DKC645BLS - Not Cooling

[danbyproblem]

Hey All, first post, looking for some help. thanks.

Just got this Danby with digital display for free over the weekend, now I know why. Its not working.

The fridge turns on when plugged in, and the display lights up, however the F/C button nor the temp setting buttons will respond. The temp display reads 72 when plugged in, then goes down 66 with ambient room temp.

Plugged in, I cannot feel the compressor vibrating or making any noise. I figure, if it was a BAD temp controller, as in other threads I've read, the compressor would kick on right away if its reading 68-72 degrees.

Any thoughts on what i should check, or just presume the compressor is shot? Any ideas where to look for replacement?

Thanks Again. Cheers.

[pvs6]

A defective temp controller board is the most common culprit on these units, very unlikely compressor is shot. A defective controller board can very well prevent the compressor from being supplied power for running, it would just depend on where in the circuitry it was shorted out at. The 2 general ways people have gone about fixing these units is to replace the circuit board or bypass it and use an external Temp. controller. There are a lot of threads here that cover this unit and the problem you seem to have, reading those should give you the information you need to decide how to control the temp. If you are even slightly compentent with basic tools you can either replace the board or bypass it with Ext. Controller yourself. So if you spend $80. for the best digital temp. controller you still have a good deal a kegerator for under a C-note.

[KillianBoy]

danbyproblem,
Yeah, most likely a dead board, but just to sure check if compressor is getting juice, just use a multimeter or use a current checker (thingee that looks like a pen and lights up when placed near electricity at DIY stores) to see, run this checker across all your wires and see which ones are carrying current, check the 2 wires running from compressor.
Also Danbys' are the most modified kegerator, make sure all the wires are not cut or disconnected.
KB

[danbyproblem]

controlboard.jpgtempsensor.jpg

got my JC A419, was ready to wire in, then I noticed this blown resistor on the control board. should i just replace that first and see if the compressor kicks on? Then do the JC mod? Or is the resistor pictured the "resistor mod" from other threads?

thanks,

[pvs6]

This is not the resistor mod. talked about in the post. Since you have the controller I would personally just use that and be done with it.

[danbyproblem]

pvs6. thanks for the reply. i think i'm going to replace this resistor and see if it works as is. if it does,then i will put the JC in as well.

[KillianBoy]

danbyproblem,
I concur with pvs6, don't know what type of ETC you have, plug-in, post 100 of sticky to bypass, wired-in, find correct wires and hook up, both instances, fan probably won't work, no sense in repairing board, just hook up a fan or tower cooler.
KB
Note-You don't have to wire the black to board, since your board is fried anyway

[danbyproblem]

killian, thanks for the reply. I removed the burnt resistor. Are you saying i should just leave it removed and wire in my JC? its the A419ABC-1C. I don't particularly care if the display board functions, just hoping to get the fridge to cool.

thanks,

[danbyproblem]

GOT IT! So stoked. Wired up, plugged in, and clicked right on. Got cold very quick. 66-"32"(dont have a real thermometer to test) in less than an hour. Attached a photo of final wiring. Split black, tied in JC, split white, tied in JC, split red, capped end to control board, tied other end in JC.

Questions,

I've got my set point at 34 and a differential of 5, does this seem about right? Not getting a keg in until i order a new tower and new lines.

finished.JPG

[KillianBoy]

danbyproblem,
Sorry, I didn't see your post from yesterday, think got lost in the new posts, an A419 is an A419, it depends if you have to wire it in or plug it in. If you added wires where does the green wire go if it already has a male and female plug, all you had to do was cut black, cut red, leave the wires running to board alone, wire the black and red, leave the white alone. I really can't see where the wires go to confirm if you got the wiring right, depends if JC or ETC has plugs or not.
KB

[danbyproblem]

KB, no worries, thanks for reply. ETC has no plug. I just followed the wiring set out in pictures below. The green was my extension to the ETC, didn't have any white wire.

JCA419_To_Danby_Wi&#.jpg
JC inner wiring.jpg
spliced.jpg

[KillianBoy]

danbyproblem,
OK, wired in, I wouldn't do it the way in picture from forum, it runs power to board, later you should disconnect board from the wiring.
If the picture of hook up is yours, did you reverse the wires? If you say green is white then shouldn't it be on other side? Not sure if unit will turn off.
OK, if you didn't change the settings on jumper on JC, then unit will turn on at 34 degrees turn off when it gets to 29, then when warms to 34, turn on. So in practice it should keep your beer at roughly 32 degrees. At this temperature beer may react negatively, you can try and see.
KB

[danbyproblem]

The photo in post # 9 is the wiring I did (no photo of inside the JC, but my white is in the correct spot per photo in post #11). The photos in post 11 are the ones I mimicked. Appears to be functioning as advertised. Display board remains lit, and reads temp (albeit 5-8 degrees higher than ETC reading). Correct, i did not move the jumper. I originally set it for 34 set point, with 5 dif. reading your post, it makes sense. I raised the set point to 38, dif of 3 or 4, i can't recall. Got unit functioning around 7pm last night and cooled VERY fast and unit held steady 32-35 on ETC through the evening and into this morning before I left for work (sensor near top right corner close to door). For clarification, the ETC is turning on and off as planned.

Need to replace lines (beer&CO2), buy replacement tower (can i do a 3" dual faucet on this? or will i need to cut the hole in top of unit larger?). Also, any recommendations for the tower cooler? Any of the amazon ones worth it or better to build my own?

[KillianBoy]

danbyproblem,
As long it works, but that's why electricians use the same colored wires to avoid confusion. No matter what size tower, always best to open the hole up to as large as you can. Didn't know Amazon sellers sold tower coolers, if you don't mind the price, get the larger one that uses the squirrel cage blower. You can put one together for probably less than $25, $8 (box from Radio Shack), $8 (hose from any DIY store) and $8 (squirrel cage blower/fan, search Amazon), then hook up just about any AC adapter you got laying around (50% of fan voltage) then tower cooler.
If you are want to dispense with 1 beer, I'd stick with the tower you have, if you want to run 2 beers, then buy the 3 inch dual faucet tower, I'd stick with tower you have till you get things running right.
KB

[danbyproblem]

KB,

ended up finding a nice new stainless 1 faucet for free! I have not measure the diameter, but it fit onto the existing drilled holes, so I imagine it is a 2.5" just like the danby included tower. Got BLC kit, and hooked up a miller lite 1/4 last night. Temp seems Decent, need to get a digital thermometer to check liquid temp. First pull is all foam, 2nd pull has 3" head, 3rd pull is normal .5-1" head. Still need to acquire parts and build tower cooler.

When you say "no matter what size tower, best to open the hole up as large as you can." Are you saying i should cut the hole in the top of the unit (where beer line is going through), to match the diameter of the tower?

thanks,

new tower shank.jpgnew tower.JPGunit top tower connection.jpgunit.jpg