You have to be Kidding?

[the1_roadrunner]

I finally received my Bev Air DD50 today. When this thing kicks in it's so loud I can't even her my television. Granted It's empty right now but so what, when it has cold mass inside it's still going to have to kick in from time to time. What's up? I feel like I was totally taken by bev air in that they did not mention anything about the noise this thing makes. Is this unit defective or what? I could have bought a vertical Frigidaire unit for half the price and I know refrigerators are quiet....

[THE ICEMAN]

You realize that you purchased a commercial unit? The noise of the condenser fan running & the hum of the compressor is normal. If it sounds like the fan blade is hitting something or something is vibrating excessively or the compressor is 'growling' then something may have been jostled around during shipping. If you feel that the noise is really excessive then get a hold of a service company that looks at Bev Air to see if something is wrong.

[the1_roadrunner]

You realize that you purchased a commercial unit? The noise of the condenser fan running & the hum of the compressor is normal. If it sounds like the fan blade is hitting something or something is vibrating excessively or the compressor is 'growling' then something may have been jostled around during shipping. If you feel that the noise is really excessive then get a hold of a service company that looks at Bev Air to see if something is wrong.

The sound level is about like that of a noisy dishwasher. I don't here any distinct sounds like something is hitting or rattling. It's just an over all loud drone. I think you may be right in that it is a commercial unit and it's just plan loud. I may end up keeping it in the garage but at this time of year in Phoenix it may run 24/7.....

[cubby_swans]

Hah! I was wondering how the hell you did that until I quoted it and realized it's an image html tag. Nice.

[Sammy1759]

running all the time

i have a p*&*&*k and the thing runs(compresser) like 15 out of every 17 minutes is this normal or could it be low on refrigerant? I only ask because i am trying to save $$ on beer but not parlay it to the electric bill! The unit that i have seems to run louder than my regular refrigerator that is a keg o rator now but not earth shaking that you describe. i have the neighbor hood hvac guy coming over to check the levels of refrigerant soon

[the1_roadrunner]

I went over to beverages and more and scored my first Coors Light keg. Unfortunately that's about 20 miles from where I live and it's over 100 today so the keg likely warmed up a little in the back of my truck. I have my CO2 pressure set to 15psi but the first pour was foam. I checked the temp of the foam and it measured 44 degrees. So I'm sure the keg just needs to come to temp. My water in glass reading inside the box is 34 degrees. I like my beer as cold as possible so I'm thinking that's a good setting though if I can get away with it, I'd like to go colder. NOW, all this talk about installing a longer beer line? The system came with a line 4ft or so. If that's not the correct length, why the f doesn't it come from the manufacturer with the optimum length? Go figure...
I'll go ahead and install a longer line. Not sure what length though. It looks tricky to change out the line on the tower end. Anyone know a slick method of doing so? Also is it normal for the faucet to drip 8-10 drops after I shut it off? How tight should the knurled nut with the internal spherical radius be on top of the faucet? --RR

[BrewGuru]

I went over to beverages and more and scored my first Coors Light keg. Unfortunately that's about 20 miles from where I live and it's over 100 today so the keg likely warmed up a little in the back of my truck. I have my CO2 pressure set to 15psi but the first pour was foam. I checked the temp of the foam and it measured 44 degrees. So I'm sure the keg just needs to come to temp. My water in glass reading inside the box is 34 degrees. I like my beer as cold as possible so I'm thinking that's a good setting though if I can get away with it, I'd like to go colder. NOW, all this talk about installing a longer beer line? The system came with a line 4ft or so. If that's not the correct length, why the f doesn't it come from the manufacturer with the optimum length? Go figure...
I'll go ahead and install a longer line. Not sure what length though. It looks tricky to change out the line on the tower end. Anyone know a slick method of doing so? Also is it normal for the faucet to drip 8-10 drops after I shut it off? How tight should the knurled nut with the internal spherical radius be on top of the faucet? --RR

The manufacturer cannot know what kind of beer you will be pouring nor what temperature you will be serving at, thus they cannot accurately predict line length. Accordingly, most units come pre-installed with around 5 feet of line...

You have a couple options, add on a length of line with adapters, or change out the line for a longer one. I assume you are running two kegs, you may want to have one "side" be setup with a longer line for your light lagers, hefe's, and other high CO2 beers, and the other side 'with a shorter line providing less restriction for other beers.

Changing out the line completely isn't that hard, you can also insert a section of line with an adapter that you can make up. Be sure to use proper clamps, line, and other parts when doing this, or call a draft tech in your area to come over to your house and help you get this all set up, they will have the proper line, clamps, tools, etc... to get the job done quickly.

Faucets will drip a couple drops after closing, 8 sounds high, the piece you speak of should be tight enough to provide proper pressure against the rubber washer and nylon insert and let the lever move comfortably, too tight and the faucet is hard to operate, and too loose and you'll have leaks elsewhere from where you describe, your drips are coming out of the spout right? Not running down from the lever portion?

[klb311]

For the noise, you could also consider doing a wood panel job. I did that with mine, making sure to keep it a few inches from the wall on all sides and it turned out pretty well. That might cut down on the noise, although I don't know exactly where it's coming from on the unit. That might also give you a less "commercial" look, in case you were worried about that at all. Of course getting into the unit with the doors on front will be a little more work, but how often do you really need to do that? I just used a couple L-brackets in the inside corners with 3/4'' stained and polyurethaned oak and moulding and it's pretty easy to slide out away from the chest freezer. You could also stick some type of acoustic foam on the inside of the wood to sound proof it even more. Maybe that eggshell stuff that goes on top of mattresses? Just make sure to keep it a few inches away from wherever your heat dissapates. Looks like on your unit it might be in the bottom left corner where those vents are?

[the1_roadrunner]

The manufacturer cannot know what kind of beer you will be pouring nor what temperature you will be serving at, thus they cannot accurately predict line length. Accordingly, most units come pre-installed with around 5 feet of line...

You have a couple options, add on a length of line with adapters, or change out the line for a longer one. I assume you are running two kegs, you may want to have one "side" be setup with a longer line for your light lagers, hefe's, and other high CO2 beers, and the other side 'with a shorter line providing less restriction for other beers.

Changing out the line completely isn't that hard, you can also insert a section of line with an adapter that you can make up. Be sure to use proper clamps, line, and other parts when doing this, or call a draft tech in your area to come over to your house and help you get this all set up, they will have the proper line, clamps, tools, etc... to get the job done quickly.

Faucets will drip a couple drops after closing, 8 sounds high, the piece you speak of should be tight enough to provide proper pressure against the rubber washer and nylon insert and let the lever move comfortably, too tight and the faucet is hard to operate, and too loose and you'll have leaks elsewhere from where you describe, your drips are coming out of the spout right? Not running down from the lever portion?

Thanks for all the advice. Sounds like changing out the line completely is the way to go. I assume adapters are short pieces of rigid tubing that push into the I.D. of the flex tubing to make a connection. Seems that would create another point of turbulence in the line due to the step between the two I.D.s. You are correct I have 5' of line. I don't see how I can remove the clamp and line inside the tower. There's no room to work. I suspect I need to loosen the fittings on the faucet etc and pull the faucet fitting that the line slips onto out of the tower then put the new line on and place it back in the tower. I haven't done so yet but I assume the fitting drops free inside the tower so you can pull it out and change the line?
Actually, I bought this unit so I can stage the next keg and get it to temp before my previous keg runs out. An overlap seems like a good thing unless placing the second (warmer) keg in the unit drives up the temp on the original one.
Good advice on the faucet nut. I tightened it and now only getting about 3-4 drips.
The things still noisy though and I discovered the drain line at the bottom of the unit not only drains the drip tray which would have been an easy fix to re-plum to a bottle placed inside the unit... but there is also a "T" going into it that drains off condensation from the refrigeration unit. Ughhh, I now have a towel on the floor catching the drips from that...

[BrewGuru]

Yeah, most commercial units have the evap condensate and drip tray drains run together to outside of the unit, usually only the smaller ones (single keg units) run the evap condensate to a pan near the condenser and have a single bottle for the drip trays.

The drains are designed to be run to a floor drain or similar in a commercial setting.

Most of the people I know with these units at home do one of the following:
1. Run a separate bottle for the evap drain and the drip tray drain. Make SURE you check the bottles often and drain as necessary!

2. Leave them plumbed together and run hose to a bucket that sits outside of the unit that you dump periodically. Usually vinyl line with a couple of elbow joints going to a two gallon bucket works. Aesthetically this isn't the most desirable solution, but if your unit is in a garage, this is easier than messing with internal bottles. Just flush your drains every so often and you're good to go!