Perlick BBS/SDB Error Codes
Applies to: BBS/SDB and HP-series units. Compiled and paraphrased from Perlick's own Back Bar Refrigeration service manual for self-contained and remote units (BBS, BBSN, PTS, DZS, SDBS, SDPS, BBSLP, DDC, DDS, BBR, BBRN, PTR, SDBR, SDPR, BBRLP), including Perlick's controller where-used dates, factory setpoints and load operation table, together with service documentation for HP-series undercounter and hotel units. Always confirm against the service manual for your exact model. THE CONTROLLER ROWS ARE ANCHORED TO THE CONTROLLER MAKERS' OWN DOCUMENTATION rather than to the cabinet manual alone: Dixell's Electronic Controls Handbook, published by Dixell S.p.A., now an Emerson brand, and Eliwell's own IDPlus and ID Plus controller manuals published on eliwell.com. A cabinet manufacturer reprints the subset of codes it cares about; the controller maker documents the behaviour behind them, which is where the duty-cycling fallback, the disabled temperature alarms, the defrost time-out consequence and the probe-type configuration warning come from. Table last updated Aug 16, 2026.
How to read the codes
Perlick back bar coolers and undercounter units show short alarm codes on the digital thermostat. Before matching one, work out WHICH CONTROLLER you are reading, because the two makes Perlick has fitted use different code sets for the same faults: Dixell controllers went into units built from 1 April 2013 to 16 September 2016, and Eliwell controllers from 19 September 2016 onward. Dixell says HA and P1; Eliwell says AH1 and E1. Factory setpoint is 36F for a refrigerator (45F white wine, 60F red wine), so judge temperature alarms against that. Record exactly what the display shows, and note whether the compressor and the evaporator fan are running when it appears, because the fan runs in every mode and the compressor does not.
The codes
| Code | Meaning | Likely causes | Operator-safe steps | Technician work |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HA | Dixell controller: maximum temperature alarm | Perlick's own definition is that the compartment has exceeded the high temperature alarm preset for over 30 minutes. Causes run from control settings and miswired harness through a stopped evaporator fan, an iced evaporator, a dirty or bent-finned condenser and a disconnected probe, to air infiltration past a damaged gasket or incomplete sealing compound, a misrouted condensate trap, and finally low charge | Check the doors close and seal, clean the condenser, and confirm nothing is blocking the front grille. Perlick asks for 24 hours between temperature adjustments | Work Perlick's order and leave charge until last: it is a critically charged system and recharging should only follow once everything else has been checked |
| AH1 | Eliwell controller: probe 1 high temperature alarm | Eliwell's own definition: the value read by probe 1 has exceeded the HAL alarm limit and stayed there for the tAO delay. The behaviour is the part worth knowing, and it is the opposite of the probe faults below: AH1 HAS NO EFFECT ON REGULATION. The controller carries on exactly as it was and simply records AH1 in its alarm folder. So this is a warning that the CONTENTS may be warm, not a report that the machine has stopped working | Check the product before you check the cabinet. Eliwell's own remedy is to wait until the temperature falls back below the alarm limit, which it will after a door has been left open or a warm delivery has been loaded. If it does not fall back, then it is a refrigeration problem | Follow Perlick's sequence and treat recharging as a last resort on a critically charged system |
| AL1 | Eliwell controller: probe 1 low temperature alarm | Perlick lists three: incorrect control settings, probe failure, and control failure. The cabinet is running colder than the low alarm preset | Check the setpoint has not been moved off the factory value for the compartment type, which is 36F for a refrigerator, 45F for white wine and 60F for red wine | Compare probe resistance against Perlick's temperature table (the probe is a 10K ohm NTC, reading 10,000 ohms at 77F) and replace it if it is out of range, then suspect the control |
| LA | Dixell controller: minimum temperature alarm | The compartment has been below the low temperature alarm preset for over 30 minutes. Perlick attributes it to incorrect control settings, probe failure or control failure | Check the setpoint against the factory value for that compartment before assuming a fault | Probe resistance against Perlick's table, then the controller. This is the Dixell counterpart of Eliwell's AL1 |
| P1 | Dixell controller: probe failure | Dixell controllers. Thermostat probe or its wiring. THE CONTROLLER DOES NOT STOP: Dixell's own handbook states that on a probe fault the display flashes P1 and the compressor is CYCLED ON AND OFF automatically on a fixed duty cycle instead of regulating to temperature. Perlick gives two causes: the probe has failed, or the probe is disconnected from the control | This is the Dixell equivalent of Eliwell's E1. Check the probe connector is pushed fully home before calling anyone | Reseat the green probe connector at the controller, then resistance-test the probe. The probe sits behind the evaporator fan panel on a bracket |
| E1 | Probe reading out of range | Eliwell controllers, probe 1 (ambient or thermostat) faulty, its measured value outside the operating range, or the probe shorted or open. Eliwell publishes the same fallback behaviour Dixell does, which is the useful pattern: the alarm icon stays permanently on, THE MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE ALARMS ARE DISABLED, and the compressor runs to the Ont and OFt duty-cycle parameters rather than to temperature. So a cabinet on E1 is running blind AND has lost the alarms that would have told you it drifted. The temperature probe reads outside valid operating values: loose connection, damaged wiring, or a failed probe | Put a thermometer in the cabinet and check the product. The controller can no longer warn you about temperature, so you are the alarm until it is fixed | Probe connection, resistance testing, and replacement |
| Door open alarm | Door or drawer ajar | Door left open, a gasket not sealing, or a door switch fault | Close the door fully and inspect the gasket; if it recurs with the door shut, record it | Door switch and gasket service |
| Thermostat probe failure (HP series) | Cabinet probe failed | Failed thermostat probe on HP24-style undercounter and hotel units | Record the code for the technician | Probe testing and replacement |
| Evaporator probe failure (HP series) | Evaporator sensor failed | Evaporator probe fault; defrost timing may suffer, showing as ice buildup | Check for visible frost on the evaporator; record the code | Probe replacement and defrost check |
| Humidity sensor open (HP series) | Humidity sensor open or disconnected | Sensor unplugged or failed on models with humidity control | Record the code for the technician | Sensor connection and replacement |
| Evaporator fan runs with the compressor off | Normal behaviour, not a fault | Perlick's load operation table has the evaporator fan and the mullion heaters energised in cooling, off and defrost modes alike. Only the compressor, the condenser fan and the inverter stop | Nothing to do. A fan still turning after the compressor stops is the unit working as designed | Useful as a negative test: if the evaporator fan is NOT running in any mode, that is the fault worth chasing |
| No code, control dead | The controller is not functioning at all | Perlick lists no power to the unit, an incorrectly wired harness, and no call for cooling | Check the circuit protection, that the unit is plugged in, and that power reaches the internal receptacle | Verify wiring against the diagram for that model family and reconnect if needed. If power and wiring are good and there is still no call for cooling, replace the controller |
| E2 and E3 (Eliwell controllers) | Defrost probe and third probe faulty | E2 is the evaporator or defrost probe on IDPlus 971 and 974, E3 the Pb3 probe. E2 carries a consequence Eliwell states directly: with the defrost probe faulty, THE DEFROST CYCLE WILL END ON TIME-OUT, parameter dEt, rather than on temperature. Every defrost from then on is a guess, which is how an evaporator ices up while the display still shows a sensible cabinet temperature | Report it even if the cabinet seems fine. The icing follows later | Eliwell's own remedy order: check the probe type against parameter H00, NTC or PTC, then the wiring, then replace the probe. A probe of the wrong type reads as faulty |
| dEA (Dixell controllers) | Defrost ended on TIME rather than on temperature | The Dixell equivalent of the E2 consequence above, and the same early warning: the evaporator never reached its termination temperature, so the defrost timed out instead | Report it before anything ices up | Evaporator probe position, defrost heater or hot gas, and airflow |
| 000 and CCC (Dixell controllers) | Probe open circuit and probe closed circuit | Dixell distinguishes these from P1: 000 is an open circuit, CCC a short. P1 says the reading is unusable, these say which way it failed, which decides whether you are hunting a broken wire or a pinched one | Record which of the three is showing. They are not interchangeable | Open versus short narrows it before the panel comes off |
| EA, CA and OFF (Dixell controllers) | External alarms of three severities, from a digital input | EA generic, CA the Klixon external alarm, OFF a serious external alarm. These come from a device wired to the controller rather than from the controller. Dixell notes CA usually indicates incorrect installation: no refrigerant, loose or incorrect wiring, connection errors | On a recently installed or serviced unit, CA points back at the installation | Trace the digital input to whatever is wired to it before diagnosing the controller |
| Probe alarms immediately after service | Not a fault: probe count does not match the configuration | Both makers warn about this. Dixell says connect the number of probes that suits parameter tC or probe alarms WILL occur. Eliwell's first remedy for E1 and E2 is to check the probe TYPE against parameter H00, NTC or PTC, because a probe of the wrong type reads as a failed one | If the alarm began right after somebody worked on it, say so. It changes where they look first | Check tC and H00 against the probes actually fitted before condemning a probe |
If this needs a refrigeration technician
12 companies in this directory name Perlick on their own site: that page shows who has been phone-confirmed, who publishes 24/7 cover, and what each puts in writing. Start there if the brand matters more than the city.
Two questions worth reading before you ring anyone: what to do first when a code appears and how to tell whether it is yours to fix.
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Related: the PM checklist that prevents the most common codes outright, and the operator guides for symptom-first diagnosis.
Not sure this is the right make? The lookup by code shows every make that uses a given code, and flags the ones that mean different things depending on the machine in front of you.