Bob F wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...

Bob F wrote:
I seem to be having my second failure of a chest freezer
used as beer cooler. The failure mode is that the unit runs
continuously but doesn't get the temp to drop more than
a few degrees. It also seems quieter when running after
failure

I have a few words to share on this subject but bare with me
it may be a bit long winded. You see, I went thru all this when I built
my own fridge to create a coolbox for my home built bar.

The space it is in in my basement is currently about 55F.
The temp controller is a mechanical thermostat with
the sensing bulb passing into the unit between the lid
gasket and the top of the chest wall. The thermostat controls
the power to the compressor through a relay. The temp is
usually set to 35-40F.


Now you suggested the ambient temp of the room is
around 55F which means you don't have far to go to achieve the set temp
of 35- 40F. This relay that you speak of may be an issue. What governs
this relay, does it have some other device it needs to satisfy other
than the thermostat? On my fridge I had to go out and buy a seperate
beverage thermostat that I could hardwire into the system. This allowed
the system to operate at "beverage temps" 32-51F.


Both units were obtained used for cheap or free, so maybe they
were just worn out. They seemed to work fine for awhile.
Each lasted a year or so.

As John suggested in another post Free doesn't
nessesarily mean that its "good". It could be that the former owner
discarded it because it failed on him.
Now I too obtained most of my equipment for free, compressor,
evaporator, fan assembly etc. at appliance junkyards and yardsale
giveaways yet upon assembly and an educated eye for detail you can
typicaly tell the good from the bad. Electrical componants need to be
new such as the defrost timer hardstart relays etc. Oh and check the
accuracy of your thermostat with thermometer and see how far off it is.
This can take out some of the mystery.


Has anyone else had similar problems? Is there something that
I am doing that is killing the freezers?

It's hard to pinpiont your problem without a bit more info.
What I did was rounded up anyone who had a working knowledge of
refrideration and would pump them for info, walking each through the
anatomy of your system and how your useing it. A guy that works in the
field will absorb all you can dish quickly and surmise were the problem
lies. Doing this I learned all I needed to troubleshoot my
frankenfridge and now four years or so later she's still working hard.
I still have to fiddle with the old girl now and again to make sure
she's still hummin the right tune but going through this will help you
in the long run. Hopfully you have a refridgeration guy to tap on for a
few detailed answers. Good luck and let us know how your progressing!


I don't have any friends with expertise in this area, which
is why I posted here.

I replaced my high quility - low differential thermostat with a
refrigerator type thermostat in a newer, smaller freezer. It is
working fine at this point. Only time will tell I guess.

Bob

Ok, if you have no friends to tap on then lets work on this a
little differently. When you got this fridge/freezer home did you give
it an initial test drive to see if it had enough umph to get the job
done? Did it get real cold and hold it there for several days? It
needs to at least do that before considering it for this use. Then when
selecting your replacement thermostat are you choosing an external unit
that you hang on the outside of the unit and fish the probe into the
box or is it a hardwire componant thats installed inside the box
replacing the original and operates at "beverage temps" somewhere
around 31-45deg.F ? The external units are popular , easy to install,
yet may require some fiddling to find the "differential" of your set
temp vs. your actual operating temp. Many folks don't go the way of the
hardwire unit unless they feel at comfortable dismantling their fridge
and it's related internal parts. I know I had to find a local supply
house that sells only to wholesale licened profesionals and pretend I
was one of the same and picked up several items for mine. If you've
done all of this it "should" be operating at the temp you have
selected. When you troubleshoot these things it's important to
systematicly go through each link in the chain of things with ample
review time before you can sit down. Let us know.

Steve