I am new to kegging. I have a cream ale and stout on tap. I have a chest freezer converted to a keggerator. I use a Johnson A419 temp controller and keep set at 39 degrees. Initially everything was working great. Now if I let it sit for a few days I get almost no flow out of the taps when I open them. At first I noticed some icing in the lines as they were touching the sides of the freezer. Thawed them out and worked fine again. I tied off the lines so they weren’t touching the sides of the freezer and haven’t noticed any more icing. However, after about a week I opened the taps and again I have absolutely no flow. There does not appear to be any obstruction in the beer line itself. Maybe icing at the out connector but if it’s at 39 degreeswith a 2 degree differential I can’t see any reason for icing. With that said, this is the third time this has happened and when I shut off the freezer and let it warm up a few degrees the problem has resolved the last 2 times which would suggest an icing issue I would think. Anyone have any ideas or suggestions to help me out? This is getting frustrating!
Where is your temp probe measuring 39F from?
Sounds like the beer is freezing, as Amanda asked, where is the probe?
The probe is hanging off one of the CO2 lines into open air so is measuring ambient air temp. Now that I think more about it. The probe is near the top of the freezer so maybe air is warmer there? Wouldn’t think it would make much difference though as the collar is insulated.
Well it looks like that was exactly the problem . I moved the probe closer to the bottom of the keggerator and the temp dropped over 10 degrees to the mid 20s. Hopefully the freezing won’t affect taste now…
FWIW, I keep a little glass of water in the bottom corner of my chest freezer. The probe sits in that. (Yes, there is a fan in the freezer.)
Installing a small fan can greatly reduce the temp difference from bottom to top. Just make sure the fan will be ok running 24/7. Also, taping the probe to the side of a bomber or growler of water will ease the strain on your compressor as the water temp will rise slower than ambient and you won’t cycle as often.
Edit: Amanda beat me to it!
Great suggestions thanks! Does it matter where the fan is mounted or where it is pointed?
I have a large cpu fan mounted on a stand about a foot off the freezer floor. It is pointing up
Beer is now thawed and flows great from the taps…and still tastes good too!
Awesome news!