If your commercial freezer is not cold enough, it means all of the food items in it are at risk of spoilage. Find a commercial freezer repair expert quickly who can fix the freezer. For your help, listed below are some common causes of a commercial freezer not cold enough.
Dirty Condenser Coil
The condenser coil is located outside of a commercial freezer. Commonly, it’s either at the back or underneath the unit. It’s involved in the heat dissipation process, and it’s pretty common for the condenser coil to get caked in dust and debris. What’s not fine is skipping its cleaning.
Because if the condenser coil is left like this, it won’t dissipate heat properly. This will affect the entire refrigeration process and the commercial freezer won’t be cold enough.
Note that a dirty condenser coil puts stress on the unit and it keeps running for longer periods. If it keeps going like this, other components may malfunction or fail.
Therefore, regularly cleaning the condenser coil is very important. Generally, cleaning it every 2-4 months is suggested.
Poor Airflow
There should be enough room for sufficient airflow inside a commercial freezer. If there is too much stuff inside or too many or too big racks in there, they may block the evaporator coils and fans. This will directly affect the performance of the commercial freezer and it won’t cool enough.
This is a rather simple problem because all you need to do is to ensure that there isn’t too much stuff in the freezer and nothing is blocking the evaporator coils and fans, if this hasn’t already damaged any components.
Good storage practices are important, otherwise, this simple problem can put a lot of strain on the compressor. The compressor may overheat and shut down. It can also malfunction over time, which requires a costly replacement. So, this minor thing has a huge impact.
Blocked Fan Or Failed Motor
This is related to the previous point. There are evaporator fans in commercial freezers. They ensure sufficient airflow for cooling. Even when the food is stored properly, they can malfunction or get blocked by frost buildup. Moreover, due to this reason or any other, the fan motor can also fail. When this happens, there is again an airflow problem.
You can’t know if the reason for a stopped evaporator fan is an obstruction or a failed motor till you defrost the walk-in freezer or simply try to gently remove ice around the fan, after shutting it down for a while. If the fan doesn’t work after defrosting, it may be a faulty fan motor.
Bad Thermostat
A malfunctioning thermostat will go haywire and won’t play by the rules at all. It will send wrong instructions at the wrong times. Due to a thermostat issue, even when you set the correct temperatures recommended by the manufacturer, the freezer won’t freeze the interior, and spoil the food items.
This could also be the reason why your commercial freezer is not cold enough. So, hire commercial refrigerator services Fairfax Station for an inspection.
Damaged Gasket
A door gasket or seal is for sealing the interior when the door is closed. But if it’s cracked or damaged, it will have enough space for warm air to keep entering and making things very difficult for the commercial freezer to sustain the freezing temperatures.
This will put a lot of stress on the compressor, which will either keep working for longer periods or may begin short cycling (turning on and off constantly). This is also partly due to the thermostat finding it difficult to detect the correct temperature as well.
In addition to that, there is more condensation on the walls due to warm air. This also negatively impacts the performance of the commercial freezer.
Therefore, a door seal that allows warm air to enter creates a lot of problems and you will see that your commercial freezer is not freezing, and the compressor may be overheating or short-cycling.
First, train your staff to maintain the commercial freezer by cleaning the gasket and the interior regularly. Moreover, hire a commercial freezer expert who will check if the gasket is the issue and replace it. It’s an inexpensive replacement compared to bigger components, like the fan motor or the compressor.
Keeping The Door Open
If you keep the door of the commercial freezer open for longer periods or open and close it very frequently, this can also impact its performance, and it will not cool enough. So, reduce the frequency of opening the freezer door. If you put inventory in it, stack all the items near you and then quickly organize them in the freezer, and close the door.
Faulty Start Relay
A start relay is a small switch that has a big role in waking up the compressor or giving it the initial boost to start operation. A compressor is a vital component, so if something that aids its operation fails, then there will be problems. So, the compressor won’t run. No compressor operation means no cooling. So, the commercial freezer won’t cool or won’t be cold enough.
If the compressor is not turning on when required, you should look for signs near the freezer. You may hear a clicking sound or intermittent compressor operation. This might mean that the start relay is malfunctioning.
A start relay is an electrical component, so replacing it yourself is not recommended. Hire an expert who can replace it. It’s also an inexpensive component.
Defrost System Problems
Commercial freezers have an auto defrost system that periodically removes ice buildup from the evaporator coil. If, for any reason, it doesn’t work, you will see the commercial freezer filled with excessive ice. The vents and the evaporator coils will also be frozen.
This will block the airflow and also stop the evaporator coils and their fans from keeping the interior cool. So, the compressor will work much harder than what’s required of it in normal circumstances and it can also fail if the issue is not fixed sooner.
Any part of the defrost system failure will lead to no defrost cycle. Common parts of a defrost system include a defrost heater, a defrost thermostat, and a defrost timer.
Therefore, if you notice excessive ice in the commercial freezer, the defrost cycle is not working and you should contact an expert to remedy this.
Low Refrigerant Levels
A refrigerant is the “gas” that a commercial freezer requires for the cooling process. If its levels are low, the unit won’t properly cool. Many operations are disturbed with low refrigerant. A big one is the compressor working harder because it has so low levels of refrigerant to push. It may keep working constantly or for long and might overheat. This can also lead to higher energy bills and ice buildup on the evaporator coil.
Refrigerant levels go low due to a leak. So, you need a professional to inspect the freezer and find the leakage.
Conclusion
Multiple components work together to ensure optimum temperatures inside a commercial freezer, so if it’s not cold enough, you should look for the above-mentioned causes. Hire a commercial refrigerator repair Chantilly technician for professional help.
