[soymateofeo]

Ok team.  I recently put a collar on my fermentation fridge. I insulated the hell out of it.  After  2 months, it stopped cooling.  I was hoping it was the start relay on the compressor. I plugged it in after a week and when I got my face down there, the compressor was humming away and I could hear liquid moving through the cooling lines.  The temp of the walls dropped about 5-8 degrees but that was it.  That sounds like a bad compressor to me. 

My question is,

1. Could my collar have caused the compressor to crap out somehow?  I checked all around for temp drops and had none.

2.  What settings should I have on my inkbird temp controller and could that have caused this?

Oh!!
3. Does it sound like a bad compressor if it's humming, moving liquid and still not cooling or am I way off the mark?

[Bob357]

The freezer temperature control should be on the coldest setting and the InkBird set to a reasonable serving temperature. If the compressor continues to run after the temperature quits dropping for more than a few minutes, that tells you that the InkBird isn't the problem. If you had the freezer sitting on one of the sides, the front or the back, it needs to sit right-side-up for 24 hours prior to powering up. If you didn't allow it to sit right-side-up, it's possible that the compressor was damaged, otherwise, it's likely most of the refrigerant has leaked out.

[soymateofeo]

It was never on its side.  It sat in the same spot for 2 years. I put a collar on it a few months ago and it ran at 68 just fine.

[Bob357]

Likely very low on refrigerant then.

[soymateofeo]

Thanks!  That's what I was thinking but I'm no repair man. Going to replace that thing right now

[jeffy]

Interesting that my 7cf chest freezer just died Friday. They don't last as long as they used to.
I have a 1934 Monitor Top fridge that is still working with the original charge of sulfur dioxide.

[BrewBama]

1. Could my collar have caused the compressor to crap out somehow?  I checked all around for temp drops and had none. 

Probably the fact that it’s not running at freezing temps.

2.  What settings should I have on my inkbird temp controller and could that have caused this? 

I prefer to have a freezer running at freezing temps and refrigerators running warmer

Oh!!
3. Does it sound like a bad compressor if it's humming, moving liquid and still not cooling or am I way off the mark?

It could be a bad compressor but it sounds like it just isn’t starting. I’d ck the start relay and/or capacitor first.

Sometimes relays get stuck, allows the start winding to stay in the circuit, overloads thermally, and trips. If the compressor is trying to start but you hear a click it’s probably the relay thermal overload tripping. They can be removed, slapped around a bit, reinstalled, and *sometimes* work again. When you have it off shake it to see if it rattles. If so, it’s probably bad. You can also ck continuity on the relay. Relays are cheap to replace.

While you have the starter relay off ck continuity between the pins on the compressor. All three pins should have continuity (common to run, common to start, and start to run). If those pins don’t ring you have a broken winding in your compressor. You should not have continuity from any of the three pin to the refrigerant line (aka a dead short). Compressors are expensive to replace. Only done by a pro and probably cheaper to get a new freezer.

Finally, ck the capacitor. Careful: the capacitor can hold a charge even when removed. Capacitors are cheap to replace.

I recommend if you change one start component (relay/thermal overload switch or capacitor) change them all.  You can get a generic 3 in 1 starter pack (capacitor, overload, and relay) very easily and cheaply. Maybe a 15 min job.

I hope this helps. Cheers.

... They don't last as long as they used to.
…

Interesting you say this. I have an old refrigerator I use for a fermentation chamber I bought used 32 yrs ago.

I bought a small chest freezer at the same time. We gave it to my MIL and it still works great.

I think I gave $50 for the set.

[KellerBrauer]

3. Does it sound like a bad compressor if it's humming, moving liquid and still not cooling or am I way off the mark?

Do you have the ability to check the amperage draw of the machine?  If so, look at the refrigerator label to find the “locked rotor amps”. Then check the amp draw as the fridge is starting.  If the amp draw is at or above the “locked rotor” rating, the compressor may have a locked rotor —  meaning the rotor is not spinning.  You can then replace the start capacitor and start relay as one of the other brewer has mentioned.  Why? Because if either one of these parts is bad, the compressor will look like it has a locked rotor, but it might not be.  And, replacing these two parts is very cheap and will tell you definitively if the compressor is good, or not.

You can also check the condenser fan motor and the condenser itself.  The condenser needs to be vacuumed every few years depending on the environment to insure it can do it’s job.  The condenser fan motor is used to circulate room air over the condenser to cool the refrigerant after it’s compressed by the compressor.  This very small motor must be running whenever there is a call for cooling even if the compressor is locked, the motor should still be running.  If you hear “liquid moving” this motor may be your problem and is also very cheap to replace being careful not to damage the fan blade.

Lastly, if you are not comfortable troubleshooting this machine, then don’t.  It is very easy to get hurt or cause more damage if you’re not sure of yourself.

Good luck!

[soymateofeo]

I don't have a way to measure amperage but I swapped out the capacitor.  It started up but it was already starting up.  I could hear refrigerant moving through the lines.  Same weak temperature drop. I have no desire to mess with the compressor. My last chest freezer lasted 15+ years at 65 degrees with my Johnson analog temp controller. 

[KellerBrauer]

3. Does it sound like a bad compressor if it's humming, moving liquid and still not cooling or am I way off the mark?

You can also check the condenser fan motor and the condenser itself.  The condenser needs to be vacuumed every few years depending on the environment to insure it can do its job.  The condenser fan motor is used to circulate room air over the condenser to cool the refrigerant after it’s compressed by the compressor.  This very small motor must be running whenever there is a call for cooling even if the compressor is locked, the motor should still be running.  If you hear “liquid moving” this motor may be your problem and is also very cheap to replace being careful not to damage the fan blade.

Good luck!

[BrewBama]

You can also check the condenser fan motor and the condenser itself.  …
Good luck!

+1

[MDL]

What part of the fridge did you apply insulation to?

[hopfenundmalz]

I had a chest freezer used as a keezer crap out. A local guy who does HVAC work said they don't work so long at keezer Temps, designed to be <freezing.

My replacement is a 30F lagering chamber now.

[KellerBrauer]

^^^^ this makes perfect sense.

I have a 35 year old Kenmore (Sears) “Beermizer” for fermentation, lagering and crashing.  And I use an Inkbird to control it.  Works beautifully!

[brewthru]

^^^^ this makes perfect sense.

I have a 35 year old Kenmore (Sears) “Beermizer” for fermentation, lagering and crashing.  And I use an Inkbird to control it.  Works beautifully!

Probably, based on my experience, things were built better years ago vs today. I'm sorry, not trying to create any flame wars, etc, but we, as consumers, for the most part today, are willing to buy crap, often from communist country (ies), simply because these are "cheap". How is it "cheap" if one must purchase a replacement in a short time? Same applies to homes, clothing, mowers, basically anything. I am absolutely, sick of going to the BIG hardware stores for, example, screws. Turn the screw into a wall, and the screw head breaks off. What did I save? Nothing!