Making Your Restaurant Better

Keep Your Walk In Refrigerator Working

30 March 2016

Virginia Caballero

If you own a restaurant, one of the worst things you can ever hear is one of your employees saying, "Hey, the walk in fridge isn't cold." Suddenly the scramble is on to get the repairman on the phone while simultaneously assessing what needs to go into the freezer and what needs to go on the menu immediately. What can you do to make sure this commercial refrigerator nightmare doesn't come true in your restaurant? Here are three tips for maintaining your walk in and hopefully avoiding any unexpected breakdowns.

Keep The Condenser Free Of Dust

If you have lots of dust and gunk built up on the condenser coils, your compressor has to work that much harder to keep your walk in unit at the temperature you want. Eventually, the compressor will burn itself out.

To keep your condenser clean, add the task to your staff's monthly chore list, following these steps:

• Shut off the cooler's circuit breaker.
• Ensure all food products are covered.
• Use a shop vacuum brush and nozzle attachment to suck up all dust on the condenser coils.
• Wipe down any residual left on the coils, and then wipe the cooler walls and mop the floor to make sure there is no circulating dust. Work quickly so the walk in temperature doesn't drop much.
• Lastly and most importantly, remember to turn the cooler back on.

Make Sure The Floor Drain Stays Clean

A walk in unit has a drain to allow for any condensation to escape. In most walk in coolers, the excess liquid makes its way to the drain via slightly sloped flooring, and is collected in a drip pan. A heating unit in the pan then evaporates the water. If the drain is overloaded or becomes clogged with debris, the heating unit can burn out, and the floor can become flooded.

To make sure these problems don't happen, make sure your employees carefully sweep out the cooler at the end of each day, followed by mopping with a mop that has been well-wrung so excess water doesn't go down the drain.

Inspect Your Gaskets

The seal on your walk in cooler door is what keeps cold air from escaping or heated air from the kitchen entering. In addition to this potentially raising your energy bill, it makes the unit have to work that much harder to keep a consistent temperature, which will eventually lead to a breakdown. If your seal has grown hard, cracked, or won't allow the door to be shut tight, it is time to have it replaced. Ask your restaurant equipment supplier how often they recommend a general checkup for your unit to ensure it stays in good working condition.

Contact a business like Hy-Point Restaurant Equipment & Supplies Inc. to learn more.

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