ice buildup, how do i get rid?

[oliver bean]

my beermeister was found in the trash. a couple hundred bucks later it had a new compressor and was awesome. now the fins on the compressor are in a huge block of ice and my beer is no longer cold, kind of barely cool. there was a wad of towel blocking a small hole in the back of my meister which was obviously not the way the manufacturer (u-line) intended. should this be plugged up, or should the meister have a small ventilation? would it still stay cold enough if that small amount of outside air was let in? could it be because my meister is right up against a wall and not getting enough ventilation that way? one more, could it be because i was opening up the door on a fairly regular basis because of adjustments to my regulator? thanks for the help.

[wortchillergoal]

Ventilation is usally the key factor. If there is not enough air flow, you will encounter the problems you are having. What and where is this hole that was plugged? Can you tell what it's purpose is?

[oliver bean]

if you open the door and get on your knee and peer straight into the beermeister, the hole is about 1/2" to 3/4" in diameter, perfectly cut, directly under the compressor, cut into the back "wall" of the box, and going straight through to the back. i have no idea what it could be for. i moved the whole meister about a foot away from the wall to give it more ventilation. maybe this will help?

[YamahaXS]

Originally posted by oliver bean
if you open the door and get on your knee and peer straight into the beermeister, the hole is about 1/2" to 3/4" in diameter, perfectly cut, directly under the compressor, cut into the back "wall" of the box, and going straight through to the back. i have no idea what it could be for. i moved the whole meister about a foot away from the wall to give it more ventilation. maybe this will help?

one thing at a time... I would guess that moving it from the wall is enough.

You may also want to vaccuum off the coils where the ice is building up... dust and cobwebs there can facilitate freeze ups.

re: the hole... you do NOT want a open hole into your beermeister because that will make the unit less efficient and therefore the compressor will run more often and longer.

[wortchillergoal]

Yes, if that hole lets outside air into the interior, your compressor will run constantly. I would plug that from the inside.

[toneyc]

I'm kinda reaching here, but when my home A/C unit starts to freeze up, it usually means that it needs freon.

:)
Toney.

[gallowd7]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by toneyc
[B]I'm kinda reaching here, but when my home A/C unit starts to freeze up, it usually means that it needs freon.

Just going to second that. Except mine (heat pump) did it in the winter, had a small leak in the copper line which drained the freon.

[zoom6zoom]

My Sanyo was acting up this weekend, not as cold as it should have been and compressor getting very hot... moved all the beer to the big fridge and unplugged it for a while. Never saw any ice, but I ended up having to empty the drip tray twice (which is usually always empty). Have to assume that it iced up somewhere... seems to be fine now.