A commercial refrigerator that doesn’t maintain the temperature or doesn’t reach the temperature can spoil the food stored inside it. To avoid this situation, inspect your commercial fridge regularly and get the services of a commercial refrigerators repairs professional. You can also learn more about why your commercial refrigerator is not reaching the temperature by giving this guide a read.
Inspect The Power Source
Try a simple technique fix. Turn it off, wait for 30 seconds, and then turn on the refrigerator. Some issues are fixed with this method. Plus, check the power source of the refrigerator and the power cord. Make sure it’s plugged in correctly and the outlet is functional.
Moreover, if there is an extension cord used for powering the refrigerator, remove it and plug it into an outlet directly.
Check The Location Of The Refrigerator
Move on to check the placement of your commercial refrigerator. Any fridge should not be placed too close to the wall because it will restrict the ventilation and the refrigeration process of the appliance. Ensure there is at least 2 inches of clearance between the walls and the sides of the commercial refrigerator.
Furthermore, the temperature of the place where the refrigerator is located also impacts its cooling ability. Usually, if the placement of the refrigerator is in a hot place with poor ventilation, it won’t be a surprise if the commercial refrigerator struggles to reach the cooling temperature. In that case, change the location of your commercial refrigerator.
Clean The Condenser Coils
Condenser coils help in removing the warm temperature of the refrigerant that is inside the coils. They are placed at the exterior of a commercial refrigerator to effectively remove heat. In that, they receive dust, dirt, and other contaminants from the air that stick to the coils.
With the buildup of dust on condenser coils, the capability of them removing heat decreases. This results in the refrigerator not cooling properly or not maintaining the temperature inside.
Therefore, clean the condenser coils regularly to prevent this problem. The cleaning process of the condenser coils is easy and your staff can easily carry it out.
- Remove the power cord of the commercial refrigerator from the outlet.
- Move all the items stored in the unit to another refrigerator if this process sounds longer to you depending on what type of food is stored in your refrigerator.
- Locate the coils. They may be at the bottom front of the refrigerator or at the back.
- Remove the cover if any and use a stiff brush to gently clean the coils.
- Then, vacuum the coils.
- Put the cover back and turn on the refrigerator.
Check The Doors
Many problems related to the doors can lead to a commercial refrigerator not maintaining the temperature.
Firstly, check if the doors are closed properly. During the usage, if a staff member or a customer (if the refrigerator is accessible to customers) opens the door and doesn’t close it completely, it will affect its temperature because warm air will keep coming in.
Then, check the usage of the refrigerator. If the doors are opened and closed too many times in a short time, this will also impact the cooling process of the refrigerator. Hot air from the outside will sneak in every time the refrigerator is opened. Due to the sheer frequency of the opens, the refrigerator will take much more time in reaching the temperature or won’t reach the temperature at all.
After clearing the above suspicion, check the door gaskets. These are installed on the entire part of the door that connects to the fridge when it’s closed. The gaskets ensure no air leaks from or get into the refrigerator.
With usage, these gaskets become worn and stiff. Cool air may leak or warm air may get into the refrigerator leading to temperature issues. Hire an expert to replace the door gaskets as a long-term solution to this problem.
Look For Thermostat Issues
The thermostat in a commercial refrigerator takes care of temperature regulation. If it’s not working due to any reason, your refrigerator may become too cold or too warm. In short, it won’t reach your desired set temperature it won’t signal the control board at the correct time to cool the interior or stop cooling.
In some instances, the thermostat is not faulty but only blocked by food items. Sometimes, the vents are blocked by inventory. So, locate the thermostat to check if it’s blocked by anything.
Then, use can place a thermometer inside the refrigerator to check if the thermostat is faulty. If you see a difference between the readings of both devices, the thermostat is malfunctioning. Hire an expert who can check the thermostat. They may calibrate the thermostat or replace it.
Usage Habits
Commercial refrigerators are heavily used in restaurants and other food facilities. So, you should also look out for usage practices because some habits can impart adverse effects on the effectiveness of your commercial fridge.
For instance, it’s easier to just put hot food inside the refrigerator when the staff is dealing with a lot at peak hours. This will put more pressure on the refrigerator because it will have to cool a hot food item that is quickly changing the internal temperature of the fridge.
Moreover, hot food inside the refrigerator produces condensation that can damage the components of the unit.
Condenser Fan
Commercial freezers and refrigerators also feature a condenser fan. It’s located near the condenser coils and the compressor and cools these two important components which become hot during the cooling process. The fans circulate air and remove excess heat from the coils and the compressor to keep them functioning well.
So, check the fan. If it’s not rotating, clean it up and remove obstructions that may be stopping it from rotating. If the fan doesn’t work, then the fan motor may be failed. An expert will be required to check the fan motor and replace it if needed.
Check The Compressor
A compressor is a critical component for refrigerators. The cooling process starts when the thermostat signals the control board to turn on the compressor. The refrigerator then cools the interior and when the correct temperature is reached the thermostat again signals the control board to turn off the compressor.
But if the compressor is faulty, it will not properly run and the refrigerator won’t be cooled properly.
If you think that the compressor of your commercial refrigerator is malfunctioning, look for these signs:
- Your refrigerator runs constantly and never turns off cooling.
- The refrigerator doesn’t cool properly and doesn’t reach the temperature.
- The fan runs but the refrigerator doesn’t get cold.
- It trips the circuit breaker often.
- The unit makes more noise than usual.
- The power bill is crawling up.
Find any two signs relevant to your refrigerator. Have your commercial refrigerator inspected by an expert. Compressors of commercial refrigerators are expensive. Therefore, many experts first replace the compressor start relay because sometimes, it’s the culprit. If the new start relay doesn’t fix the issues, then they go ahead with compressor replacement.
Conclusion
Commercial refrigerators can run into problems with usage. If it’s not cooling, check the above-mentioned things. Allow a commercial freezer repairs Springfield expert to check the fridge and fix the cooling issue.