Wine Guardian !3: the defrost sensor reads open or shorted
!3 names the defrost sensor, a probe on the evaporator that tells the board when the coil is cold enough to frost.
Mon–Sat, 8am–8pm
- Sensors and probes
- Cellar controller and sensor repair
- Source: Wine Guardian
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What !3
actually means.
!3 names the defrost sensor, a probe on the evaporator that tells the board when the coil is cold enough to frost. The alarm appears when that sensor reads open or shorted or has come unplugged. The system keeps running during !3, but the control can no longer judge when to defrost, so the coil can start to ice.
Wine Guardian wine cellar cooling unit display · also shown as (!3)
What to do when !3 shows on the wine cellar cooling unitKind of codeSensors and probes
The controller has lost a sensible reading from one of its probes: the one sampling the cellar air, the one on the evaporator coil, or on a remote probe the lead that runs out to a rack. With no number it can trust, the unit may chill the room well below 55°F, stop and start every few minutes, or run on without end. A probe unplugged during a rack install, pinched behind a board or sitting in a draft from the door is ruled out before a new one is ordered.
Usually leads toCellar controller and sensor repair
Getting the controller, its display and its probes to read the cellar truthfully and call for cooling at the right time.
Shows up asCellar Cooling Evaporator Coil Icing Up
A cellar cooling coil icing up shows as white frost behind the cellar-side grille, weak air from the unit, water dripping when it goes quiet, and a room that warms while the unit keeps running.
MakeWine Guardian
Wine Guardian systems examined at the cellar, the ductwork and the equipment space when the air stops holding its temperature or its moisture.
SourceWine Guardian Remote Interface Operation Guide
Wine Guardian Remote Interface controller, used with through-the-wall, ducted, ducted split, ductless split and ceiling-mounted units; the Sentinel-series ducted manuals (Dec 2022) list the same alarms.
Before you book,
in this order.
Each step comes from Wine Guardian's own guidance for !3 on its wine cellar cooling units. Follow it to the end: the last card says whether this is a visit.
Note whether the unit is still cooling and whether the cellar reading is holding.
Look at the evaporator side through the grille for frost on the coil; if you see ice building, switch the unit off and let it thaw with a towel under it.
Book a visit to test the sensor and its connection; the code clears once the sensor issue is resolved.
Still there?
It usually turns into cellar controller and sensor repair. Book with the code and the model number.
What not to do
!3 does not mean the cellar is warming or the compressor has failed. On a unit where defrost is enabled in settings but no sensor is fitted, the manual notes that !3 appears and shuts the system off instead.
What you may
notice with it.
The wine cellar cooling unit problems !3 tends to arrive with. Answer these at the wine cellar cooling unit before anyone is booked.
All problems
Where !3 usually leads
Cellar controller and sensor repair.
Wine Guardian
wine cellar cooling units.
Wine Guardian systems examined at the cellar, the ductwork and the equipment space when the air stops holding its temperature or its moisture.
Wine Guardian wine cellar cooling unit repairMore Wine Guardian codes
Sensors and probes on other makes
All 12 codes of this kind
Through-the-wall cellar cooling unit
A self-contained box set into an opening in the cellar wall: its cold face blows into the wine room, and its warm face breathes out into the room next door.
Ducted cellar cooling unit
A self-contained cooling unit placed outside the cellar, in a mechanical room, attic or basement, that sends chilled air in and takes return air back through insulated ducts.
Split-system cellar cooling
An evaporator inside or beside the cellar and a condensing unit outside or in another room, joined by an insulated copper line set and charged on site.
In Wine Guardian's own words
Defrost sensor has been shorted, disconnected or open.
Every code on this site is taken from the manufacturer's documentation, never from a forum or a parts listing. Wine Guardian Remote Interface controller, used with through-the-wall, ducted, ducted split, ductless split and ceiling-mounted units; the Sentinel-series ducted manuals (Dec 2022) list the same alarms.
Wine Guardian !3 wine cellar cooling unit repair,
where we come out.
The same visit in every metro below: the code, the model number, and a diagnosis before any part is ordered.
All service areasTampa BayFL · 31 areas
Miami / South FloridaFL · 47 areas
New York MetroNY · 75 areas
HoustonTX · 36 areas
ChicagoIL · 50 areas
Los AngelesCA · 95 areas
San DiegoCA · 31 areas
Questions
about !3.
Can I clear !3 myself?
Can I keep using my Wine Guardian with !3 showing?
Where is the defrost sensor on a Wine Guardian?
Why did !3 appear right after installation?
Back to your everyday
Still showing !3?
When you book, type the code or the blink count as the controller shows it, add the full model number, and say what the thermometer in the cellar reads now — that gives the technician a head start.