I’ve got a layer of ice forming on the duct inside my cellar on the whisperkool unit. Is this a freon issue? I’ve turned off the unit and am chipping the ice but by the fact that it’s not budging much, it must be deep inside.
Thoughts? Chris Kravitz help!
Turn it off, DO NOT CHIP the ice off, if you need to speed it up use a fan. Probably low coolant, but you may also want to clean any exhausts/vents before plugging it in and see if it works. If it freezes up again, try setting the thermostat a few degrees higher so it doesn’t have to work so hard and can cycle on and off, but generally it’s a goner with some leak that generally isn’t repaired locally.
If you can’t make it until cooler weather to ship back to the factory, buy another identical unit, install it and think about using that packaging to send the old unit back for repair/refurbishment, and keep it as a backup unit.
Well that sucks. Any idea of the cause? The Whisperkool site said to turn off the unit for 24-36 hours which I have done and have been putting ice in the cellar to keep the temp down…
Typically you have a coolant leak, causing the unit to work harder and longer, which doesn’t give the unit a chance to cycle off for very longer.
If you are experiencing unusually hot weather or have an undersized unit it may just be temporary. If it’s just peak summer temps, then you may want to insulate better. Also, make sure you have plenty of clearance where the unit vents the heat, with no obstructions and lots of space to allow the heat to dissipate. If a small area, try putting a fan to blow e warm air away from the unit.
melt the ice w/a hairdryer.
alan
Agree with Alan. I ran into this issue when I left the lights on in the cellar. The unit must have worked overtime to keep the temp steady – it was covered with ice. Used the hair dryer to melt (several times over a week’s time). Eventually returned to its old self (me too). Hope this works for you.
Tom Henthorn
Your problem is exactly what I did when my cooler went out in my old cellar. Good advice.
My exact experience of yours was what Chuck said in that it was a coolant leak. You could have your regular heat/ac guy re-fill it. That won’t help when you compressor fails which happened to me and why I was happy that we had a back up unit.
JD
We used the hairdryer and removed the ice. The unit wouldn’t start at first so we let it rest inactive for 24 hours and now it is running again. We had recently decreased the temperature and had noticed that it was working a bit much so we’re going to bump it up to about 60 degrees to give it a bit more rest. There is plenty of vent space at the back end so hopefully it was a case of overaction and not a coolant leak. Am looking into backup options now…
Thanks for the help.
I have had this issue with two Breezaire units and it meant the unit was dead. Apparently, Breezaire does not insulate something at all and it can eventually form ice. I do know someone (and I am not sure the brand of cooling unit) who turned the temperature up to 60 and then had no more problems.
One thing I have been told is that it is important to clean lint out of where the units vent. Use a vacuum cleaner hand attachment.
It is my understanding that cellarpro (http://www.vintagecellars.com/cellarpro" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) does a better job of insulating. I have their unit now but cannot really comment because it is less than a year old (the Breezaire units died around 6 years old). I spoke with Ben Argov at cellarpro (actually he is with Sonoma Wine Accessories (which I think is the same as La Cache) and I think he is the owner.