This picture on the KitchenAid website shows 37 degrees. I purchased one of these too, but it hasn't been installed yet. I'll be pretty disappointed if it isn't cold enough to store beverages as advertised.

{{gwi:1376489}}

The picture is what convinced me too.....I am definitely disappointed....the wine is just ok...but the beer is way to warm for our tastebuds....still hoping that someone out there who has purchased this unit can vouch for the temperatures that are advertised

What do you mean about the wine being "just ok"? I plan to store red and white wines at the temperatures recommended. Are the temperatures on the other shelves off too?

Yes....all of the temps are off by about 5 degrees.

Wine should be cellared at 58º.

That photo, above, shows three different temperatures -- 37º, 45º, and 60º. This would make it appear to have three separate zones.

...OK, just checked the KitchenAid web site, and pulled the owner's manual for that unit. Yes, there are three distinct temperature zones. The temp on the left is for the upper zone, the middle temp is for the middle zone, and the temp on the right is for the bottom zone. The info provided indicates that the two bottom-most drawers are for red wine, the drawer just above the temperature display is for white wine, and the top two shelves are for other beverages. Can't tell if there is a drawer "behind" the temperature display...

The manual says to wait 24 hours between temperature adjustments. Turn the dial clockwise to make it colder. How far is your dial turned? Where are you putting the beer? If beer bottles are in the bottom racks, no way will they get down to 37º -- the unit simply isn't designed to do that, as the lowest temp will be on the top two glass shelves.

The GE Monogram Beverage Center's lowest temperature is 40º and higest temp is 65º. Same for the GE Monogram Wine Reserve (which we have).

You are correct...there are 3 different zones...the beer is at the top, the wine at the bottom...the temperature dial is set to the very coldest setting....but the beverage center won't cool to lower than 43 deg at the top....we were told that it could be a bad sensor, which we had replaced...but that didn't do anything...we still are at a frustratingly 43 deg which is too warm for the beer drinkers in the house...I was hoping that there may be someone out there who has this model that could give us some feedback whether or not they too are having this issue.

I have this beverage fridge and it DOES get down to 37!! Not only does the display indicate it, but I independently checked it with a thermometer because we store open juice in there. My fridge at this moment reads 38, 49 and 60 set at the 2nd most cold notch.

Does your display read 43, or does it read colder but a thermometer reads 43? It does take a while to cool down, and when we load it up with a bunch of room temp stuff, it will take overnight or so before it comes back down to temp again.

Indeed, if you loo carefully at the display in this picture, you may be able to make out the 38, 52 59 degree readout that it had when I snapped the picture a while back:

Call KitchenAid back and complain. I believe that they contract out their service, and whoever came to look at your fridge was not well informed about KA's product.

First of all, I want to introduce myself as Doug, a Regional Sales Manager at U-Line. I work with Dean B. (you may have seen him on the boards assisting some with service issues in the past). Anyhow, I'll be monitoring the boards, and attempting to answer product-related questions, with information I have. I will PURPOSELY not bash anyone's products (everyone makes good product, they just fit different peoples' needs/tastes), but I will do my best to give you the facts. As far as Kitchenaid, we tested their beverage center here internally, and found, at coldest setting in a UL lab, their three zones get down to 39.25 degrees in the beverage section, 45.69 degrees in the white wine section, and 61.23 degrees in the red wine section. Obviously, these temperatures will differ depending on a multitude of factors in any person's home, but I wanted you to have that information. As far as the coldest temperature other manufacturers reach under those conditions (approximately the same price point), U-Line reaches 34.34 degrees, GE Monogram 39.31 degrees, and Marvel 40.57 degrees (although I understand there is a fix by servicers to bring that temperature down on the Marvel).

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me...I'll keep trying to assist!

Doug

Thanks so much to everyone who has taken the time to respond...I think that I will contact KA again and have them try to repair it one more time....we have the dial set at the very coldest setting, have not opened the door in 3 days, and have stocked it with beverages at about 65% of capacity...still the beverage section won't go below 43 deg, the white wine section is at 57 deg and the red wine section is at 63 deg....I'll post back and let all know the results.

Okay, Doug or anyone here. I am looking for an undercounter refrigerator that gets canned drinks such as beer and soft drinks really cold. I met with a kitchen designer today and this is one thing I am still trying to find. Thanks

alku, thanks for chiming in. I'm glad to hear I'll be able to store non-wine beverages in my chiller.

Called KA...they agreed that something is still not working properly in the unit that we purchased...they are sending out a repairman from a different company...will followup when I know something more.

GE recomended us the under counter refrigerated drawers if we wanted cold beverages etc. We also use one of our drawers for salad veggies. The drawers have no trouble getting either drawer below freezing if set there. Lowest setting is 30deg but we keep ours at 34. The glass door beverage centers do not get this cold due to heat gain through the glass.

jcthorne - do you have a make/model of those drawers?
I think that we need something like what you are describing

Doug (Ulinesalesguy) I have the Marvel 15 inch beverage cooler and the coldest temp mine has ever gotten down to is 42. I would be interested in getting more info about this "fix" that is available to lower the temp.

We use our center primarily for soft drinks and juice. My husband still keeps his water bottles in the main fridge though because he likes it really cold. I love having the beverage center but would sure like to get it at least another 5 degrees cooler.

lmalm: I would suggest contacting a Marvel servicer, and they can disable the function that keeps the unit warmer. I do not know if this affects the warranty or not (I would assume not, since its being done by a Marvel servicer, but I cannot say for sure, since I'm heard rumors both ways).

lebwhite: Thank you for the email you sent; I wish you much success in your search for an undercounter refrigerator, and thank you for including U-Line in your options you will be selecting from

The S-Z UC-24B beverage center that I have goes to 34°.

Much nicer looking than the others IMHO.

My drawers are the GE Monogram refrigerated drawers. They are available in SS front or integrated. Ours are SS. White interior with digital controls and white LED lighting. Very quiet.

Question about the S-Z UC-24B for tbd2 or anyone else who knows: I don't see any indication that it has more than one zone. Doesn't that make the wine too cold if you set it at 34 degrees?

Update on the repair situation with KA beverage center....the repairman is ordering a thermistor, thermostat and evaporator fan....at least he agrees that the unit should get colder. Should be fixed sometime in the next week. Will post an update at that time in case anyone is doing research on products.

Regarding the Sub Zero Beverage Center, you are correct scottwdc, the unit has only one zone; if you set the unit for 34 degrees, the entire unit will be 34 degrees (or, within 1 degree of that); if you set it warmer, the entire unit will be warmer

My appliance salesman told me the only one that will keep beer and soda cold enough is the ULine. That is what we got. We were going to get SZ until he told us that and my SIL confirmed her SZ is disappointing.

Perlick undercounter fridges and drawers will get them as cold as you want them. I have the drawers and you can set them down to 32 if you want. We keep ours very cold for milk and juice as well as beer and soda. They are also energy star rated and built to last. I love ours.

koko, my Kitchenaid beverage center was installed a few hours ago. I put it on the coldest setting to see how cold it would get and it's already down to 33 in the coldest zone.

Good luck!

sharron58.....do you know what parts were ordered....because today my repairman finally came back and said that once again the sensor part ordered was WRONG !!! grrrr.....am getting very frustrated...cooler has not worked properly since installed in DECEMBER !!! If you know the parts that they ordered and changed out, maybe that would help the repairman in my area...also, thanks for the tip about moving the sensor to a different spot....Thanks for the great input !!

sharron58....are you out there somewhere ???? would love any information you could share that I could pass on to my local repairman from A&E......repairman #4 (most recent) said he "really isn't familiar with beverage centers" and then threw his hands up and said he did all he could...then he LEFT !!!

I too am having the same problems with our new Kitchenaid Beverage centre. Lowest temp we can get is 46! Repairman has been out twice but no improvement. Would like to find out what remedies, parts other have used successfully. Had I know that this is an issue with KA Bev centres I would definitely have made another choice. Coldness is a priority when it comes to summer beverages... Any advice is appreciated...

An explanation of the problem and the correction. A simple fix for a technician.

Here is a link that might be useful: Beverage temperatures too warm

dixiedarlin1.......thank you so much for the explanation and link that you gave.....I contacted my repairman, (who unbelievably had a cancellation and came over today) and guess what !!! My low temp is now cooling to 36 degrees !!! Finally....cold beer !!!
I am very pleased about this, because I really like the fact that I can store beer, sodas, mixers, and wine all in the same place. Thanks again !!!

We just purchased the KA beverage center after much research. We ripped out a kitchen closet to convert to a wine/beverage center--based on the stats of the KA frig. From the description, I thought I was getting 3 moveable wine racks & 2 shelves. The BOTTOM RACK does NOT pull out and now, I see to get to wines on the bottom is NOT convenient. Each bottle needs to be pulled out by hand to read. I called the company and complained to customer service--to say there is no mention of this on the web sites in the description. They did nothing about it, said that is the way it is made, and I am stuck with a KITCHENAID appliance that I am unhappy with--I ADVISE OTHERS TO NOT PURCHASE THIS BRAND--

Hi Everyone -

I was having the same issue with our kitchenaid beverage center - and it was driving me nuts. Made no sense that canned drinks on the top were so warm - and I wanted to fix this. We bought our house with this fridge included in the deal (all appliances included). I am generally fairly handy - so I went to the internet to find a solution. Which led me to this website (discussion) through google. I paid particular attention to what sharrongrant58 said above - as it seemed to make the most sense. WITHOUT buying any additional parts, I did the following.

I realized that it is obvious that the machine is designed to shut off once the interior temperature reaches what you have the thermostat set at. My fridge has the single knob thermostat at the bottom - and displays three separate temperatures for digitally inside for the lower middle and upper shelves. On a good day I would get 39 - 53 - 63. With the 39 being the concerning temperature. With the same readings above - if I put in a small digital thermometer in the fridge - sat it on a can on the top shelf just to see the reality, I would get maybe 45 degrees. Friggin too warm for beer. And the beer tasted too warm. So - knowing that the fridge compressor is shutting off too soon, led me to realize that the thermostat bulb is thinking the fridge is cold enough, and shuts off as per design. This meant to me - we got to move that thermostat bulb.

So - I found a service manual on this fridge on line - here is the link..

Kitchenaid beverage center service manual

Following the service manual - I tore it apart from the inside. Using the manual makes it real easy - and makes sense - read it first about the disassembly. It mainly helps in showing how to take out the shelves and removing the back panel in order to access the temperature bulb. You will have to unclip two different white wire connectors. It also shows pictures of the main temperature bulb, and pictures of what it looks like when the back panel is removed. All you are looking to do is get access to this temperature bulb - nothing else, so don't keep tearing it apart.

What you are looking for once you get back there is a long black tube heading up from the bottom of the unit on the right hand side which is partially wrapped in grey foam. This is the temperature bulb. It continues up, then wraps in a double circle around a white connector and wires kind of hanging around it. Once you have located this - it is time to "move" it. Now, this is a copper tube that can easily pinch, or break - which is full of gas which fluctuates in order to send a signal to the thermostat to shut off or on. You don't want to crimp or damage this. So, when doing what I am about to describe - do it carefully.

I had no idea where sharrongrant58 service man moved this tube - so it was a shot in the dark for me that worked! I gently unwrapped it from around the wires it was enclosed in (easy). I carefully redirected/ extended the end of the tube towards the center of the fridge to the left of of where it originally was. Basically i have it extended out (not wrapped in a double circle) up as high as possible to allow the back cover to go back on - and extending to the left mostly unwrapped, with a half circle still left in the tube so it basically sits in the center of the fridge as high as possible. I wish I took pictures - but my wording is pretty accurate. So - the tubing is coming from the bottom right of the fridge - all the way up as it was originally, but now continuing up as high as possible to allow the cover back on - and just uncircling the end from the wires - and redirecting the end to a new location (towards the fridge rear center) - and leaving a half circle in the very end (a 180 degree turn in the tube) - and having it as high as possible to allow the back cover to go back on like a "7" design. Again, as high as possible to allow cover to go back on.

I then put the fridge all back together as per the service manual (did some quick cleaning as the fridge is probably at least 8 years old) - and then put it back in place. You will definitely need a flashlight for this job - or a light directed inside the fridge - as it is pretty dark back there.

So - with further research - I knew that people were getting their fridge too cold once they did modifications. - - So, I backed off the knob thermostat from 100 percent to 50 percent. Plugged it in - put all of my cans and bottles back in, and waited. Watched the temperature over a 8 hour period, and adjusted the knob thermostat based on that. I now have it set to around 60 percent dialed, and getting displayed temperatures of on average 32 - 48 - 58... I could go colder, but I don't want things exploding/freezing inside. My digital thermometer sitting on same can/same locations now registers 36. It could be colder at rear of fridge - that is why I am careful. Keeping in mind that the 32 - 48 - 58 will fluctuates two to three degrees either way, the temperature won't be constant - no fridge is..

I was about to turf this fridge - and now it was fixed in 1.5 hours, after a year of being ticked at it - and trying to figure out a fix.

Hope the above helps someone..... Thanks sharrongrant58!

I have a Kitchenaid Beverage Center that seem to run fine but now it's not getting cold. Could it just need freon? Anyone have any incite?

Thanks

If it needs refrigerant, then you have a leak and probably need a new coil.

I don't know if it needs refrigerant. I'm looking for possible reasons it stopped getting cold.