Small Refrigeration Maintenance Procedure

Eric Mele returns to the podcast to discuss quality cleaning and maintenance procedures for small refrigeration systems. These small refrigeration systems include reach-in refrigerators and open-air cases on grocery sales floors.

Filthy condenser coils are problems in many HVAC applications, but they're exceptionally nasty in some small refrigeration applications; proximity to food residue (grease, sugar, etc.) makes condensers get dirty quickly. Use plastic-bristle brushes to clean the bulk of the soil on the coil; you may also use shop vac extensions or even pull out coil cleaner in some cases. If you use coil cleaner, be sure to protect components from the cleaner. When doing maintenance on a small refrigeration system, try to prepare for the cleaning ahead of time.

Drain cleaning and maintenance on small refrigeration systems is quite similar to other commercial systems. Drain backups are also a major cause of callbacks. It would also be wise to check that your drain pan heaters are working. You may have to use hot water in low-temp applications, as moisture may freeze on the coil. If you can't use hot water, you may consider using blower fans to avoid freezing (or just letting the unit defrost if you can).

Different climate zones have unique issues. For example, in Florida, we tend to have issues with voltage from the utility companies and constant heat. So, we need to test capacitors because they fail quite often.

Overall, the philosophy of good maintenance is to "do no harm." Astute observation skills are also very helpful when you do maintenance, as you'll be checking many components.

Eric and Bryan also discuss:

• Ambient temperature ratings
• Radiant heat in grocery settings
• Using compressed nitrogen for cleaning
• Food prep areas
• "Dry" steam cleaning
• What if the box is not meeting temp?
• Cutting bleed resistors
• Unnecessary maintenance procedures

 

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