FAQs Refrigeration

The basic answer is – “If it used to be cold and now it isn’t, you need a refrigeration mechanic”

A refrigeration mechanic can diagnose and replace all electrical components in the fridge or air conditioner. The biggest advantage of using a Refrigeration mechanic over electricians is the ability to handle refrigerants, which makes for a “complete” assessment of your Refrigeration or Air conditioning system. We often hear of clients who have called an electrician first, only to then have to call us when they can’t repair it. So, save your money and call us to avoid doubling up your service costs!

We recommend refrigeration plant be serviced every 3 months, but definitely at no longer than 6 monthly intervals. We recently had a client who had 1 of 2 condenser fans failed on their condensing unit up on the roof of his Restaurant. With maintenance we could have picked this up, but as a result of not knowing, the compressor eventually failed as a result of running at high temps. This repair cost went from an affordable $300 to $2400.

People so often overlook that “Ice is a food.” Well of course it is! Would you serve your customers water from a jug that had been sitting for 3 months? Or if it was possible, maybe ice from an esky that was 3 months old? Certainly not!

When making ice, only the purest water turns to ice. The dissolvable solids are left behind to clog up and corrode the machine.

We recommend that ice machines are serviced no less than 3 months at the absolute minimum. Our service includes Descaling and then a Sanitizing wash of the evaporator and storage bin. We have a client at a local sporting stadium with a bin that holds 1000 kgs of ice. We empty the entire machine and sterilize the storage bin, then actually carry out hygiene testing with swabs. This is how serious this client is about understanding ice is a food.

I believe that 90% of ice machine problems are water related, so we also include the replacement of the water filter in our standard price. Whilst this adds a little cost to the running cost of the machine, the added reliability offsets the inconvenience of a busy Friday night with no ice.

If your condensing unit is cutting in and out a lot, it could be cycling on the pressure control which is a safety device to stop the compressor running in conditions that will destroy it if left running indefinitely. The problem could be either be “short of gas”, “dirty condenser”, “dead fan motor” or some other problem. If you choose to ignore it, start saving your money for an even more expensive compressor change.