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Commercial Refrigeration Equipment: Problems and Solutions
Commercial refrigeration equipment as an essential part of the commercial kitchen, its normal operation is related to the safe storage of various types of ingredients. This article summarizes several common problems of refrigeration equipment and repair methods, it is important to understand these problems, which help you focus on prevention, timely judgment of the problem or communication with maintenance personnel.
Table of Contents
Main components of the refrigeration system
Compressor: The compressor is the heart of the refrigeration system, it plays the role of inhaling air, compressing and conveying refrigerant vapor, it can push the refrigeration system cycle and provide core power, which makes the low pressure refrigerant into high pressure gas. It has closed, semi-hermetic, vertical and horizontal types.
Condenser: The condenser mainly plays the role of heat dissipation, transferring the heat absorbed in the evaporator together with the heat generated by the operation of the compressor to the cooling medium, reducing the temperature and pressure of the internal environment and maintaining the normal operation of the refrigeration system.
Filter drier: Intercept and filter the water and impurities in the system, its quality determines the equipment failure rate.
Capillary tube: Capillary tube plays the role of throttling, so that the refrigerant flows smoothly and evenly into the evaporator. It is more common in small commercial refrigeration equipment, and the expansion valve is generally used to replace the capillary tube in large commercial refrigeration equipment.
Evaporator: Changes the refrigerant from liquid to gas, and absorbs heat in the evaporation process to achieve the cooling effect. In terms of material, copper tube has higher corrosion resistance than iron tube.
Solenoid valve: It controls the high-pressure gas flowing into the evaporator through the high-pressure tube in the compressor by electromagnetic induction to achieve the purpose of making the evaporator defrost and reduce the probability of affecting the system operation because of frost. It can be replaced by a frost pipe.
Liquid storage tank: store refrigerant. Refrigerant refers to the substance that can evaporate from liquid to gas state by decompression and absorb heat for refrigeration.
Common problems and maintenance methods
1. Refrigeration problems
This is the collection of the most problems in refrigeration equipment, commercial refrigeration equipment problems are generally reflected in the inability to cool, poor cooling capacity, intermittent refrigeration, such as this type of problem is very complex, there may be a variety of factors, the following are the most common types of reasons.
A. Oil into the refrigeration system
Phenomenon:
Refrigeration equipment does not cool when it is turned on
Poor refrigeration effect, refrigerated or frozen temperature drop very slowly
Heat dissipation temperature is not high
Cause:
Compressor and refrigerator design matching problems, matching does not usually cause the oil in the compressor to rise into the system, and left in the refrigeration pipeline, resulting in poor refrigerant flow, seriously affecting the refrigeration effect.
This kind of problem can’t only from the appearance or not cooling to see out, because it causes the phenomenon and the circuit failure phenomenon is very similar, need according to the heat dissipation temperature, evaporator frost situation and refrigerator internal temperature to comprehensive judgment.
Solution:
Disassemble the compressor and clean the grease in it, need professional operation to prevent refrigerant leakage, and adjust the compressor and refrigerator design suitability.
B. Impurities affect refrigeration
Phenomenon:
Similar to the phenomenon of oil blocking the flow of refrigerant, because the impurities in the system are concentrated in the filter and capillary tube, resulting in the capillary tube used to throttle cold to the touch, or even beads of water or ice, which will seriously block the compressor, making it completely unable to operate, resulting in the equipment can not be cooled.
Cause:
The previous repair welding time is too long or improper welding makes the pipe oxidation, in operation constantly produce impurities
Equipment used for a long time, the compressor in the long-term operation of the aging debris
The refrigerant contains more impurities
Solution:
Clean the commercial refrigeration equipment system comprehensively and seek professional advice to replace the refrigerant with less impurities.
C. Ice clogging capillary
Phenomenon:
Refrigerator intermittent refrigeration, can not maintain the temperature
(When the refrigerator reaches a certain temperature in the capillary tube moisture will freeze, blocking the pipe, the refrigeration system can not operate, the refrigeration program terminated, after a period of time the temperature back up, the capillary tube in the ice melted, the pipe is clear, the equipment began to cool again.)
Cause:
Refrigerant with high moisture content is used
The factory production environment is not maintained properly resulting in moisture in the system
In the case of rainy days and other high air humidity on the refrigeration system was opened for maintenance, resulting in the system into the water or moisture
Solution:
Open the refrigeration system, remove the moisture in it, keep it dry, and replace the refrigerant with low moisture content.
D. Leakage
Phenomenon:
Cooling capacity is reduced, the equipment continues to cool without stopping
Refrigeration system sealing is not tight, you can see the suspected leak point oil stains
Cause:
A gap somewhere in the system leads to material leakage affecting refrigeration
Solution:
First to confirm the existence of the leak point, some leaks are difficult to observe directly, and the suspected oil substance may just be rust inhibitor, so you need to use thin oil-absorbing paper or other ways to test whether it is oil.
After confirming the leak point, you need to make up the weld and test if there is still a leak by injecting pressure, usually for 24 hours, to confirm that the weld has been successful and that there are no other leaks.
2. Electrical leakage
Commercial refrigeration equipment leakage is divided into two cases, one is the accumulation of static electricity caused by “leakage”, the second is the component or line damage caused by leakage.
A. To remove static electricity
Refrigeration equipment in the operation process is very easy to generate static electricity, if the use of the plug is not with the ground, these static electricity will be unable to drain and accumulate, resulting in the illusion of “electrocution.
Solution:
After confirming that there is no component damage, replace the socket with a ground wire.
B. Leakage caused by damaged components and circuits
Compressor leakage
Reason: Refrigerator use a long time, the motor winding insulation aging off, and cause leakage.
Solution: need to focus on checking the lead insulation layer, to confirm whether because of the breakage of the steel wire exposed, and the shell contact and generate leakage, need to replace the new line.
Moisture-proof wire leakage
Reason: The equipment is older, as shown by the power on, start the overload protection relay frequently on and off, the compressor can not start, the case with electricity.
Solution: disconnect the circuit to which the wire is connected to ask professionals to repair.
3. Abnormal noise
Commercial refrigeration equipment in the process of operation, because the fan and compressor operation to produce a small amount of noise is normal, if you find that the noise becomes larger, there may be several reasons: drainage hole blockage, equipment location is not placed smoothly, the gap between the compressor and the cylinder is too large or compressor failure.
Solution:
Open the back box cover to unclog the drainage hole, place the equipment horizontally, if the noise problem is not solved, you need to contact with professional maintenance personnel to see if you need to adjust the compressor position or repair the compressor.
4. Fan failure
Evaporator fan plays an important role in heat dissipation and constant temperature, the phenomenon of fan failure is the poor ability of the equipment to discharge heat, temperature rise or unstable, will seriously affect the operation of the equipment.
Solution:
First of all, you should clean the dust and impurities of the fan assembly, thoroughly clean the filter, check whether there are impurities obstructing the fan operation, if it is still unable to dissipate heat, it is possible that the motor or the fan itself has problems, you need to contact professionals into the repair or replacement.
Summary
Following the principle of regular maintenance and cleaning of commercial refrigeration equipment can effectively prevent most equipment failures, while the purchase of good quality equipment can increase the service life and reduce the risk of component damage, Chefmax has specialized in the production of various types of refrigeration equipment for twenty years, if you want to know more information about refrigeration equipment or need to consult related issues, welcome to contact us, you will get the quickest and most detailed answer.
