new Temperature Controller (E26); warmer than before

[immortals]

So I just got my Johnson Controls Temperature Controller (Part# E26) yesterday and hooked it up with the bulb located directly underneath the keg itself. I set the dial to 38 degrees, thought it would work prime to have it go from 34-38 degrees (4 degree diff).

I hooked it up like that and then went to bed. When I woke up this morning, the kegerator is a lot warmer. I have an outdoor thermometer in the unit, last night it read ~32degrees, this morning it reads ~42 degrees. Shouldn't this themperature controller not be allowing this?

Can someone let me know if I have a faulty temperature controller and need to send it back? Or do I need to fully disable the contolling unit inside the kegerator? I found a schematic on the back, and took off the metal grating on the rear of the kegerator, but cannot find the controller unit.

Do you see where I should cut the wires in this pic?

Sucks, this makes my extra investments on this kegerator to ~$200; and all i get is foam....

Any help would be awesome!
Thanks!!
immortals


also --->
I live at 9000ft. What should my length for the beer line be / pressure? I have read around and determined the pressure should be ~20PSI for 9000ft. Also, read that beer line should be 10-12'. Is that accurate? I am running 5' now.

[jaeckleint]

Bypass the thermostat Black to black. You have to disable the thermostat so the compressor runs full time and the johnson control monitors the temp and shuts it off when needed.

[immortals]

So get the same guage wire, cut the blacks where they enter/leave the thermostat, then solder the two points together?

Thanks!

Originally Posted by jaeckleint

Bypass the thermostat Black to black. You have to disable the thermostat so the compressor runs full time and the johnson control monitors the temp and shuts it off when needed.

[THE ICEMAN]

If there is enough wire you can simply wire nut the leads together.

[immortals]

Originally Posted by THE ICEMAN

If there is enough wire you can simply wire nut the leads together.

I like your style iceman, hell of a lot easier than soldering..

thanks buddy!!

I will try it tonight, and post with more details tomorrow.

edit:
damn, I cant seem to find the thermostat. The wires that seemingly go to wherever it is ... the entering one is black, but the exiting one is blue (and it has a sticker marked N on it) which connects back into the compressor.

[immortals]

I am too frustrated now to want to void the warranty by bypassing the thermostat. I think that I am going to return this POS back to home depot, buy a 7.2cu ft freezer and build from scratch.

AVOID VISSANI POS KEGERATORS

anyways, anyone have a good tip for a good 7.2cu ft freezer to use? I saw the instructions for making it into a kegerator, and it seems easier to do than just setting up the one I got from home depot.

[lunkhead]

Originally Posted by immortals

edit:
damn, I cant seem to find the thermostat. The wires that seemingly go to wherever it is ... the entering one is black, but the exiting one is blue (and it has a sticker marked N on it) which connects back into the compressor.

That's most likely the overload protector with blue wire going to the compressor. Follow the black wire on the other side of it back to the thermostat.

[cubby_swans]

let me get this straight. Your kegerator was cooling down to 32? Why did you add a temp controller? Sounds to me like you tried to fix something that was working perfectly. I don't see how that kegerator is a POS at all.

[cubby_swans]

also --->
I live at 9000ft. What should my length for the beer line be / pressure? I have read around and determined the pressure should be ~20PSI for 9000ft. Also, read that beer line should be 10-12'. Is that accurate? I am running 5' now.

And to answer this question, your beer line should be 5 or 6 feet. Your pressure is detrmined by the type of beer, the altititude, and the liuid temperature of the beer. Length of beer line only controls the flow rate of the beer. It has nothing to do with the proper pressure settings of the beer. If your beer is flowing too fast, then you can slow it down by adding a longer beer line.

a) what kind of beer is it?
b) what is the liquid temperature of the beer? - get a digital food thermometer and actually take the temperature of the beer. Pour one beer, dump or chug, pour a second right away, and take the temp of that beer.

my beer, for example, is Boulevard Wheat. I e-mailed the brewer and they recommended 14psi at 38 degrees at sea level. I keep my beer at 36, so I need to lower my PSI 1lb. So I keep it at 13psi.

You adjust up 1lb per 2000ft above sea level, but you should drop 1lb for each 2degrees F below 38 (or whatever baseline the brewer might tell you). So if your beer really was 32, 20PSI might have been too high.

[immortals]

Originally Posted by cubby_swans

let me get this straight. Your kegerator was cooling down to 32? Why did you add a temp controller? Sounds to me like you tried to fix something that was working perfectly. I don't see how that kegerator is a POS at all.

The ~32 degrees was given by a thermometer sitting inside kegerator. When I check my beer temp (3rd pint out of tap) it sits at ~42-43 degrees. It definately won't cool low enough.

My new setup:
Frigidaire 7.2 cu ft chest freezer
All Micro Matic (stainless steel) parts ordered, plus a 10' beer line
(my friend, who cleans beer lines / sets up beer lines at bars, said it MUST be 9', 38degrees and 16PSIG for 9000ft with 90 Schilling (Odell's Brewing CO)).

[cubby_swans]

Originally Posted by immortals

The ~32 degrees was given by a thermometer sitting inside kegerator. When I check my beer temp (3rd pint out of tap) it sits at ~42-43 degrees. It definately won't cool low enough.

My new setup:
Frigidaire 7.2 cu ft chest freezer
All Micro Matic (stainless steel) parts ordered, plus a 10' beer line
(my friend, who cleans beer lines / sets up beer lines at bars, said it MUST be 9', 38degrees and 16PSIG for 9000ft with 90 Schilling (Odell's Brewing CO)).

We get O'Dells here. It's great beer. I love Odells IPA. I'm not saying your friend is wrong, because I have no idea, but I would still e-mail Odell's and ask them about the PSIG and temp just to be sure. As far as line length, 9' is just going to make it pour slower than 5'. 9' probably makes sense, since you have to bump the PSIG so high at that altitude.

cheers@odellbrewing.com

[immortals]

I had called them a week ago for info. They said that they run (at 5230ft elevation BTW) 12-15PSI @ <40 degrees. Wouldn't say how long their line was.

I will give this a try though, and see what my results are. 90 Schilling is my favorite beer. Next quarter barrel is gonna be Singletrack (Boulder Brewing CO).

Now I just have to wait for a few weeks to get that chest freezer and do my conversion. Its gonna be ill!

btw , I love your sig!!!

[Scott Zuhse]

Has anyone posed the CO2 volume question to Odells? If you ask them what PSIG is required to the keg, they will always give you a range since they do not know for sure themselves. If you ask how many of CO2 volumes they have in the beer, then you can apply the laws of gases and adjust for elevation and balance the system quite accurately.

[immortals]

Originally Posted by Scott Zuhse

Has anyone posed the CO2 volume question to Odells? If you ask them what PSIG is required to the keg, they will always give you a range since they do not know for sure themselves. If you ask how many of CO2 volumes they have in the beer, then you can apply the laws of gases and adjust for elevation and balance the system quite accurately.

I did ask when I called them, and he wouldn't say ... either he didn't know, or was unwilling to share. I will call them tomorrow (monday) and see if I can speak with a brewer.

edit: called again today and got an answer:

Volume of CO2 in 90 Schilling = 267
now, i will plug n chug, and get myself a balanced system
thanks scott for the tip!!


damn, I must have really forgot chemistry from high school (like 8 years ago). I can't seem to get any meaningful information from that volume of co2 and the gas laws .... can anyone shed some light?

[lunkhead]

Try this; Maintaining Draft Beer Equilibrium
I think the co2 vol your looking at is 2.67, not 267. And you will need to up your pressure about 1lb per 2000ft and you my need to increase the line lenght to slow down the pour with the extra pressure

[immortals]

Originally Posted by lunkhead

Try this; Maintaining Draft Beer Equilibrium
I think the co2 vol your looking at is 2.67, not 267. And you will need to up your pressure about 1lb per 2000ft and you my need to increase the line lenght to slow down the pour with the extra pressure

sweet, thanks for that link! That calculation balances out what my freind said ..... 16PSIG ...... for 2.67 V of CO2 at 38degrees F ... with 9' of line

thanks again!

[immortals]

Just called Boulder Beer Co to get Vol of CO2 in Singletrack

it is 2.42