Need help replacing evaporator housing on a bevair

Discussion in 'Home Bar' started by B-Lev, Mar 5, 2020.

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  1. B-Lev

    B-Lev Initiate (0) Mar 5, 2020

    Hi all.

    I inherited a dd-50c that I have been slowly re-habbing. Recently, I am trying to replace the evaporator housing drain pan as had some rusted-out pinholes that drip condensate water into the bottom of the unit. (I guess the previous owner had a drain hose blockage problem that ended up causing water to pool in the drain pan, eventually rusting it out.)

    Anyway, I have a replacement pan in hand and I can't figure out how to get the slots in the back of the old pan to release from the tabs in the back. (everything else is pretty easy like removing the fan assembly, the thermometer knob, light switch, tower cooling hose, etc... I just can't figure out how the old pan drops out so I can slide in the new pan).

    Anyone here have experience with bev air and can give me any tips?

    Thanks!

    -BL
     
  2. DougC123

    DougC123 Savant (1,186) Aug 21, 2012 Connecticut

  3. billandsuz

    billandsuz Pooh-Bah (2,097) Sep 1, 2004 New York
    Pooh-Bah

    Thanks for the mention @DougC123

    Bev Air DD are nice. Everything is easy to service which is one reason they are so popular.

    We were lucky enough to get a cash deal on a few used ones a while back and they sold very quickly. Everything about the thing is solid.

    Unfortunately the rusty evaporator pan is not uncommon from what I have seen, which is more than a lot of folks but 10% of what a restaurant HVAC tech will see in a month, What I do know is that the design is odd, common and prone to rust.

    Background.
    Refrigerated air is dry because cold air does not hold much moisture. When the door is open warm moist ambient air enters, then when the door is closed the air is cooled and the water vapor turns to liquid water. It collects in a well at the bottom, flows into a drain tube and onto metal pan sitting on top of the compressor. The compressor is a small piston engine and as it is removing the heat, it gets hot, very hot. The pan in turn gets hot. The water in the pan evaporates. Neat hack. This is a very common design. The fatal flaw is that the drain tube gets moldy, clogs and then water collects in your fridge.

    But the pans seem to rust out. Unfortunately I don't know any tricks to replace one, never did it myself. My guess is that the tabs are rusted.

    Maybe place some heavy duty Reynolds foil on the existing pan, with no air gaps?
    Or live with it.
    Or rip it out and don't worry about mangling it, then epoxy the new pan.

    Cheers
     
    Scrapss and B-Lev like this.
  4. DougC123

    DougC123 Savant (1,186) Aug 21, 2012 Connecticut

    Aw shit, I could have come up with that.:slight_smile:
     
    Scrapss, PortLargo and billandsuz like this.
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