why does my danby kegerator gets so hot?

[mrkour]

Hi guys ,
Another newbie to the forum, I bought a danby kegerator from a state sale and like almost everyone I am having trouble keeping the temperature cold, I guess the thermostat is bad and I should use an external one but I need some opinions before I do that. First of all the compressor runs all the time and it gets very hot and as the result the sides of the unit also get very hot. I put the temp sensor in a glass of water and I was able to bring the temp down to 39 when the it was set at 36 on the display,and the liquid temp was at 37, but it didn't last long and started climbing then I turned it off afraid of burning up the compressor. Another time with the sensor in the glass of water it wouldn't get any lower than 54 so I took the sensor out of the glass of water and it started to go down to 44 ,I just can't make any sense out of this.
Will a external stat fix this? Why doesn't compressor cycle off? Does it need freon even though it gets down to 39 sometimes?
It's summer time and is very hot in Florida, I sure could use a cold beer. Please help.

[KillianBoy]

mrkour,
First of all, take the sensor out of water, hopefully it didn't short out. Stock thermostats will have a large differential (differences when the unit shuts on and off), by putting in water unit may not turn off and most aren't waterproof. It may not have turned off at start because it has to get everything cold before turning off.
As a used unit you don't know what modifications were made by previous owner. Two ways to find out, turn off, unplug and look through the Danby sticky and see if the re-wiring matches the unit you have or you can put thermostat sensor back and run, get a wireless thermometer and let run and see where that gets you, a runaway unit will get below 25 degrees (air temperature) easy. Cooling cycles on these units at regular will be on 1-2 hours and off 15-30 minutes, unless your sitting right by it 3 hours+ you can't know for certain it is turning off. If it really isn't turning off it may actually be modified NOT to turn off, if it is modified then you can get a external temperature controller.
Unless your certain it's modified there's no sense in getting a external temperature controller, the 2 thermostats will be fighting each other, also the unit usually CANNOT be refilled with freon, there are no valves to hook up gauges for refill.
KB

[mrkour]

the unit is definitely modified since there are valves in the lines to add freon, I placed a fan by the compressor and it ran much cooler and brought it down to 39f , but the sides are still hot. what is the correct wiring for the compressor so it would cycle off. Do I still need an external stat? will that fix the problem? thanks in advance.

[KillianBoy]

mrkour,
The place to look for wiring instruction:

http://www.micromatic.com/forum/us-en/kegerators-kegerator-kits-home/6587-danby-kegerator-improvements-part-ii.html

For unit to cycle you have wire it back to stock, most members will re-wire for it to run forever, just look for the pictures that show the unit stock before the re-wiring, if your certain it is not cycling all you have to do is buy a external temperature controller and hook up. If your air temperature is 39 then it won't get cold enough for beer (if running forever), if water temperature I'd say the same as air if it hasn't stopped running, not cold enough.
Are you sure it has valves? It should be 1 valve (screw-on connector like a tire valve) on low pressure side and 1 valve on the high pressure side of the coolant lines, it should have color coded caps, I think 1 red and 1 blue, can't remember which was which.
There should be a fan blowing near compressor usually over evaporator, if the fan isn't there or not running then that has to be fixed first, if you do have the valves, it might need some coolant too.
KB

[mrkour]

KB,
Thanks for all your input, I am certain that the unit doesn't cycle and runs continuously.There are two valves,one on the low side and one on the high side but both have copper caps and they are not color coded,and this model of danby doesn't have a fan. I am going to check the wiring as it is now to see if it's been modified and change it back to stock. My question is if the wiring is stock do I still need an external thermostat? how would I know if unit needs freon?

[KillianBoy]

mrkour,
Again if your temperature is 39 degrees, it's not cold enough, if set at 36, you not be getting to the set point to turn unit off, try and set at warmer temperature to see if it will turn off. If it is getting really cold (<30 degrees), then all you have to do is get a external temperature controller, then your good, but from what your posting it seems it may not be getting cold enough. If you have the sensor back where it was and everything running, unit air temperature should fall to around 30, 39 degrees at compressor running isn't cold enough.
KB

[mrkour]

KB,
I went ahead and bought a johnson thermostat and I am not quite sure how to wire this up, since my unit has one red wire and 2 white wires going to compressor, there is also a board to the right of the compressor with some resistors and pin wires pluged into it , the 2 pin plug is for the fan inside and the 3 pin plug is for the compressor and there is another 3 pin plug which I think goes to the digital thermostat in front. Any idea how I should rewire for the external stat? Thanks for all your help.comp1.JPGcomp2.JPG

[KillianBoy]

mrkour,
You really need to first read my previous post carefully, if not getting to temperature, beer won't be cold and what you're talking about won't matter. If the unit is still not turning off and not getting below 38 degrees, it will not get cold enough, if it is turning off, and you like 40+ degree beer then continue reading. PLEASE read my other post regarding the Danby Sticky, EVERYTHING you want is there, you can go back to part 1 if you want more information. In the 100th post of part 2, there is a picture of what to do, throughout the Sticky there are pictures of what members did to bypass board, there is another thread floating around regarding hooking everything up to compressor directly. You could go either way DEPENDING on WHAT ETC you have, I have no idea what ETC you have so I don't know how to hook up.
But understand if your unit doesn't turn off and is in upper 30's (air temperature), it will not keep beer cold, if it is turning off, you need to post what a container of water reads before you EVEN think about bypassing and hooking up ETC.
Right now by what you posted, the unit is in need of a coolant recharge, which will cost $120-200, at that price I would convert a refrigerator or freezer.
KB

[mrkour]

OK,this is where I am right now with my Danby , per KB instructions I had the level of freon checked and it has proper amount of freon in it,since the previous owner installed valves in lines. I replaced the inside fan with a bigger fan and used the stock fan wires to hook up the new one and works just fine,also I purchased a manual Johnson thermostat and I did the wiring,by cutting the red wire at the control board and tied in with black wire and plugged it back into the CB
then inserted the Johnson prob through the co2 hole and kept it on top of the unit near the door on the fan side.Plugged in the Johnson to the wall and plugged danby to the female of the Johnson,set the temp on Johnson 0n 36 last night around 7pm and this morning the thermometer inside the glass of water was at 42 while the display on danby read 73. These are my questions:
1.Have I done everything right thus far
2.Is it normal for the display to read that high even though the temp is handled by Johnson?
3.Is 12 hours long enough for the unit to reach the temp set?
4.is it normal for the sides of the unit to get so hot?
5.Is the temp setting on Johnson accurate at 36 or do I have to lower temp on it to reach the desire temp?
Sorry for all the questions, but any insights will be appreciated.
P.S. would installing resistor at this stage help any?

[KillianBoy]

mrkour,
I don't know how you have decided it has enough coolant, in cars it's a little window, if your using the HVAC gauges then you know everything I am posting. I did say "usually" when it comes to the valves, some older units did come with the valves so the previous owner may not have did the valve modification, it's probably a older original valve (f)actory installation.
Again that said, you are probably not getting cold enough, the default setpoint on ETC will turn on at that point (36), then cut-out at the default differential (not sure 3 or 5), if water temperature is 42, you'll never hit the cut-out point. (this is what the default is for the jumper settings)
It seems you did everything right if the compressor isn't shutting off, the Danby will read 73 since you've bypassed the control board.
As I have asked before you can try and set ETC to a warmer temperature (I'd say 44 degrees), if unit cycles on and off, if it does, then your wiring is fine, then the unit won't get cold enough.
And at this stage the resistor won't help, the resistor will only work if the stock sensor is working, if you did everything right the stock thermostat is bypassed and sensor isn't operating.
In a perfectly working cold plate unit, it will turn super cold (usually <25 degrees) while compressor is running, the cold plate will make the air temperature go down till it hits the cut-out/differential, unit will turn off, then the air temperature will rise till it hits the cut-in/ differential and cycle repeats. Thermostat WILL NOT make cold plate warmer or colder, if cold plate itself doesn't get colder than 25 degrees, then something is wrong with the coolant system.
KB
Sorry don't know if I answered your questions, so by the numbers
1. Don't know until the unit cycles on and off
2. yes normal, if bypassed properly
3. Yes 12 hours is long enough for unit to get to 33-31 degrees air temperature
4. If the compressor ISN'T turning off, yes it's normal, the compressor should cycle on and off
5. Yes it's accurate, no don't set lower, set higher to see if the unit will cycle

[xscash]

killianboy....you have the patience of a saint.
mrkour....if your unit runs and doesnt shut off......it should be freezing the water. adding ANY control will not make it colder....the controls are to stop the water/beer from freezing. no freeze but still running=compessor/freon problem.

[KillianBoy]

xscash,
geez, been called wife, mother, useless, snotty, elitist and a saint, whateva' hey as long it's a useless snotty Boondock Saint, I'm good.
KB

[psychodad]

killianboy....you have the patience of a saint.
mrkour....if your unit runs and doesnt shut off......it should be freezing the water. adding ANY control will not make it colder....the controls are to stop the water/beer from freezing. no freeze but still running=compessor/freon problem.

This sums it up in a nutshell.