** HELP ** True TDD-4 Kegerator. Wont get below 42*

[THE ICEMAN]

PM sent.


THE ICEMAN

[par3me]

Awesome! That makes a lot of sense and is very helpful. I'm familiar with what a look looks like and I haven't seen any signs of oil even near the evaporator when the unit was off so I feel if I do have a leak it has to be a small one. As far as the evaporator freezing. It's not frozen solid, just has a nice white frost to it. Air seems to be moving around it well.

I did a couple searches for commercial refrigerator repair men but came up short. Is there a specific term or search I could use to find one? How does everyone else or even the bars find people?

Thanks again everyone.

[djc]

Better to call an appliance repair guy than an HVAC guy.

[THE ICEMAN]

Back to the kegerator. Does anyone have suggestions for finding said leak? Would any AC guy work or is there someone that works specifically with commercial kegerstors?

Thanks for all the info gentlemen.

You mentioned earlier that the evaporator was frosting over. If it freezes to the point where it is not moving air you will not get the cooling you need. That could be due to a couple of different things, it could be a temp control problem or it could indeed be low on refrigerant.

You do indeed have an R12 unit & no you cannot use 134a in it. There are replacement refrigerants for R12 so it is not a death sentence. Take a quick visual check of all the lines that you can see & see if there may be any oil residue. If there is that may be your leak. As PointPleasantNJBeerguy mentioned, the evaporator would be the most likely location of a leak occurring.

If you do get it serviced, find someone that works with those type of units all the time. A simple A/C guy will more than likely take more time than is needed to figure out what is going on & may end up making a bigger problem than you had before. Trust me on this, I have seen it many times.


THE ICEMAN

[PointPleasantNJBeerguy]

A HVAC guy should have the general knowledge to do a leak trace.Hopefully he will know how to find a leak with using those leak detection dyes.

[par3me]

Well that makes more sense. With the "you sold them after 8-9 years?" led me to believe it was a time issue and not an issue of brewery thievery. I'm familiar with cost of kegs and that the brewery loses on these. If it was a local craft brewery I would have drove to them and dropped them off. Since they were big 3 kegs I called my local distributor who cared less to drive to me and pick them up. I guess when you make the kind of money they do selling fizzy rice/corn water it's not a big deal.

Back to the kegerator. Does anyone have suggestions for finding said leak? Would any AC guy work or is there someone that works specifically with commercial kegerstors?

Thanks for all the info gentlemen.

[djc]

I see the keg selling in a different light. It is the brewery's property. It is nobody's to sell. A brewery buys kegs for something like $150 each, so you have essentially taken $120 of value from them. On top of that the previous person who was watching over them prevented the brewery from using their investment for the 9 years. Cheap asses who won't go buy a proper brew pot and instead steal kegs from breweries are just that, cheap asses. Everything comes full circle and everyone gets to pay the price for this type of behavior.

[PointPleasantNJBeerguy]

no problem selling them.Even though technically they are property of the brewery. Kinda like milk carton deal..And yes your True unit is R12 by the ID tag. Shouldn't matter if it sat for a few years. If refrigerant leaked out, their is a reason it leaked out (aka a leak)meaning you just can't pump it up and go back to using it. It will leak out again. Could take a day could take a year to leak out again to low levels. If your leak is in the evaporator coil(where they usually are) and can't be found or fixed.You would need a new evap coil. 42F is pretty high on the temp scale for draft dispensing. You would need your regulator set at 14LB + psi and need really long lines to tame the fast flow. And even then you will probably still have foam issues.

[par3me]

Yes I did. Am I missing something? What would you have done with them?

Normally they're used for deposits on new ones or home brewers turn them into brewing pots.

I'm not sure your "WTF" is valid on this one.

Thanks for the feedback though.

[djc]

You sold kegs that were sitting in it for 9 or 10 years? WTF?

[par3me]

Gotcha.

That makes sense. Well I'm still ahead 50.00 bucks and a free kegerator that gets my beer to 42*. I would like it colder but good beer still taste good even warmer.

Maybe I misunderstood my buddy about the R134a.... Wouldn't be the first time.

[KillianBoy]

par3me,
Yikes, it's a R12, just use the most important tool any member here has, patience, and wait for a pro to chime in. Make sure when you call a professional for service show them this picture and let them know it is a R12 unit.
KB
I don't think you can use R134a in a R12 unit, its a matter of seals and leakage, think professionals still have R12 but really expensive (that's why you got such a great deal).

[par3me]

Here is a pic

image.jpg

[par3me]

par3me,
Just post a picture of the plate the pros who hang out here might make sense of the numbers, not sure if True has a site to decipher the numbers. Hopefully it is a R134a unit and not a R12.
KB

I had a buddy that does AC look at it right after I bought it and did mention I could use R143a. I did a little research. It looks like it has a ship date of 02.19.1998 but sat off since 2004 or 2005 per the kegs and service tags.

The link is True Manufacturing - Serial Inquiry

[KillianBoy]

par3me,
Just post a picture of the plate the pros who hang out here might make sense of the numbers, not sure if True has a site to decipher the numbers. Hopefully it is a R134a unit and not a R12.
KB