Anybody know refrigeration?

I have beer kegs in it and taps coming out of it. It has a temperature controller that has (tried to) keep it at 35* to 45* through the winter, even though the garage temperature occasionally dropped below freezing and was often at freezing for a couple of weeks at at time.

Now, it won't get below about 50*.

I've unplugged it overnight and tried again but no joy.

Is it hosed? Or, can it be brought back to good health?

 

If it is able to hold the temp at 50*. It is most likely only a recharge problem.

 

Thanks. I forgot to mention that it was new last spring. I don't think it's sprung any leaks yet. I hope.

 

Do you have a mechanical or an electronic controller?
Have you tried unhooking the controller and testing it as a freezer?

 

I am using an electric analog controller.

I've unplugged it a couple of times now, leaving it for a few hours and then overnight.

I plug it back in w/out the controller and get a temp of approx 55*.

I'm slowly turning it down a notch day by day to see what happens, but it's going to be cold this week and my readings will be skewed.

Dang...

 

Since it's under year old, is it still under warranty? If you built a collar instead of drilling holes through you may be able to get it fixed free.

 

My first mistake (I hate it when things start that way) was relying on my memory. Always a recipe for disaster.

I found the receipt...it's a year and a half old. The owner's manual said it would NOT be a problem to keep it in an area that gets below 32*.

While the warranty for 1 year/all things fixed free has expired, the 2 year/all parts covered is still in effect. Looks like I'm paying for a service call and labor. Of course, that could still be close to the purchase price.

Fortunately, I built a collar for it and didn't drill any holes in the the thing.