30

Oct

What Are The Causes Of Ice Buildup In A Walk-In Cooler?

Frost buildup inside a walk-in cooler can directly affect its performance and, if not fixed soon, it can result in damage to the vital components. So, you need a commercial appliances repair expert to inspect your walk-in cooler and determine why it’s freezing up. Here are some causes of ice buildup in walk-in coolers that will help you fix yours.

Causes Of Your Walk-In Cooler Freezing Up

Human Error

A common reason for walk-in coolers freezing up is the door is left open for too long. Why is this a problem? One of the things that triggers ice buildup inside a walk-in cooler is warm, humid air. When humid air enters the walk-in cooler, the refrigerator works harder to cool down the interior. In this attempt, the humid air turns to ice.

So, if the door of the walk-in cooler is open even for only 10 minutes, it will cause ice buildup. However, this does depend on the region where your facility is. If the air in your region is humid, icing will occur with only a few minutes of the door left open.

Usually, staff members follow the rules and keep the door closed and when they open it, they do it for a very short interval. However, during stocking the refrigerator, staff members might forget to keep the door closed or have to keep it open to bring many batches of food items inside the refrigerator.

So, instruct your staff to keep the door closed when stocking the food and bring all the food inside the walk-in cooler at once and then place it on shelves after that.

Moreover, to prevent the staff from leaving the refrigerator door open accidentally, install self-closing hinges or a door closer. Additionally, to keep the door from being open for too long in normal operations other than food stocking, instruct the employees to be sure of the items they need to take from the refrigerator or put inside it so they take less time when opening the refrigerator and performing the task.

Damaged Gasket

A walk-in cooler has gaskets in different places to keep two separate parts sealed. For example, the door has a gasket installed all over its ends so that when the door is closed, the gasket ensures that warm air doesn’t go inside or cold air doesn’t escape from the refrigerator.

Over time, these gaskets become loose, worn, or damaged. Due to this, even when the door is closed, the worn gasket doesn’t create a perfect seal. Warm, humid air keeps entering the walk-in cooler. This air turns into ice in any part of the interior and causes problems.

Faulty Door Mechanism

Gaskets wear with time, but sometimes, the door mechanism may be the culprit of ice buildup inside your commercial walk-in cooler. In some cases, the hinges become misaligned with time and allow some space that proves to be an entering point for warm air.

To check if the hinges are the cause of the problem, look for spaces near the top and bottom of the door.

Aging Or Damaged Insulation Panels

The inside walls of a walk-in cooler are covered with insulation panels. They keep the refrigerator cold by acting as a shield between the warm air outside and the cold air inside. These are sturdy panels, but they are not immune to damage and general wear and tear.

As these panels age more than 10 years, they start losing their insulation properties. This means they can’t keep the warm air outside as effectively as they did before. So, warm air keeps entering the walk-in cooler and turning into ice.

Moreover, due to improper maintenance or carelessness, these panels can be damaged during cleaning, stocking food items, or removing items. This also makes them considerably ineffective.

So, whenever, there is an ice buildup issue, have the insulation panels checked as well. Take note that when the insulation panels of your walk-in cooler are worn, your appliance is probably really old and you should consider replacing the appliance.

Issues With The Evaporator Coil

The evaporator coil is the component that makes your walk-in cooler or any refrigerator cold. The most common issue with evaporator coils is the icing up of the coils due to the issues mentioned above. When warm air enters the walk-in cooler, it can also reach the evaporator coils and its fans. And with time, it can freeze the evaporator coil or the fans.

In some cases, dust and debris buildup can lead to ice buildup in the evaporator coils because these coils make warm air cold. When they can’t due to dirty coils, condensation occurs more than usual leading to frozen coils.

Furthermore, the same will happen if the evaporator coils or their fans are faulty. Sometimes, the fans become faulty due to ice buildup that is because of the inflow of warm air inside the walk-in cooler. This warm air becomes ice. If this is formed on the fans, they won’t rotate, causing the evaporator coils to freeze which will lead to ineffective cooling of the walk-in cooler. This can spoil the inventory stored in the refrigerator.

Keep in mind that the evaporator coil fans can malfunction on their own as well and they will cause the same problem.

Thermostat Issues

In some other cases, evaporator coils become frozen due to thermostat issues. It could be that the thermostat is set to a temperature lower than the recommended settings which will lead to icing up of the evaporator coils.

Apart from that, if the thermostat is faulty, it might not sense the temperature correctly and may not signal the compressor to stop functioning at the right time. The walk-in cooler might start freezing everything or in the opposite case, the walk-in cooler might become too warm.

Malfunctioning Auto-Defrost Cycle

The defrost cycle removes ice from evaporator coils. These cycles are timed and occur periodically. When a defrost cycle is triggered, the compressor is turned off. Evaporator coils are installed with a small heater or heating element that begins functioning and removes ice formed on the coils. Keep in mind that a normal amount of ice formation on evaporator coils is fine and for removing it, the auto-defrost feature is installed.

However, if the defrost cycle doesn’t work or the heating element becomes faulty, the evaporator coils will remain iced up and lead to various problems like cooling issues.

Clogged Drain Line

It was mentioned in the last point that evaporator coils are defrosted. This means the ice on the coils becomes water. This water flows outside the refrigerator through the condensate or drain line. It can become clogged due to a lack of maintenance or something else obstructing the line.

Due to this, melted water from the evaporator coils and other parts of the walk-in cooler won’t be drained out. So, it will pool near the drain line. This water can freeze up.

If you see ice near the drain line only, then the drain line is either clogged or obstructed. So, clean the drain line.

Conclusion

Icing up of the interior of a walk-in cooler is not normal. It’s dangerous and can damage the evaporator coils, evaporator fans, and even the compressor. So, if you notice ice buildup in your commercial walk-in cooler, get assistance from a walk in cooler repair Fairfax technician.

25

Jan

Reasons Why You Should Develop a Commercial Appliance Maintenance Schedule

Commercial kitchen appliance repair and service is crucial in keeping your appliances in good shape and reduce the risk of breakdowns. Your restaurant depends on the ability to keep the appliances working in good condition. It’s therefore important that you ensure that you have a commercial appliance service schedule to ensure that the appliances work efficiently. To prevent the sudden breakdown of appliances the commercial appliances repair team will develop a maintenance schedule to prevent costly breakdowns. In this article, we tell you why it’s imperative that you ensure that you have a maintenance schedule for all your appliances.

Why Commercial Appliances Fail

  • Lack of regular Maintenance

Lack of preventive maintenance will lead to the breakdown of your commercial appliances. Failure to replace worn out parts in good time will make the appliances break down more quickly. It’s therefore important that you ensure that regular maintenance is done.

  • Placing Appliances In Poorly Ventilated rooms

For commercial kitchen appliances to work optimally, it’s important to ensure they are placed in a well-ventilated room. Imbalanced air flow will lead to overheating of the commercial kitchen appliances leading to break down. It’s important that the appliances are placed in a well-ventilated room.

  • Using Appliances Wrongly

It’s imperative that your employees understand how to use appliances as that will ensure they last longer and they can pick out any issues. Most commercial appliances have a manual that can help your employees understand how appliances work.

Reasons Why Should Develop a Commercial Appliance Maintenance Schedule

  • Prevent Breakdowns

The cost of repairs will reduce your business profit and you may end up losing clients and time. Breakdowns are costly and a scheduled maintenance will save you the unwanted breakdowns. It’s important that you talk to the commercial appliance oven repair team to have scheduled to avoid sudden breakdown of the oven and cause a dinner delay in your restaurant losing your money and clienteles.

  • Increase Efficiency

Most of the kitchen appliances come into contact with water causing a build a build of lime. It’s important that you come up with a schedule for maintenance of the kitchen appliance to ensure that they are efficient. The commercial garbage system may be clogged by debris, burners get grease build-up leading to inefficiency. Talk to the commercial kitchen appliance repair team and schedule a preventive maintenance as that will increase the efficiency of your appliances.

  • Increase the Appliance Lifespan

Kitchen appliance is an investment that you want to last long. Servicing your appliances often will boost the lifespan of your appliances. You need to make sure that the expert at the walk-in cooler repair team carries out the scheduled maintenance to ensure your clients enjoy that ice cream and ensure the longevity of the appliances. Make sure that you schedule you to have a schedule for all the appliances to ensure longevity and increase the return on investment.

  • Keep the commercial appliances clean

It’s important to ensure that the food you serve clean and safe food. Maintaining the commercial appliance will ensure there is no build-up of grease and lime. Build-up of the grease and lime could lead to bacteria making your clients sick. The commercial appliance repair team will ensure that the internal parts of the appliances are clean. Deep cleaning your commercial oven will ensure that your appliance last long  Scheduling the maintenance will ensure that the appliances are clean inside and out.

Dangers of Neglecting your commercial Appliances

  • Financial loss

Failure to carry out preventive maintenance will lead to appliances breaking down when you need them most. Broken down equipment means that you are not able to serve your favorite dish causing you lost clientele and loss of business. If your commercial refrigerator is not working your food may have a weird taste and lead to loss of clients. It’s therefore important that you contact the commercial refrigerator repair team and ensure preventive maintenance is carried out. Failing to maintain your appliances means that they will break down more often and reducing their lifespan.

  • Liability

Failure to clean the internal part of your commercial appliances will lead to the Mold and bacteria that could up in food leading to poisoning. That could result in lawsuits and business closure. It’s important to ensure that commercial kitchen appliance repair team often to keep your appliances clean.

It’s crucial that you develop a preventive maintenance schedule for all your appliances. Make sure that the schedule is followed diligently. It’s important that you work with the experts for best results. The commercial appliance repair Virginia, team will ensure that your appliances are working efficiently.

 

25

Jan

How to Take Care of Your Walk-in Cooler

Walk-in coolers are a critical part of your enterprise, and it’s therefore imperative that they are well taken care of and maintained. The walk-in cooler is an invention that does miracles in your business by preserving your inventory. Thus it goes without saying that it’s necessary to ensure they are working properly. Emergency walk-in cooler repair will be costly, it’s vital to ensure that maintenance works are done regularly.

Walk-in Cooler Maintenance Tips

  • Condensing Unit

The components that keep the condensing unit running are compressor, coil and a fan motor. The part should be well cleaned at least once a month. Switch off the unit and vacuum clean it to clear any accumulated dirt and dust particles.

  • Interiors and exteriors Cleaning of the cooler

Ensure that the exterior and interior of the walk-in cooler are often cleaned. Make sure you clean the walk-in cooler eevaporator toensure that it functions without fail. Sanitize the cooler with vinegar or bleach. Use a mild detergent to clean the outer parts of the cooler.

  • Regular Inspection of the cooler

Check how the cooler is working to ensure no sudden breakdown which would otherwise have been prevented.  Make sure that cooler maintains the correct temperature. Ensure that the seals and hinges are working properly and if not ensure you have commercial appliance repair expert to check the cooler.

Signs that your walk-in cooler needs the attention of an expert

  • Bad odours emanating from the cooler

If you smell a terrible odour coming from your cooler that’s a sign is not well, and your commercial appliance repair expert needs to check whether the coolant is leaking or find out the cause of the odour.

  • Temperature going up and down

Temperature fluctuations mean that your inventory may not remain fresh. The cooler should have a constant temperature when functioning properly

  • Noise from the motor

Excessive heat and unusually loud noises in the motor mean your cooler is not working properly.

  • Water below the cooler

Paddles of water could mean a more significant problem in the working if walk-in cooler. Water on the floor could mean the seals are not tight enough which increases energy consumption. That means the electricity bills go higher when the seals are not tight.

Once you begin to notice, any of the above ensure that you call in a commercial appliances repair fairfax va expert who has the knowledge and experience. Training employees on how to use the walk-in cooler will ensure they can be able to check the appliance and detect any issue regularly. Make sure that the doors to the walk-in cooler remain when in not use to avoid changing the temperature of the cooler. Have a maintenance schedule for the walk-in cooler and follow it diligently.

 

24

Jul

Preventative Maintenance for Walk-in Refrigerator

Refrigeration units are one of the most important appliances in food service industry. This appliance plays a critical role in commercial kitchens. In order to keep this appliance running with full efficiency, it is very much important to pay attention over maintenance of walk-in refrigerators.

Scheduling walk in cooler repair is essential, and training staff for cleaning and maintenance is also required. A walk-in refrigerator should be used and cleaned properly, and kitchen staff should know how to use this appliance.

Walk-In Refrigerator Preventive Maintenance Checklist

Maintenance of commercial refrigerator requires understanding of the appliance and its components. Each component of the walk-in refrigerator required to be cleaned precisely, and the cleaning method is also different for different components.

Walk-in refrigerator cleaning and maintenance

Unit Coolers Cleaning: Unit coolers should be cleaned in every 6 months or sooner. You can visually inspect the component to check clogging or air passage fouling. In order to keep your unit coolers in good condition you need to:

  • Check sign of corrosion in cabinets, fins etc.
  • Check fan blades for unusual vibration
  • Check out oil stains
  • Check drain pipes to make sure they are free from debris or any sort of clogging

Clean evaporator coil and blades: Periodic cleaning of evaporator coil and blades is required to keep your refrigerating unit working. You can clean this component using wet cloth, brush and mild detergent. Please avoid using acid based cleaners. Follow manufacturer’s instructions for trouble-free cleaning.

Check the operation of all fans: It is important that all fans of your walk-in refrigerators work properly, so that you can make sure that the air flow is unobstructed. Manually check if each fan is rotating quietly and freely. Check if all screws of the fan are tight, and fan blades are not worn out or cracked. Also, verify that fan motors are working without any sort of interruption.

Inspect electrical wiring and components: Manually inspect all the wiring components of your refrigerator. In case you notice any cracked or lose wiring, get it repaired as soon as possible. All wirings of walk-in refrigerators should be proper to avoid electric shocks. Also inspect, if all switches of your refrigerating unit are working.

Walk-in refrigerator is very complicated commercial kitchen appliance. It is not possible for a non-technical person to understand and maintain this appliance. That is why it is recommended to hire commercial refrigerators repair services.