DIY Commercial Refrigeration Maintenance Inspection

October 12, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Truck at Miller Coors S. Wacker

DIY Commercial Refrigeration Maintenance Inspection We're here to help you with all things commercial refrigeration. We'd like to help you keep your machines running smoothly between maintenance calls. So, with some information and timely tips our aim is to assist business owners in better understanding when it's time to make that call to schedule a maintenance appointment for their commercial coolers and freezers in Chicago. We're also sharing some handy pointers on preventive maintenance that the end user can perform on their own. First TIP, and essential, to a well running cooler or freezer: Routine maintenance should be performed at least twice per year. A thorough plan performed by a service company should include the following: Pressure Cleaning Condenser Coils (degrease if necessary) Pressure Clean Drain Lines Monitor Temperature & Cycling Check Refrigerant Level Check Condenser and Evaporator Fan Motors & Blades Check Electrical Connections: … [Read more...]

Summer Sizzle Elicits One Word: Maintenance!

June 11, 2011 by Leave a Comment
refrigeration heat_wave-300x2254

  After this past week's heat brief, but brutal, heat wave we just cannot stress enough the importance of maintaining your commercial refrigeration equipment. While we love the business, we hate to see you in a bind! Even one of our friends learned the hard way at home in Lake County. "Who needs to check the air conditioning?"  Our friend has since changed her tune when the a/c unit refused to turn on as the temperature inside the house was soaring to 89 degrees!  The guilty will remain nameless to shelter her from further shame at the lack of preventative maintenance. She survived, but you don't want the same thing to happen to your commerical refrigeration equipment! You NEED your ice machine! You NEED cooling for your food and beverage service. Be sure to check out our previous maintenance checklist post!   Be sure to check out our SPECIALS all around the web!  Save $ Facebook. Track us on Google Latitude located on our home page and save on … [Read more...]

EPA Helps Businesses Transition to GREEN Practices with GreenChill!

May 30, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Greenchill - EPA Partnership with Advanced Refrigeration

GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership is a program recently introduced by the EPA to assist  those in the hospitality industry by alleviating the guesswork in making the transition to more environmentally friendly refrigerants in the upcoming years. The EPA describes GreenChill as an "EPA Partnership with food retailers to reduce refrigerant emissions and decrease their impact on the ozone layer and climate change."  The ultimate goal of this partnership it to help improve air quality through the reduction of emissions that contribute to ozone depletion. This team effort was brought about by The Montreal Protocol, which began in 1987 as means to reduce and eliminate the use of CFCs and HCFCs.  This includes a globally mandated ban on Freon, and other CFC and HCFC gases, set to be at 99.5 percent below the determined baseline by the year 2020. We are currently at 75 percent below the determined baseline. These numbers alone can prove confusing, as well as the … [Read more...]

Think Your Commercial Ice Machine Is Clean? Think Again!

May 4, 2011 by Leave a Comment
CommercialiceBEFOREANDAFTER

They look innocuous enough.  Just sitting there waiting to quench our thirst and cool our beverages any time we need them. We grab the provided cup, put it under the ice dispenser, then fill up with our desired beverage. Simple. Easy. No worries. Right? We all take soda machines, and commercial ice machines in general, for granted. Maybe we should think twice. We use them every day as business owners and consumers.  They are reliable and a staple of the hospitality industry, yet it’s easy to forget that the quiet workhorse of the industry needs just as much TLC as its fancy espresso-making counterparts. Commercial ice machines, whether the kind found attached to fountain drink dispensers, or stand-alone units, are prone to scale build-up, as well as mold growth, on the water lines. These undesirables can come in contact with the lines and DIRECTLY with the ice that goes into your beverages! This can create taste issues, health concerns, and equipment failure! The idea that we … [Read more...]

Commercial Refrigeration Going “Green” – R744 & Retrofit Viable Options Over R22

March 31, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Refrigeration Goes Green Even in the recesses of your local grocery store or corner pub, the initiative to provide cleaner air and a more stable environment is alive and well. We don’t often think about grocery stores, restaurants, bars, and other businesses as being Green, but in reality these types of businesses are being charged by The Montreal Protocol to clean up their act completely by 2030. Commercial refrigeration currently relies heavily on R22 as a refrigerant; however, this kind of refrigerant is known to deplete the ozone layer. With the worldwide phase-out of ozone depleting HCFCs (hydrochlorofluorocarbons) including R-22, we need to start thinking of other alternatives, especially Green alternatives. Under the terms of the Montreal Protocol, the U.S. agreed to meet certain obligations by specific dates: January 1, 2004: U.S. is required to reduce its consumption of HCFCs by 35% below U.S. baseline cap. January 1, 2010: U.S. is required to reduce its … [Read more...]

Spring Cleaning for Commercial Refrigeration Equipment – Comprehensive Maintenance Checklist

March 25, 2011 by 3 Comments

Spring has Sprung! Thoughts turn to blue skies and flowers. (Shh! Yes, it is snowing right this very minute in Chicagoland!) Have you given thought to your commercial refrigeration needs? Probably not. When everything is chugging along in perfect working order, preventative maintenance often slips our minds. So, we’d like to give you a gentle reminder that preventative maintenance is always better than trying to find a cure for something that has already met its demise. The best way to stay on top of your preventative maintenance needs is to keep a to-do list. Sounds like one more thing to add to your already full schedule, but it can be very simple. No need to complicate things. All you need is a straightforward checklist with the following: Task Department Person Date Checked To make things easy for you, we've put together a list of items you should check on a regular basis. Commercial Refrigeration Maintenance Checklist Basic Refrigeration Maintenance Check … [Read more...]