Cav 96 has steady stream of water

[firemun]

I have not been on here in a long time but its good to see so many familiar folks still on here helping folks like me!  I have a Cav 96 that has steady stream of water coming from it. One of the lines in seems to be frosted over and I am guessing that is where it is coming from. But first, a bit of history. Back in the day I was on here frequently and was really big in to old machines. Life changes precluded me from being as active as I wanted to be in my hobby and I decided to let someone restore my 96. Long story short...my 96 was part of an action by the State Atty General and getting it back was a long drawn out process. After 12 years, the 96 came home. It was restored, poorly I might add. The refrigeration unit died within a year. A neighbor who does HVAC work said he would fix the machine’s refrigeration for me.  He replaced the original with a modern compressor and it cools nicely and runs quiet but has this steady stream of condensate. The condensate jar fills up every few days as expected when it is warm and humid. The old compressor system never had this issue.  I don’t know enough about refrigeration to tell a friend who did this for me for the cost of parts he has something running incorrectly. However, surely a new system should not do this.  I know new refrigerators often have drip pans but they must evaporate the collected water.  Any suggestions on how to approach this with my friend who did the work for me and get the water flow stopped?
Thanks!!
Jeff

[Jim]

Hey Jeff,

In order to help with condensation, you may consider utilizing a large flat tray that collects the water opposed to a jar. A jar does not provide adequate evaporation but a large flat tray will yield good results possibly evaporating the complete tray regularly...

[johnieG]

Yep, more surface area with a pan or tray, 

[firemun]

I actually had placed a half sheet pan under it for a while but it would overflow. I will try to get a little deeper one!  Thanks to all!

[johnieG]

You should also check the machines bottle-door alignment & Gasket(s)

The bottle-door not sitting square & flush while closed is probably the No.1 cause of warm & humid air infiltration that will cause the machine to sweat bullets (so to speak).

The bottle door & the main door gaskets can obviously let in humid air through the gaps between teh doors & frame while the machine is running & again cause excessive condensation to flow.

[firemun]

It does sweat a a greaet deal around both the main door and ther bottle door.  It was restored with new gaskets...I just “assumed” the new gasket qualioty was poor and i would not be able to improve on what was done.  Maybe I need to rethink that.

[johnieG]

New gaskets should have helped, but it's also important to align the bottle door itself to sit & close squarely in it's opening, sometimes the door springs are broken & can't hold it closed snugly. same goes for the main door, if the latch doesn't pull the door closed with enough tension to seat the door frame against its gasket to seal any air-gaps.  On machines like the Vendo V110 & 6-case coolers ( and even the venerable V83) with wooden framed door hinges can loosen & cause the door to sag & not sit squarely & tight. 

here's a good test, put your ear near the bottle door & listen for the Evaporator fans noise level, now push in on the door handle with your finger, does it get "quieter" ?  this is an clue that it's not seated correctly.

[firemun]

I physically have to push the bottle door closed or it hangs open.  The bottle door glass is always covered in condensate. As for the main door, I have tweaked the latch a bit a few times to get it pulled tighter but I still get condensate around several areas of the door, most prominently near the top corners. It seems the gasket is flattened in some spots.  Maybe I should order new gaskets.

[Jim]

Sounds like a bottle door spring could be broken OR since you stated someone restored it, perhaps they did not properly "load" each door spring which would increase door pressure on the gasket sealing much better...

[firemun]

The bottom of the door doesn't close well.  I will take couple pics tomorrow.  I have had enough moisture to cause some mold.  And yes, someone who you know restored it...