A few questions

[Pdesign]

Hi guys.
Im a product design student from NI.
For my final year project i am looking into the redesign of bar fridges.

I have completed various questionaires from bar staff and consumers, however i was thinking this would be a great place to get some scope into the more technical aspects of refrigeration.

Theres some very interesting stuff on the website that will definatly prove usefull for my research.

In addition, i was hoping some of the members here could answer the following questions.

What are the most common problems/causes of fridges breaking down.

How do you feel these common problems could be resolved?

What innovative/future technology would you like to be embraced in future fridge design?

Anything else?

Any responses are greatly appreciated, and thanks in advance.

[hyperion]

Causes of breakdowns, incorrect use, ineffective maintenance and poor location of cabinet. Lack of ventilation. Overloading of cabinet causing poor internal air circulation.

[taz24]

Hi guys.
Im a product design student from NI.
For my final year project i am looking into the redesign of bar fridges.

I have completed various questionaires from bar staff and consumers, however i was thinking this would be a great place to get some scope into the more technical aspects of refrigeration.

Theres some very interesting stuff on the website that will definatly prove usefull for my research.

In addition, i was hoping some of the members here could answer the following questions.

What are the most common problems/causes of fridges breaking down.

How do you feel these common problems could be resolved?

What innovative/future technology would you like to be embraced in future fridge design?

Anything else?

Any responses are greatly appreciated, and thanks in advance.

You have to ballence the size of the fridge equipment within the size of the fridge to maximise product space.
A fridge with more space for the compressor and evape than the product would be no use to the customer / owner of a busy pub who needs constant supply of cold bottles.

So the problem is to design a fridge that can be easily worked on by an engineer, accessing all parts of the eqipment (not just through 2 inch access holes).

If you can ballence the size of the equipment and make it easy to work on you will be onto a winner in my books.
Also the condenser needs to be accessable for cleaning but that makes it vunrable to blockage from waste drink products, soft drinks get very sticky if not cleaned up, so the condenser gets coated in sticky pop, beer, spirit or whatever and that causes the cond to block up quicker.

But dont think a filter will help because they will last only a few months before they are blocked and they never ever get cleaned by the staff, even if told to be good management.

taz.

[Brian_UK]

I suppose the ideal machine would be a cold bottle container outside the bar area which feeds cold bottles through to a small display case at the bar as they are used.

[mad fridgie]

If I was to look at this design, I would have the refrigeration system built as a removable MonoBlock, which can be removed from the front.
The major problem is poor air flow generally caused by fouling of the condensor and evap. I would install some sort of time based enoying sound, indicating cleaning required. Getting louder and more frequent as time goes by. The only way this can be reset is by removing the monoblock. If you can be bothered to remove it then you should be bothered to clean it.

[Brian_UK]

Isn't that annoying sound generated automatically by the condenser fan as it dies in the dirt ?

[Pdesign]

Thanks for all the responses allready. Very helpfull stuff.

[monkey spanners]

I'd fit a manual reset high pressure switch, chuck the capiliary in the bin and fit a txv.

Oh and a strong magnet to collect any dropped coins.....