A repair technician’s best friend, a systematic approach to troubleshooting, opts for an all-inclusive condenser coil check when coolroom conditions are less than ideal. What if there’s a build-up of dirt in the freezer area? Besides being an unhygienic way to run what’s lawfully defined as a food-safe enclosure, that messy accumulation is hindering the refrigeration unit. Intent on his exhaustive maintenance check, the tech checks the condenser section.
Condenser Coil Checks: Troubleshooting Environmental Issues
As any hygiene expert will tell us, clean coolrooms and freezers aren’t just recommended, they’re a necessity, as outlined by any government regulated food safety authority (www.foodstandards.gov.au). If that assiduously sanitized room isn’t kept free of dirt, then the food is at risk of contamination. Furthermore, the condenser coil will become less effective because the collecting dust and dirt are acting as an insulating layer. As a knock-on effect, the compressor mechanism works harder to offset the effects of this dirt jacket and maintain the required low temperature. In the end, however, the compressor is fighting a losing battle, one that results in system failure, for that layer of dust and dirt isn’t going anywhere, not unless a compressor coil check rectifies the issue.
Discussing Performance Hampering Factors
A walk-in freezer can limp along for years if the condenser section is dirty. Sure, the heat exchanging mechanism is attenuated, the compressor is working harder, and an overall efficiency drop is unavoidable. Still, the appliance will limp along, at least until the strain breaks the back of that mechanically exhausted compressor. What should be happening is a maintenance check, a program that adds a full page of inspections that highlight condenser coil operability. Is there unhampered airflow in and around this heat exchanger? Is the coil clean and undamaged? Finally, large capacity units rely on more than open space and ventilation. They use powerful fans to push excess heat through a vented duct. The inspection not only troubleshoots the condenser coil in this high-capacity system, it also ensures those fans are clean and operating at their best.
If coolrooms and freezers depend on a refrigeration unit, shouldn’t we properly identify that cooling system? After all, that cold airflow is produced by heat exchange science, not magic. The condenser coils receive the vapourised refrigerant. That gas then cools until it’s a liquid. On the coil surfaces, the heat exchange mechanism produces thermal energy, which is blown away by a fan or simply vented. The duty of the tech here is clear, with his troubleshooting skills focusing on maintaining coil conductance. Consequently, these coiled surfaces must be kept clean, and the airflow around the surfaces must flow freely.
Expert walk-in contractors plan out their services. Rest assured, the practice is done professionally on paper or in computer space. Furthermore, the chosen installation site is gauged according to a suitability threshold. It’s hard not to wonder about the factors that influence this location-based study. Is this check used because the installation site is too small? Perhaps, or maybe there’s another factor in play.
Explaining Suitability Checks
Contemporary coolrooms and freezers are factory manufactured and injected with composite insulation panels. It’s because of this pre-designed approach that the prospective site requires an initial suitability check. Will those wall panels assemble cleanly inside the desired room space? Perhaps an outdoor cooling enclosure is the only workable solution if the inspection falls short of a viable installation method. Even if those dimensional constraints are satisfied, there are other problems to consider.
Construction-Oriented Site Surveys
As we all know, there’s a power hungry monster locked inside refrigeration equipment. The suitability check accounts for this energy exorbitant design by sourcing low-power parts, but the gear is still likely to draw more power than the average commercial appliance. With that fact in mind, the check turns its attention to the power distribution system, to cable capacity and line circuit breakers. High capacity circuitry may be recommended after the inspection so that the coolroom doesn’t create a system overload, one that would black out the entire kitchen. Similarly, the plumbing pipes, especially the drainage system, may need to be upgraded to handle a sudden defrost cycle.
Working with Ducting
An unobstructed channel is essential here, with the airflow passing unhindered from some predetermined outside wall. If that outside area is blocked by debris, it must be cleared. Incidentally, if the muck and mess are airborne, then system filters are a must-have feature, for that particulate matter cannot be allowed to enter a sanitary area where edible foodstuff is stored. In order to underscore this provision, a maintenance program should be recommended by the suitability check. Depending on the results of the inspection, the program could initiate a daily or weekly filter check so that a satisfactory hygiene threshold is established in the coolroom.
On a deeper level, the professionally conducted inspection comprehensively assesses factors that are invisible to others. The floor, for instance, could be energy leaky, so floor insulation would be required. Beyond the floors and walls, their dimensional outlines and insulating properties, there’s the site construction to assess. These checks ensure the existing ducting and plumbing and electrical fittings are up to the job of working with a powerful coolroom.
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