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  • #1

    DD58 cooling problems

    Hello All,

    I bought a used dd-58 about 6 months ago. After some minor troubleshooting and repair to the evap fan, the thing has been running like a champ. On Thursady, I noticed my temperatures were a little higher then normal about 45* but i didn't think anything of it as we're experiencing a bit of a heat wave here. When I got up on friday, i noticed the temps were even higher, about 55*.

    So I unplugged the kegerator and and took a look at the coil and it was frosted up a bit. I grabbed a hair dryer and after about 10 minutes, got all of the ice melted and water cleaned up. I plugged the kegerator back in and saturday evening, it was down to near beer temps (41*). I thought the problem was fixed. Sunday morning, I get up, and the temps are back in the 50s and compressor is running non-stop! Temps have gotten all the way up to 58* as of this morning before i finally pulled the plug for good until i get this fixed.

    I have attached pictures of the frozen coil as it sat this morning at 58*. This is about the same condition i found the coil in when I defrosted it on friday. I have read that if only a small portion of the coil is frozen, chances are the unit is low on freon. Is that likely the culprit? Any chance this is a thermostat or other electrical issue? Or is this all from the small amount of frost on the coil?

    http://imgur.com/KbG1Xni

    http://imgur.com/oShCcn5
    Tags: None
  • #2
    It doesn't look like from the pics that it is a temp control problem. If that were the case the ice would be across the entire coil. It looks more like the evaporator coil is not full of refrigerant as it requires. It is either a case of a restriction in the filter/drier or cap tube or most likely, the unit is low on refrigerant. Those units are critical charge meaning that they require a specific amount of refrigerant to work properly. If there is a small leak in the system the unit will work to a certain point & then it just kind of 'drops off the edge' & stops cooling as you described.
    You will probably need to bring in someone to check it out. Find someone that works on those systems all the time & not just some A/C guy.


    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

    • #3
      As always Iceman, thank you for the reply.

      I was definitely leaning towards the case of low refrigerant charge. I'm going to attempt a DIY repair on this because I dont think the unit itself is worth the cost to have a pro come out and look at it. From years of automotive background, I've accumulated all of the necessary tools (AC manifold, reclaim tank, vacuum pump, MAPP torch etc). So I think I'm going to solder on some service fittings and hope for the best. I'll update once i've got it all taken care of.

      In the case of a restriction in the filter/drier/cap tube, are these serviceable/cleanable items? or is it something that you just replace? I assume I'd need cut them out and solder in new ones.

      Comment

      • #4
        First slide the condensing unit chassis out & feel the drier while the unit is running. Normally it is warm. If it feels real cold or you see frost on the drier or cap tube coming out of the drier then the drier is most likely restricted. The drier is pretty easy to replace but make sure you get one the same size or the refrigerant charge will have to be adjusted accordingly. The cap tube takes a bit more to replace, from the drier all the way up to the evaporator & needs to be the same size & length as the old one.
        If you find that there is a leak the most common place would be the evaporator coil & most likely pinhole leaks. Most times that requires replacing the evap coil.


        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

        • #5
          Well, its been a while, but i wanted to be sure i wasn't going to jinx things. The kegerator has been up and running with no issues since about 6/20! The repair was no where near as difficult as i thought it was going to be. I cut off the crimp/capped fittings on both the high and low sides of the system and soldered on service fittings. Once I was convinced I had a good seal/sweat on the service fittings, I hooked up my AC gauges/manifold and vacuum pump and brought the system as close to -30" of vacuum as I could get. It ended up topping out at about -27" and i deemed that good enough. I let that sit over night and it didn't drop at all, so i was convinced I had a leak-free system.

          After that, I grabbed a can of r134 and hooked it up to my AC manifold. I set the can on a small kitchen scale, zero'd it out, and plugged in the kegerator. When the compressor kicked on, i opened the valve on the coolant can and let the compressor suck in as much coolant as it could until it kicked back off. Then i closed the can and repeated the process until the scale read -8oz. (i dont recall if thats actually the right amount of coolant, just going off of memory.) She's been running at a frosty 35* ever since. The added benefit of this is that the unit now has service fittings, so if it runs low again, i just need to top it off with another can of coolant.

          All-in-all the total repair cost was only about $15 for the solder, r-134 and service fittings. I was able to rent any tools i didnt have for the job from Autozone (free).

          Iceman, thanks again for the spot-on advice. The cold homebrew flows again!!!!

          Comment

          • #6
            Good to hear things are working for you. Keep an eye on it. If it acts up once, it's likely to do it again.


            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

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