problem with draft beer

zepfan

I was on an ac call at a restaurant, when the owner had mentioned that the draft beer was warm, and he did not think the refrigeration system was working. The unit is a Nordic beer system model# 301 A power pack where the pump and the motor sit on top of the unit. It is an r22 unit that contains 15 oz. of refrigerant. The motor which is brand new, was hot to touch, and the compressor was off on overload. I opened the top of the unit where the evaporator, and fluid is and it was frozen soild. I normally just do HVAC, and had not worked on one of these systems before. I am assuming that the fluid is not circulating and that may be the reason for the freeze up, and the compressor going off on overload.
any assistance would be much appreciated, and also does anyone know the typical pressures and superheat that these units normally run at?. thanks to all

Techman

This is a glycol system ? So,I'm guessing the glycol has to be replaced/adjusted so that there is no freezing The evap is usually set around 27*F. Are you sure this is r22 and not r404a? The SH would be the normal minimum of 20*F at the comp,but adjustable by a little.

ratio

I don't know enough to comment on refrigeration, but warm beer is terrible—I hope you can get it working!

pecmsg

Very simple systems to work on but if done wrong your screwed.

First replenish the glycol (Food Grade) to about 15*f freeze protection. about 33%.

The ice is keeping you from transferring heat.

If you are on the Isl of Long I'm sure Terry or myself would be willing to take a ride!

zepfan

thanks for the advice, yes this is an R22 unit. it is about 8 years old

unclejohn

The problem with draft beer is it's Delicious and I drink too much because it's delicious. Your first instinct of a bad pump may be right or it may be the compressor is not shutting off and causing the freeze up. Make sure the pump works and circulates when you go back you will see the fluid moving.