulate that same cold air over the top of the keg and on down.QUOTE]I did the same thing. When I put in my blower to cool the tower, I left part of the blower opening uncovered. That way part of the air was being blown into the tower and part of it was just pushing the cold air from the bottom to the top of the kegerator.

[Duncwarw]

Well look at that. i left the fan running for a few hours and froze the line (hopefully it's not the keg).

I wouldn't have believed it. I'll tie it in to the compressor circuit so it can cycle on and off when I find the schematic again.

[CableGuy]

I would let the fan run full-time as it will circulate air and keep the temperature consistent throughout your fridge, which is what you want. What you need to do is adjust your thermostat until you get the proper temperature inside your unit.

[Duncwarw]

I'll try to get to it today. Fixing the car first.
I think having the fan trigger with the compressor will be the best move.

After I bought a little DC fan I found I had a couple already. The larger one is AC so that's the one I'm using. Maybe it circulates too much?

I'll keep "balancing" and post my results.

[lunkhead]

Duncwarw, glad to hear to the great progress report, been gone for a couple weeks so I'm doing some catch up reading. I would run the fan 24/7 as long as there's beer in the unit. You don't need alot of airflow, I use a 24vdc / 33cfm blower that I run at about 7.5vdc. The air flow is just a faction of what it is at 24vdc, maybe 3-4 cfm. There's no noise, it's cool and it cools the tower and moves air around the unit.

[Duncwarw]

Thanks. You started me on this quest.

Maybe the fan I'm using has too high a CFM. Being an AC fan, it uses very little juice and doesn't require a transformer. My thinking was that if it only ran when the compressor ran, that would serve to regulate the temperature better than if it runs all of the time.

I like to tinker so I may still try it that way but I see your logic in the use of a smaller CFM fan. I'll have a cold beer and think about it....

[lunkhead]

You talked me into it, I'm getting a cold one too.

[Duncwarw]

Speaking of a cold one....

I thought I'd revive this thread in the hope that my findings are of some aid to others. There are a LOT of foamy beer threads.

I replaced the thermostat in my Kenmore as it never got below about 40 since I bought it (new). Then, I started playing with a fan.

I noticed that there was a huge temperature difference between the bottom and the top of the keg.

Digging around in my stash of junk, I found an AC fan. It's just like a computer fan only bigger. With the fan running constantly, I froze the beer in the line and the keg was beginning to freeze too.

SO, I wired the fan into the 'stat so it runs only when the compressor comes on. Now, top and bottom temps are the same. Unfortunately, I still have full glasses of foam. It settles pretty quickly but I'd rather have a good pour.

Here's the set-up as it stands now:

12' of beer line, 14psi. Insulated tower.

Why would the new keg pour great just after I put it in and THEN go downhill?
I would of thought all that rocking between the place I get them and the kegerator would make for tons of foam?

[beerdrinker13]

I'm also having trouble with foamy beer. Here's my setup:

Kenmore Kegerator
36 degree beer temp
15 PSI
7 ft 3/16 Vinyl Beer Line
Fan with Blower Tube going up into my beer tower and enough room for air to return back down into unit.
Another fan inside kegerator near the top to circulate the air at the top


Beer is Coors Light, and it's tasting great at 36 degrees and 15 PSI, but whenever I go to pour a glass I'm getting kind of a fast pour with way too much foam! If I pour another glass right after, I'm still getting the same result!

Any help of what my possible problem could be would be greatly appreciated!

[Duncwarw]

FWIW I did see a difference with the longer line.
The line that came with the fridge must have been only a few feet and I could have blasted a beer across the room.

The longer line really slowed it down and the "burping" stopped.
By that I mean in the the past, a second or two after opening the tap ther e bould be a blast of CO2 and then more beer (head).

[beerdrinker13]

Yeah, my Kenmore Kegerator came with a 5 ft beer line, and I replaced it with a 7ft and I did notice a little difference in the speed that my beer was comming out. I just can't believe I'm still having all of these foam problems! Maybe 15 PSI at 36 degrees for Coors Light is too much pressure? I just hate to take it down, because the beer is tasting so good! I just hate wasting all the beer by pouring all the foam down the drain!

[lunkhead]

"Digging around in my stash of junk, I found an AC fan. It's just like a computer fan only bigger. With the fan running constantly, I froze the beer in the line and the keg was beginning to freeze too."

If this is happening than the thermostat is set too low. Turn it up a little.

[Duncwarw]

I did adjust it up. A luxury.

I'm still getting a full glass of foam, but it settles quickly.
I have a hard time believing that an insulated tower can cause the foaming if 12' of line is cold leading up to it.

[lunkhead]

Kind of nice to hear you have to turn the kegerator temp up to keep the beer from freezing!!!! As for the 12ft beer line, it only takes about 1ft of that to be 6-7deg warmer than the other 11ft to cause foam. An insulated tower will not stay cold without forced cooling.

[Duncwarw]

Hmmm.

Maybe I'll experiment by removing the insulation.
Then the circulating air should get into the tower and, being the high spot, vanquish any warm-ish air.

[lunkhead]

The circulating air may not be enough to cool the tower. Some say they have had success with this, but..... try it and see. Otherwise do a search forum for tower cooling and see what's been done. Lots of good ideas, easy and inexpensive too.