So I am new to having a kegerator and I have had a couple of kegs in and out already. Now I am having a problem with ice and frost building up and keeping the temp up.
Return it. It’s a refrigerator - and it isn’t working. If you went super cheap - that’s probably your issue. I have a Beverage Air kegerator that has run continuously for 10 years with no issues - it was pricy but works like a charm. Good luck.
Ice and frost build up on a cold plate unit is from either opening and closing the door a lot, or a leak in the door seal allowing warm air to get in and condense. If you have been opening it a lot, stop it. To check the door seals turn off all the lights in the room and put a flashlight inside the unit, and look for light getting out. Turn it off, allow the ice to melt off, dry everything and start again. With a hair dryer you can melt the ice off very quickly. Do not try to chip it, the refrigerant lines are built into the cold plate.
Thanks I already turned it off. It is an outside kegerator kept under a bbq island. There is a 1/2” gap from the top of the kegerator to the bottom of the counter top so air might be getting in from there. Thanks to very ones response
That would be the culprit. You need to make a collar for that. Based on what you have described, I'd bet you have a lot of foam and the kegerator runs a lot.
It's a good unit, the gap is killing you. The tower cooler is drawing cold air from the box, and warm air in through the gap. The cold air you pump up the tower doesn't return to the box, it escapes on the way back down the tower. You cannot win in this situation, you are basically pumping all your cold air out and drawing warm air in. Bad install.
A couple of things here; I’m not sure I understand the 1/2” gap. Is the tower mounted to the countertop or the keg box? This unit is designed to be used outdoors and should defrost itself automatically. Even so, you can put the unit into manual defrost mode by pushing the up arrow on the control panel. Your user guide is here: http://www.beveragefactory.com/images/guides/HK38-manual_V4_57.pdf The control panel info is on page six.
Like @DougC123 says. There is no magic to this. The appliance is cooling California air and it is losing. The install must be tight or it can not work. Leave the door to the fridge open a few inches 24/7 and all your food will spoil quickly. Beer is no different. Only you have the added disadvantage of a fan actively forcing out cold air. To be blunt, this is really a bad set up that should be pretty obviously flawed to most people. While you are making repairs, go ahead and make sure you have enough clearance around the unit. The specifications will tell you how much air space you need. The appliance discharges hot air, and if the hot air is not allowed to vent to atmosphere it will not get cold inside, it will run continually and it will fail quickly. None of these fixes are optional btw. Cheers.
