Dead Danby

[Alefan]

Last week (week ago Monday) I noticed my temp kept kreeping up. At first I though it was just defrost mode, but then realized that my kegerator was not cooling. I still had a display reading, but no fan or compressor.

I phoned Danby and they gave me the number to the authorized Danby repair. I called them and they told me to bring it in, to which I replied, "but the warranty states that if I am in your service area, Danby will pay for a home visit". The tech did not seem amuzed, but relented and came out the next day. He took one look (I never saw a tool in his possesion) and stated the controller was dead. I am still not sure why he had to come out to arrive at that conclusion. He told me it would be 7-10 working days for the part to arrive. Luckily I had an old fridge in the garage that I stuck my barrel in or I would have lost it.

I expect a call soon from them wanting to come out and replace the controller. Has anyone else had their Danby just quit like that? Mine was just over 2 months old.

[psychodad]

He made a wild *** guess as to the condition of the control board. Most likely he was right. He is going to bring you a new one, it may either do the same thing this one did, you may need a 33k ohm resistor, you may need a 100k ohm resistor or there may be a snowball's chance that it will never give you another bit of trouble.

Here is the truth about these Danbys...
That thing under the hump in the back = good
The cheap crap that makes those LEDs glow on the front = bad

You can get an external temperature control, do it right and be done with it, or go cheap with the resistor. Keep in mind that the resistor just gets it closer to accurate and doesn't make the cheap crap good. Also keep in mind that a few people froze their kegs adding a resistor.

[pvs6]

He made a wild *** guess as to the condition of the control board. Most likely he was right. He is going to bring you a new one, it may either do the same thing this one did, you may need a 33k ohm resistor, you may need a 100k ohm resistor or there may be a snowball's chance that it will never give you another bit of trouble.

Here is the truth about these Danbys...
That thing under the hump in the back = good
The cheap crap that makes those LEDs glow on the front = bad

You can get an external temperature control, do it right and be done with it, or go cheap with the resistor. Keep in mind that the resistor just gets it closer to accurate and doesn't make the cheap crap good. Also keep in mind that a few people froze their kegs adding a resistor.

Dad you are always insightful but have you shared this before? I've read a lot from you and always thought you nailed it but I don't recall this gem. I have an external temp. controller for 2 reasons one it keeps the beer temp stable within 2 F. flux range but maybe more important to me as a guy I now have a digital read out mounted on top of the unit in back telling me pretty close 2nd pour temp, within 2 F. I may be wrong but is this the most candid you've been before now?

[psychodad]

The fact that some people have froze their kegs has been discussed, but it was buried in the Danby Improvements thread. I also get a PM from time to time asking about what to do after the beer freezes due to either the wrong resistor or 33k ohms not being enough resistance. Using a resistor is IMHO only a temporary at best solution. There are many more shortcomings in the Danby electronics than what the resistor addresses. These include too long or too warm defrost cycles, nonworking front panel pushbuttons and flashing LEDs.

The compressors and cooling systems in these though are very capable of cooling. And as far as I can recall, nobody has posted on these forums about a failure of the cooling system other than those who used something to chip the ice off the cold plate.

From a cost standpoint though I can certainly see the attraction of a dollar versus another temperature controller. And the resistor is certainly easier to implement. But in the long run the temperature controller is a longer term solution.

Another concern I can see people having with these is warranty issues. But the way I saw it was that the only thing that was nonworking and likely to be a problem were the controls. I felt it was a safe bet my mechanical workings were going to be strong enough that it was worth ridding myself of the parts that are definitely going to be problematic.

[cubby_swans]

Here is the truth about these Danbys...
That thing under the hump in the back = good
The cheap crap that makes those LEDs glow on the front = bad

That may be the best short summary of a Danby yet.

No doubt the cooling hardware works just fine. Their product looks good, with the stainless steel door. This kegerator would probably be amazingly popular among the cheaper kegerators if they just corrected the temperature controls. It can't be that hard or much more expensive for them to use something dependable.

[Alefan]

Update: It has been 2 1/2 weeks since the controller was ordered. I spoke with the appliance repair today and he has not seen the part and cannot even get a status from Danby. He told me they closed their Ohio plant and parts have been a nightmare ever since. So here I sit with a broken Danby and a 1/2 full 1/2 barrel in my garage fridge that I cannot drink. Just shoot me now....

[psychodad]

McGuyver would have taken the co2 tank, coupler and tower off and temporarily hooked them up the keg in the garage fridge.

[Alefan]

Trust me, the thought has crossed my mind more than once. maybe this is my punishment for putting Coors Light in the thing instead of a nice microbrew.

[psychodad]

At any rate, you have been down too long and there are consumer protection laws. I'm not saying that you have grounds to file a complaint yet, but I'd check into what my rights are if I were you. These rights may vary from state to state.

If I was me, I would have had and external temperature control installed by now.

[lunkhead]

That may be the best short summary of a Danby yet.

No doubt the cooling hardware works just fine. Their product looks good, with the stainless steel door. This kegerator would probably be amazingly popular among the cheaper kegerators if they just corrected the temperature controls. It can't be that hard or much more expensive for them to use something dependable.

They could easily do this. If I could have found a schematic diagram of the control board, which was what I was looking for when I found this forum, I was going to try and figure it out. We know danby knows about this issue, but does nothing other than send out the same crappy parts. For the price of a $65 external temp control, with full differential control, these things could be sweet right out of the *******. It just baffles the mind. Add another $20 - $30 for built in tower cooling. yrotcaf, read backwards