Can I ditch the fan?

[Jdjeff]

I just bought a Summit undercounter kegerator. It has a fan that blows across the coils in the back that is pretty loud. My set up is that I have a corner bar (ie: it runs along two walls, and cuts across the corner between them. There is probably 2 feet of clearance behind the kegerator, the back is totally exposed vertically, and there is room on either side of the kegerator. I assume the fan is there to move heat away from the coils when the kegerator is enclosed. Since mine effectively only has a top on it, and is otherwise open, do you think I can bypass the fan. It honestly doesn't seem to blow that much air pas the coils, and then only across may 20 percent of them. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Scott Zuhse]

If this is the fan behind the condenser, no. This is the area where the refrigerator dispels the heat gathered from the box. If you diminish the capability of the refrigerator to move heat, you will end up with warm beer and a system that will not perform.

[Jdjeff]

It is the Summit 490BI that Micromatic sells. It just appears to be a fan that pokes out of the back of the unit and throws airflow over the coils on the back of the unit and doesn't do anything else.



you can see the air flow director on the left side just below the coils (rectangular silver thingy).

[TAPMAN]

As Scott said, you will end up with warm beer, and a system that will not perform. That fan has to beer there. Refrigeration is more an absense of heat, rather than an addition of coolness. Do away with the fan, the heat won't dissipate.

[Jdjeff]

I understand that (and very much appreciate the response), but most free standing units do not have a fan. They just have the coils on the back and heat rises away from the coils through ordinary convection. In this unit, which is designed to be in a totally enclosed cabinet with no where for the heat to go, the fan is only intended (it appears) to draw cool air from the open space in front of the unit and push it across the coils in the unvented space in order to force dissipation. Since I will have the refrigerator in an unenclosed space, so that ordinary convection over the coils can take place, doesn't that mean that the fan is unnecessary for this particular installation? If the answer is yes, I'm ok with that, I'm just trying to understand why (and sorry if I appear argumentative).

[THE ICEMAN]

If the manufacturer determined that they need a fan for the condenser coils, they need a fan for the condenser coils. The danger is if the condenser is not getting the cooling air it needs the high side pressure will shoot up & will eventually cause the compressor to stall or will warp the valves in the compressor. Aside from the fact that it would void the warranty.

THE ICEMAN

[Jdjeff]

Understood, but they added the fan only because this is an undercounter unit that is meant to have limited to no airflow. My install is pretty much freestanding, and so it isn't clear to me why the fan would be required. It appears to be identical to the freestanding unit other than they have opened up the lower back panel and mounted a fan to draw air from under the kegerator. I appreciate that the warranty would be voided if I were to do this but again, I'm trying to understand if based on this unit and this install if the fan is necessary. Thanks

[bkl63]

Everyone has told you to leave it on and for many good reasons. Why do you continue to search for someone else to blame it on when you do it and it dies?

[SteelersBar]

Not trying to be rude in any way, but it sounds as if you are not getting the answer you are looking for......just try calling Summit and they should be able to tell you exactly what you are looking for and if it voids the warranty........

[Jdjeff]

I know it sounds like I'm trying to get to a particular answer, and apologize if I seem disrespectful. I do appreciate the thoughts. It seems though that I'm getting generic answers rather than any specific discussion directed to my particular issue. I do understand the basic reasons why this wouldn't make sense, but need some insight if those reasons are applicable in my situation. Calling Summit is a very good idea, but tech support is more than likely to say no just because. I also appreciate that I'm the only one who is responsible for what happens if I go the route of disconnecting the fan. I would note that there are people who report adding fan speed controls to put the fan speed way down and have no prob with cooling (the issue of whether they are damaging their systems aside).

All that being said, I'll leave off...

[jumper]

I'll go out on the limb here...

With the airspace you're describing I would say you'd probably be fine. The design is no different than any stand alone other than the fan added for use in built-in applications. Even the fan design as it is doesn't seem that efficient, just good enough. While I don't work in HVAC per se I do work with small scale cryogenic coolers so I have a decent understanding of what it takes to remove thermal energy from a surface/air space.

If it were me personally, with all the air space you have, I'd wire a simple light dimmer in line with it (I'm assuming it runs off AC) and just throttle it back to an acceptable noise level.

As you said, it's your unit and the responsibility for any adverse outcome is yours. Just keep in mind that you'll void the warranty with any modifications.

[Jdjeff]

Thanks, that is very helpful. I had a refrigeration guy look at it as well today and he said the same thing. The fan is barely useful for built in applications but would do the job. It doesn't really have any benefit in my application with the back entirely exposed and plenty of airflow. NOW, I'll leave off....

[Kpt42]

That design should work without a fan as long as its not undercounter. The condenser is like any consumer refrigerator which doesn't have a fan.

Everyone else is likely thinking of commercial units where the condenser is MUCH more compact and will not work without a fan forcing air through it. Those fans are a lot bigger and don't just blow air in the general direction of the coil either.

[Jdjeff]

Thanks. That makes a lot of sense.

[THE ICEMAN]

Fine. Ignore the consensus of opinion & the expert recommendations & go with what you wanted to hear in the first place. Enjoy.