Refrigeration equipment – This is how you take care of it
Refrigeration equipment is a long term investment – if you take proper care of the components. When regular maintenance of components is forgotten, equipment is more prone to malfunction, and electricity bills keep adding up with the price. The most common error is insufficient cleaning – this leading to decreased air ventilation in the machinery – which causes more severe problems of different kind. Please see our list of things to remember when taking care of refrigeration equipment :
1. Clean it
Keep the equipment clean : there should be no dust or dirt. Maintenance adds the functioning years of the machinery. Equipment’s condenser should also be cleaned regularly, preferably once in every two weeks / month. Remember to check the condensator water pipe once in a while. It is quite common for a pipe to collect dirt via the air that runs through it. Bottle brush and warm water are the best tools for cleaning this component. If pipe gets blocked, it could lead to freezing of the evaporator, which then can lead to a rise in temperature in the component’s area that were ment to be cooled down (refrigerator/freezer for example).
2. Set the temperature right
Secondly, it is good to talk about temperature adjusting. The most common mistake is, that the refrigeration equipment is set on maximum power. In many cases, the equipment is set on the coldest possible temperature (about 16°C) thinking the air would get cooler faster. In reality, the machine does a lot of work for nothing – in a worst case scenario machine is working around the clock and still does not manage to hit the wanted temperature. This is setting the electricity consumption high and also decreasing the working life of the machine.
3. Follow the functions
By following the daily functions of a machine one can quickly react to defects and changes. It is recommended to install a controller to the machine, so one is able to remotely control all the functions. At Darment, we have products that one is able to access via computer.
It is quite common to install temperature alarm to the controls. When a certain temperature exceeds, security company gets an alarm notification – and then alarms a refrigeration installer at place fixing the problem.
4. Remember leakage checks
For the biggest properties, shops and manufacturing machines there is a certain yearly leakage check dept. Leakage check dept is based on the refrigerant’s global warming impact – in other words – leakage check intensity depends on both the amount of the refrigerant and the global warming potential of the substance. By law the owner of a refrigerant equipment is bounded to check the machinery regularly. Only the operators registered to Tukes can perform formal leakage checks upon refrigeration equipments. Leakage checks are documented to a maintenance- and check up diary.
In basic household equipment, cleaning is usually enough to keep the machinery going – by cleaning the equipment you also avoid unnecessary maintenance payments.
THE ICEMAN RECOMMENDS
Best products for refrigeration equipment maintenance :
Vacuum pump Fieldpiece-VP55INT 141,5l/m
(VP55INT – product number: J01011012)
Manifold 4-way + hoses
(3×1/4, 1×3/8)1,5m VMG-4-R410 product number: J02051001
Flaring tool 806A–1/4″ – 3/4″
(4002285 ¼ – ¾ – product number: J03011045)
Recovery station Fieldpiece
(MR45INT – product number: J01021004)
Tube cutter 1/8″-3/4″ 4-28mm
VTC-32 product number: J03031006
Electronic charging scale 110kg
Refco-OCTA-wireless product number: J06021007
Digital Vacuum Gauge SVG3 0-18000MICR
(fieldpiece SVG3 – product number: J01031008)
Electronic leak detector HFC
(fieldpiece SRL2K7EUR – product number: J04041000)
Service valve 1/4″X1/4″ 32 3004-02
(product number: J02031007)
Permanent Magnetic coil
(018F0091 – product number: J07011017)
Ratchet spanner
1/4″ – 5/16” product number: J07011018