Eliwell 971 cooling to much,

[wexfordman]

Hi,

I hope posting here is ok, I am looking for some help with my cooler which is giving problems. To give a background, the cooler is in my house, I use it just for cooling deer carcass during the hunting season, so my knowldege of cooling etc is fairly basic to say the least. The guy that installed it for me, has left the country, so Im hoping the problem here is fairly straightforward, a setting or something.

Anyway, the control unit is an eliwell ID1971. It is about two years old, and has been running fine up until the last two weeks. I had a carcass in it and went to check it the other day to find the temp had dropped to -6 deg c, which was way to low, im looking for betwen 2 and 4.

I rest the unit to see if it was some kind of glitch, and watched it for a while. I noticed the compressor kicked in at 4 deg, and off again at 1 deg, so I was thinking that looked a bit better.
So, I left it run till the next day, when i checked it had dropped to -17!!! So definately something odd here.

We did have a power cut a few weeks back, power was gone for the whole day, so I was thinking perhaps something got reset.

Anyway, I am hoping someone can give me some basic step by step instructions/guidelines on how I can go about troubleshooting this. While I have no clue about refridgeration, Im quite comfortable with control panel type stuff, realys etc, but completely lost on the particulars of refirdferation, set temps, etc.

I suppose firstly, I want to check the unit has the correct settings, and something has nto just defaulted. Secondly, would I be correct in thinking perhaps a sticky relay on the compressor or something like that, and how would I go and prove this.

Really appreciate some assistance on this.

Thanks,
Eamon

[install monkey]

relay sticking on controller- if theres a tiny red dot on the display then the parameters are asking for cooling increase the setpoint to say 10 deg the dot will go out- if then its still cooling- tap the front of the controller- or top preferably- when its not lit- see if it stops your fridge- usually rated for 8 amp switching- sometimes better for the relay to switch a contactor that can handle the load better

[install monkey]

http://www.mediafire.com/view/bzdzic...US_GB_0109.pdf
click on link for manual for checking parameters- but if its been ok for 18 mth then its going to be your relay- when u replace it you will need to input the same parameters- maybe increase the on delay time for a minimum of 3 mins- will allow pressures to stabilise before restarting (unless it pumps down)

[wexfordman]

OK, Thanks monkey, will give it a go later this evening and see how I get on. Was interesting yesterday as I could hear the relay clicking on and off, and the compressor stop/start with it. Possibly an intermittent problem ?

Could you tell me perhaps specificaly what paramaters I need to check to make sure everything is set ok ? Was just thinking a friend of mine uses the cooler sometimes, , and he was last to use it, so perhaps he mistakenly changed something ?

[install monkey]

check the setpoint, also if theres a minimum run time enabled- if its set to a minimum run of say 10 mins that could affect the room temp and the diff- typically 2-3 deg- this is the temp above the setpoint (when it will cut in), also check the door closes properly and the sensor is in free air- not touching any product, also the calibration of the sensor

[wexfordman]

setpoint i think is 1, and the differential is 2, so this would seem to add up to what i saw with it cutting in at 3 and out at 1. Will check the minimum run tomorrow.

Could you clarify why there is two sensors, and how do I calibrate them ? I know one is in the room, and the other is in the fan unit itself, so how do these interact ?

[chemi-cool]

does the controler start the compressor or a relay coil?

[install monkey]

the sensor in the coil (fan unit is for defrost termination) should be a parameter labelled cal or ca1 use a temperature probe/thermometer to check actual cabinet temp if its different by say 2 deg then u use the cal setting to offset the probe- chances are it will be ok

setpoint i think is 1, and the differential is 2, so this would seem to add up to what i saw with it cutting in at 3 and out at 1. Will check the minimum run tomorrow.

Could you clarify why there is two sensors, and how do I calibrate them ? I know one is in the room, and the other is in the fan unit itself, so how do these interact ?

[R ALLATT]

Controller faulty. Get your engineer to replace it with an ID Chill Controller.

[al]

Might be that your temperature probe is wandering and about to give up, there might be a wexford man along in a while, see if he's up for a foxer?

[seadanzig]

The controller relay is sticking. Common problem new controller and separate
relay would be better. Most of these controllers dont like the amperage even though
They are supposed to be rated around 16amps

[rac.eire]

relay sticking in controller,common problem with eliwell especially 971 lx,replace controller