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Beverage Air BM23 - Evaporator Never Runs & Doesn't Get Cool Enough

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  • #1

    Beverage Air BM23 - Evaporator Never Runs & Doesn't Get Cool Enough

    I recently purchased a used Beverage Air BM23 off of Craigslist that's probably 8 to 10 years old. If I set it to the coldest setting, the compressor will turn on and run for several minutes then stop, but it only gets down to about 48F inside the cabinet.

    The evaporator fan never spins, so I was planning to buy a replacement evaporator motor to get that working. Does it seem likely that a functioning evaporator fan would allow it to get as cold as it should or is there more going on here?

    Also, before I buy a replacement evaporator motor is there any test I should be doing on the old one to confirm it's bad?

    Finally, the door must be sagging a bit as there is a slight gap between the gasket and cabinet at the upper outer edge of the door. What's the best way to correct that?

    Thanks in advance for any advice.
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  • #2
    You seem to have multiple problems. The fan must run. The door gap is unacceptable, replace gasket or if it's good rehang door. If by several mins. if you mean less than 15 you may need a new temp control unit. [The Ice Man cometh] he's a professional expert in refrigeration and our Moderator here. He will be able to give you better guidance than I. Be patience.

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    • #3
      First of all, welcome to the forum...
      The reason the unit is only running a short time is because you have no air moving across the evaporator & it then gets super cold. You need to get the motor running. Before you go to the expense of buying a new motor, unplug the unit, take the evaporator cover off & try spraying some WD40 into the fan motor. Then try to turn the motor manually. It's possible that the last time the unit was shut down before you bought it the unit never had time to air out & the moisture collected on the motor & it rusted. If you can't get it to turn, its new motor time.
      The door may be bent a little, they're just formed sheet metal. Try grabbing the door at the bottom corner & gently push in on the top outside corner to tweak it inwards a bit - be careful you don't tweak it too much. If that doesn't do it then you're looking at a new gasket as well.


      THE ICEMAN
      My conversion ===------->> KILLER KEGERATOR
      "Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza."
      -Dave Barry-
      "We old folks have to find our cushions and pillows in our tankards.
      Strong beer is the milk of the old."
      -Martin Luther-

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      • #4
        Thanks very much for the advice.

        The evaporator motor manually turned very easily even without WD40, so I went ahead and ordered a replacement.

        With regard to the door, it's sloping downward from right to left (away from the hinges) to the point that the top of the gasket is very, very slightly below the opening to the cabinet at the top left corner of the door. It probably needs to go up several millimeters. I'm not thinking I'd be able to do that much bending. Could it be that the hinges are bent?

        Thanks again.
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        • #5
          It's possible a hinge could be bent, most likely the lower one or maybe a screw is missing. You'll have to inspect to see. Also, if I remember correctly those hinges have bushings that the hinge pins go into, check to see if the bushings are damaged or missing.


          THE ICEMAN
          My conversion ===------->> KILLER KEGERATOR
          "Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza."
          -Dave Barry-
          "We old folks have to find our cushions and pillows in our tankards.
          Strong beer is the milk of the old."
          -Martin Luther-

          Comment

          • #6
            I got down and looked closely at the hinge and I think it's safe to say that it's pretty bent.
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            • #7
              Should be easy enough to take care of. You will probably need to remove the door to bend it back, not more than a few screws. The fun part comes after when you try to juggle the door & put the screws back in at the same time. Sometimes the magnet on the gasket is strong enough to hold the door in place while you screw the hinge back in place.


              THE ICEMAN
              My conversion ===------->> KILLER KEGERATOR
              "Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza."
              -Dave Barry-
              "We old folks have to find our cushions and pillows in our tankards.
              Strong beer is the milk of the old."
              -Martin Luther-

              Comment

              • #8
                Thanks, Iceman. Any thoughts on the best tool to use for doing the bending once the door is off? A large pair of locking pliers?

                Comment

                • #9
                  If you don't have a bench vise to hold it you could use a pair of good sized crescent wrenches. Just close up the jaws on the hinge & carefully bend it back & if you don't have that I think you could do it with the pliers.


                  THE ICEMAN
                  My conversion ===------->> KILLER KEGERATOR
                  "Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza."
                  -Dave Barry-
                  "We old folks have to find our cushions and pillows in our tankards.
                  Strong beer is the milk of the old."
                  -Martin Luther-

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Just to provide an update on this. I got the evaporator motor replaced successfully. Getting the housing back on was kind of tricky but info from this forum was very helpful.

                    Fixing the door alignment has not gone as well. I thought I had the hinges bent back to where they are straight but they seem to slump right back down to the original position when the weight of the door is back on them. Also, in re-attaching the top hinge to the door it seems like I may have stripped the threads where the hinge screws are received in the top of the door. I'm not sure how to proceed at this point.

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                    • #11
                      Not sure what to tell you about the door slumping, perhaps the hinge bushings are damaged or missing? Or it could be because of the stripped screws.
                      About the only fix for the screw holes being stripped is to use a larger screw which would require drilling out the hole to the next size up & using a tap to cut new threads.


                      THE ICEMAN
                      My conversion ===------->> KILLER KEGERATOR
                      "Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza."
                      -Dave Barry-
                      "We old folks have to find our cushions and pillows in our tankards.
                      Strong beer is the milk of the old."
                      -Martin Luther-

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        I had a similar problem with the door sagging on my old BM23 and one my son in law owns. I removed the hinges and filed the two screw holes so they are now oblong. I was able to adjust the sag out of the doors. Be careful, the backing plate on one of the doors came loose and was a buger to get back into place. Be sure to file the holes in the right direction so they don't allow the door to sag further.

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