[Village Taphouse]

Weird situation:  In my old place the serving fridges were in the basement. Now they're in the garage with the lines going through the wall to the taps inside.  On one of the fridges, the beer is a little warmer than usual.  I went out there and the fridge is running but I noticed the seal was a little off and some frost inside on the capillaries.  I adjusted the door and seal yesterday and it's sealed closed but I just tapped a beer and it's still not as cold as it usually is.  It's been warm and humid here.  Should I unplug the fridge for 24 hours and let it sit and then turn it back on?  Anyone else seen this before?  Thanks in advance.

EDIT:   The other fridge sitting right next to it (these are both 4.4cf Danby fridges) is serving much colder beer.  The fridge server 'warmer' beer is running but something is off and I did NOT play with the temp setting.  Thanks.

[KellerBrauer]

I may be able to help you with this.  However, it’s difficult to put a visual on your situation.  So, from your description, it sounds like the basement is the more favorable environment for the equipment.  This is because the basement is much cooler than the garage.  Is there any way you can better ventilate the garage?  It sounds like the the garage might be far too warm for the condenser to properly cool the refrigerant.

[Village Taphouse]

I may be able to help you with this.  However, it’s difficult to put a visual on your situation.  So, from your description, it sounds like the basement is the more favorable environment for the equipment.  This is because the basement is much cooler than the garage.  Is there any way you can better ventilate the garage?  It sounds like the the garage might be far too warm for the condenser to properly cool the refrigerant.

Well, there are two fridges right next to each other and one is pumping out cold beer and the other is pumping out less-cold beer.  The one pumping out the warmer beer looks like it lost its seal on the door and some frost built up.  What I did was just unplug the fridge overnight.  I went out there first thing this morning and there was some water on the floor and I just plugged it back in.  I did wonder how the fridges would perform in the warm garage but then I realized that many, many people have fridges in their garages all year long without issue.  I'll check later today or tomorrow to see if it worked. Thanks for the reply. 

[narvin]

If the seal seems good now and it doesn't improve, it's probably either the compressor going or low refrigerant.  I'm not sure it's cost economical to try to fix either of those things.  I did have an issue once where my kegerator fridge wouldn't turn on and only made a clicking sound, and all I had to replace was the relay for $20 bucks or so.  Definitely worth it.

Oh, you can try cleaning the coils in the back in case they're dusty and not allowing heat to dissipate.  Make sure there is ample room behind and next to the fridge as well.

[BrewBama]

Most refrigerators can have a ‘garage kit’ installed to help deal with the heat/cold. But like you said one is fine the other not so much. The seal and frost seem to be your smoking gun so repairing it or a replacement seal might be all it takes.

If it’s a refrigerant issue you have a leak. It might be able to be repaired using leak finder, brazing, and recharging it. That’s a big *might*.

[Village Taphouse]

I plugged it back in this morning and it's running.  Tapping a beer from that fridge tonight may not be a good test because I'm not sure how long it would take to fully chill the kegs... so maybe tomorrow.  If that doesn't fix it then it must be something else.  In my limited experience with fridges, they either run or they don't... they don't serve 55° beer instead of the usual 35° beer but having the fridges in the garage is new and having them in the garage with HOT & HUMID weather is even newer. 

[tommymorris]

I just went downstairs to my basement fridge. Apparently I left the door wide open all night and all day today

I poured an ounce of beer. All foam and probably 60F or more. It tasted fine.

[KellerBrauer]

I may be able to help you with this.  However, it’s difficult to put a visual on your situation.  So, from your description, it sounds like the basement is the more favorable environment for the equipment.  This is because the basement is much cooler than the garage.  Is there any way you can better ventilate the garage?  It sounds like the the garage might be far too warm for the condenser to properly cool the refrigerant.

Well, there are two fridges right next to each other and one is pumping out cold beer and the other is pumping out less-cold beer.  The one pumping out the warmer beer looks like it lost its seal on the door and some frost built up.  What I did was just unplug the fridge overnight.  I went out there first thing this morning and there was some water on the floor and I just plugged it back in.  I did wonder how the fridges would perform in the warm garage but then I realized that many, many people have fridges in their garages all year long without issue.  I'll check later today or tomorrow to see if it worked. Thanks for the reply.

“…some frost is building up.”  That part is concerning.  If these two refrigerators are intended for cooling only — and not freezing — than there should not be any frost at any time unless there is an issue with the refrigerant or the refrigeration circuit or a control issue.  All, of which, are issues that would require on-site troubleshooting by a trained technician.

My suggestion is to go ahead and do what’s necessary to fix the seal.  That should be easy enough and is necessary for proper machine efficiency.  Then, if the problem persists, I would call in a technician.  This person will put gauges on the machine to determine the pressures and make adjustments and corrections accordingly.

I hope this information helps.  Good luck!