Temperature For Soda Machine ?

[James_Douglas]

Out of curiosity, what are these old Soda Machines temperature supposed to be in the case?

What is the typical cut-in temp and cut-out temp (Differential range) for the typical soda machine thermostat?

James.

[johnieG]

cut out / 33-deg. F to cut in of 40-deg. F is typical...I seem to recall that Coke recommends 34-deg F max serving temp. 

most T-stats for a Beverage type coolers have a range of 28-40/F with a Differential of about 8-deg/F , so if you set it to the lowest setting ( cut out) in this example ( 28-Deg.) then it will cut in at 36-Deg/F  28+8=36,   at the highest range setting then it is Cut out@ 40-Deg/F cut in@ 48-Deg/F 40+8=48


but there are hundreds of different types of T-stats with many, many different ranges & differentials...  for a newbie or novice just trying to get a machine working again,  go with one that senses the air-temperature that wont go below freezing & has a constant cut in of 40-Deg/F. this way you'll never freeze an shatter a  glass bottle or split open a frozen can of Soda pop.

a T-stat that is used in contact with an evaporator assemble is going to have a range colder than an air sensing one, being that your average evap' on beverage cooler/ machine runs between 24-28 Deg/F ( the temperature of the metal) this is because there is a heat exchange loss of about 4-6 Degrees between the metal & the air passing over the fins/coils so you have to keep that in mind.

[James_Douglas]

Thanks,

I did do a search for Ideal and Thermostat's but that did not come up with the link in the other post. Hence why I asked.

Thanks for the primer on the temps. I had the Ranco Page with all their A30's listed and came up with an A30-2249, but after reading your post and the information on the 4 to 6 degree heat loss due to the thermal transfer through the metal I can see that one should go colder.

So, the A30-2210 makes sense to make up for that loss.

The difference between the amateur (me) and the Professional (You). I do really appreciate the information.

The old factory thermostat was not turning off without hitting it with my knuckle. I took it 1/2 apart and tried to clean it with contact cleaner, but that not get the points clean. I pulled out my relay files and managed to knock that little "lever" off the curved brass spring behind it.

I had to take a side plate off. I managed to get the spring fixed and so the points work as they should. The problem now is that, for the life of me, I cannot get the thing back together. They must have had a fixture jig to old the parts in place during assembly. I decided to give up for the day lest I break something.

I will order a new one and then I will try to get the old back together tomorrow. I am sure that once I order the replacement...the old one will go right back together!

Thanks again, James.

[James_Douglas]

Although I am waiting for an Ranco A30-2210...

I did get for $11 off of Amazon, my wife was doing and order, a Ranco K50-P1127-001.

I have had it running this morning. This is what it has settled down to after a couple of hours.

1. Ambient outside air today is 65F to 70F
2. The Cold In Temperature on the box is 41F
3. It runs the compressor for 8 minutes plus or minus 30 seconds.
4. The cold off on the box is 34.7F
4. It stays off for 13 minutes plus or minus 30 seconds.
5  When is comes on my Thermaworks temperature probe reads 40F
6. When is shuts off the probe reads 34.

*** I have the probe mounted in the middle of the top compartment about 1/2 inch from the front wall surface in the free air.

When the compressor shuts off at 34F then temperature continues to drop to 33F and stays there for a couple of minutes then starts back to 40. I did not include that 2 minutes in the above 13 minutes.  So, one cycle is about 23 minutes or about three times and hour.

This is with the K50 all the way at coolest and I wound the probe into a coil like the original probe and placed it up in the pipe that is soldered to the case wall on the Ideal 55.  I also put a  little plug of closed cell foam in the bottom of the tube to prevent drafting.

Here in San Francisco with it not getting to be much over 70F 99% of the time, this may be a good thermostat to use. Although it does not have an off switch, I can just unplug the unit.  For my place in the Central Valley West of Sacramento however, the A30-2210 may be needed to bring the temperature down more to deal with the heat out there most of the year.

Your were correct that with the probe up the little tube the spread between the case wall temperature and the free air is is 5 degrees. In another hour I will open the unit up and shoot the full Coke bottle with the Fluke laser thermometer (not calibrated for glass) and see what the bottle temperature is.

James

Edit: An hour later, the unit has now been on for several hours, it is still running for about 8 minutes. It is kicking in at 39F now instead of 40F. It is stopping at 33F as opposed to 34F. I suspect that the case is still equalizing. It also is staying off longer going from the 13 minutes to about 18 minutes. It also is dropping after the compressor stops that same one degree now from 33F to 32F. I will let it run some more and see how it equalizes.

Edit: After about 2.5 more hours it seems to have dropped on the low end to 31F. The single bottle that was in there for 6 hours was 37F.

[Creighton]

Great job of logging results. I see you said single bottle inside. Should see a reduction in cycle time with the machine full of product.
Creighton

[James_Douglas]

I got a A30-2210 Ranco. I put it in and it was dead. Vendor gave me a refund. I put back in K50-P1127-001. It seems to kick in at 39F and off at 33F...then it drops down to 30F for a few minutes and then climbs back up to 39F.  All in all about a 20 to 25 minutes cycle time.

I wish that Ranco did a better job of explaining the various types. The K series versus the A series and the like.

One thing I noted. You can change the temperature points by as much as 4 degrees by exactly how you place the probe. In the case of the K50, it was not coiled like the factory probe. I carefully wound it around the shaft end of a drill bit so it looked close to the factory winding. Then I placed it up the tube.

Two Points:

1. How far up or down makes a difference.
2. It you have the tip "flared out" so it contacts the tube, then is reacts faster to the system cooling. If you bend it so that it is in the "free air" of that little tube it takes longer and so the unit get colder.

So, you can "tune" the temperature not only with the dial, but with the placement.

In my case here in San Francisco it is 65F and at sea level. I also have the dial all the way up.  When I move the unit larger garage-shop in Winters, CA near Sacramento...I suspect that I will have to get a different thermostat to deal with the heat. From May through October it is in the 90F's to 100F a lot.

I learned a lot about the cooling system in this process and the thermostat in general.

Thanks everyone.

Now on to the remaining cosmetics...

James.

[James_Douglas]

Well,

It is late summer of 2022 and the unit is in my garage shop in Winters, CA. It is about 90-95 today. I plugged the unit in yesterday for the first time up here in the heat as opposed to the cool of San Francisco.

After a full day full of bottles, the inside free air is 48F. I need to hit the bottle with the laser to get a compatible reading to the above in my posts. As I suspected above, I will need to reposition the coil get it colder and if they does not work then I will have to get another thermostat that goes lower.

James

[msanborn]

What kind of machine is it on?