Keezer Fan

[Clint Yeastwood]

My fan arrived, and I decided to mount it on the lid of the keezer. I put 1/2" blocks on it and used Velcro to fasten them to the lid. I don't have great confidence in Velcro, but I thought I would try it before moving on to something else. If it fails, double-sided tape ought to do it.

The space between the fan and lid is small, so air doesn't get perfect access to the top of the fan, but it's good enough.

It blows straight down, so it should force cold air at the bottom of the keezer to rise.

I don't think you need a big fan or lots of open space to get circulation. My big side-by-side fridge has one tiny fan in the freezer, and it works even when the fridge is jammed with food. The fridge fan is miniscule compared to the one in the keezer.

I think I'll use Velcro to attach the wire to the lid so it doesn't flop around. It's an unusual use for Velcro, but it should be very effective, and it will make it easy for me to take the fan out if it dies. I can also drill a hole and run the wire through the collar.

 

[ITV]

I question if a keezer fan is necessary.

The way I look at it is that the beer is drawn from the bottom of the keg (provided a floating dip tube is not used), so if the keezer temps are slightly colder at the bottom would adding a fan make any improvements? If so how?

 

[day_trippr]

Take a wider view: keezers have beer lines up high that need to be cooled, too, lest they cause foamy headaches at the faucet

Cheers!

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Whether it was broke or not, I fixed it.

Also, I use floating dip tubes.

 

[ITV]

Take a wider view: keezers have beer lines up high that need to be cooled, too, lest they cause foamy headaches at the faucet

Cheers!

Thanks for the info!

Does the fan reduce the cycling time of the keezer?

 

[day_trippr]

Interesting question. Assuming a stratified keezer with a distinctly colder zone at the floor verses under the lid, I think there would be less cycling if the controller's probe was in the cold zone vs the warm zone, which would imply a non-stratified keezer would cycle less often, but I don't have any data to prove it.

My keezer runs based on the temperature of the most full keg - I've never run a keezer using any other sensing strategy - and I do have a 120mm fan running 24/7. I could show that this strategy provides the fewest cycles per day (literally, 4 cycles per day most of the year) verses other strategies but that's the answer to a different question

Cheers!

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

I ran a fan in my unit. It was on a separate temp sensor, so it came on separate from the cooler cycling. So, did it make a difference? No data to say so but it seemed the cooling affect was more even throughout the box.

I look at it the same as the fridge, there's a fan in there that runs to circulated cold air. So why wouldn't a keezer benefit from a circulation fan?

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

One thing that reduces cycling is adding mass. I put bags and jugs of water in my refrigerator's freezer.

I don't care about the $2 in yearly energy savings, but virtually all refrigeration units are Chinese junk now, including brands that push a high-end image. The less it runs, the later premature failure due to cheap construction will come.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Yes, total agree - my home built keezer, built from a new GE chest freezer from Home Depot died after two years. Piece of crap.

I now use my 25+ year old Kenmore fridge as my beer cooler.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

My new Chinese Magic Chef is built a lot better than two Chinese Frigidaires I got in about '02. Frigidaire used to have a great reputation. One of the Frigidaires died in around 2009 while configured as a keezer.

I always think of Magic Chef as a second -tier brand.

My grandmother's house was built and equipped in '65, and her deep freeze was running when she died in '03.