The Big Freeze: Avoiding Costly Repairs With Proper Freezer Evaporator Maintenance
Cold storage rooms and large walk-in freezers are essential for maintaining product for food storage facilities. They use a large amount of energy, and especially during these more humid summer months, can pose a problem if they’re not properly maintained. Today, we’ll be talking more specifically about the evaporator coils and how they can be the difference between a well-regulated freezer/cooler and a costly problem that burns through your bottom line.
Poorly maintained evaporator coils could freeze your cashflow and burn through your bottom line.
What’s the problem?
During the summer months, the air is more humid, causing excess moisture. Moisture will always travel to the coldest surface in a space, like how windows fog in a vehicle when it is cold outside. This moisture from the air can freeze onto the cooling coils in the freezer, forming an insulating barrier of ice that prevents proper heat transfer. The buildup of ice can also restrict airflow in the coils, which is needed to operate efficiently.
Evaporators required to run below freezing must be equipped with a means for defrosting this ice, whether it be electric or hot gas defrost. Electric defrost uses heaters to defrost ice on a coil while stopping the flow of liquid refrigerant to the evaporator and running the fans. Hot gas defrost systems use hot discharge gas from the compressors to defrost the ice while liquid flow to the evaporator is paused and the fans are left running.
While both types of defrost systems are effective when running properly, maintenance to keep these running is required. If the defrost system begins to fail and the problem is not addressed, evaporators can form costly and dangerous ice build-ups.
Ice build up inside of your commercial freezer can cause damage to the evaporator coils and freezer itself.
Why does it matter?
The buildup of ice in your freezer’s evaporators can cause a lot of strain on your equipment over time. When the ice buildup is excessive, the compressor will work harder, but the evaporator will produce less cooling. This problem with the evaporator will not only result in higher operating costs but can reduce the operating life of other essential cooling components.
Another big issue occurs when your cold storage system lacks proper drainage. Trapped water that freezes can do significant structural damage to a freezer. Older freezers can develop cracks, allowing water to seep in, expand, and freeze, which can affect the structural integrity of the entire freezer if not addressed promptly. If you notice stalactites and stalagmites of ice appearing in your freezer, take that as a sign that you need to take action to fix the issue and avoid costly damage.
Ice build up over time can cause stalagmites and stalactites to form which are signs of over-chilling.
What can you do about it?
While evaporators have a defrost cycle to melt frost and ice that has built up on the evaporator coils and a drainage system to drain the melted ice from the base of the freezer, regular maintenance is still required. That’s why proper evaporator coil maintenance is essential in avoiding costly issues.
Hiring the right team will help you save on operating costs, prolong the life of your equipment, and make your cooling system more energy-efficient for years to come. At Thermatec, we have over 44 years of experience helping businesses address and avoid costly issues in commercial cooling systems and freezer units.