Danby Chill 'n Tap?

I have one of these. It's solid as far as I'm concerned. The only issue I'm having is excess foam during the first pour or so, but I don't think that has to deal with the product (temperature, co2 level, etc)

 

I've owned this model for nearly 5 years. Works like a charm.

Here's the thing with the Danby, the refrigeration equipment in this unit works great. The electronics on the thing are often shoddy, at best. The thing has a digital temperature controller built in, except it often is not even close to accurate. Out of the box, I set my Danby to 36 and it would only cool a keg down to 42. I have seen many people say theirs wouldn't cool down below 46 even. This particular problem with this unit is so common there is a sticky thread at the top of the Micromatic.com forums just for the Danby unit.

The good news, this problem can be fixed easily. You can either add a $1 resistor from Radio Shack or bypass the electronics completely with an external temperature controller. Both of these modifications are well documented in the same sticky thread on micromatic.com. Instructions, pictures, etc. If you have at least one thumb and an IQ over 70 you should be able to do either of these modifications with no problem.

Also, this unit does not come with a tower cooling fan. A tower cooler forces cool air directly into the draft tower with a fan and a hose that is run into the tower. This keeps the beer cold all the way to the faucet, and helps reduce foamy first pours. This is also easy and cheap to add. There aren't any units under $1000 or so that come with built in tower coolers. So this really isn't a detraction from this 'economy' level product, IMO. I built a tower cooler in an hour with $10, an old PC fan, and an old cell phone charger.

I paid $430 for mine new from Best Buy 5 years ago. I would buy it for that new again, but I probably wouldn't pay more than $250 for one used. If you are buying off of Craig's list, I would ask the seller to have the unit plugged in when you arrive so that you can verify it cools. If it barely cools or doesn't cool, don't let the seller try to tell you it just needs a recharge. These are sealed units that cannot be recharged. If it needs refrigerant there is a leak somewhere and you are looking at hundreds of dollars to repair. A repair would cost more than the unit does new. Also, if they are willing, ask them to put a 5 gallon bucket of water in there 24 hours prior to your arrival so you can verify the unit cools a substantial amount of liquid down as well. Bring with you a cheap digital food thermometer and check the temp of the water. If the water is under 50F and the unit has no mods, I'd low-ball the guy on the price and then do the mods when I got home.

Hope this helps!

 

The local Costco has this unit for $369 and a return policy that can't be beat

Cheers

 

did you switch out the standard faucet with a Perlick or MM? the Danby's i have seen have a pretty crappy faucet, but $25 will get a nice solid plated faucet, which i think is a good investment but not so much to change the equation.

i do wonder how many BMC drinkers are suffering with a terribly unbalanced system complete with a warm tower. there should be an internet forum to diagnose these things...
Cheers

 

I'm another satisfied owner. I've made no modifications to the faucet or temperature controls and it's worked well for 5 years.

 

I own one; I have had it since last Christmas, and I got a great deal on it (sale + 10% off coupon + it had a dent in the corner, hardly noticeable). I paid about $300 for it with all those discounts.

I homebrew, so I can keep 2 kegs in there and about 10-12 bottles of beer in the empty spaces around the kegs and on the small hump in back. I modified mine with a 2-way manifold (I removed one of the screws holding in the coolant lines and then used a slightly longer screw to hold that and the manifold in).

It's a nice looking unit, but as previously posted, I would upgrade the tap handle and go with a 2-tap tower if homebrew or get 1/6th barrel kegs (it will hold 2).

 

I still have the standard faucet that came with it. It works fine for me. It does stick if I haven't poured a beer for a few days. I have thought about getting a Perlick, but it doesn't bother me that much really.

The reason I got mine was my neighbor got one. He poured nothing but Budweiser and was always pouring foam foam foam. He would pour a pitcher of foam and let it settle before he could then pour a glass of the pitcher. Once I got mine, and realized what the problem was, I went over to his house, put in a resistor, and it worked like a charm.