Iced Evaporator

Went out to a Williams Walk In Cold Room today with one of those integral evaporators. Evaporator was just one big block of ice. First suspicians were that either the defrost heaters were faulty or the sensor for the defrost timer, one of those electronic gizmos, Eliwell type.

My question is, how on earth do I defrost an evaporator without the use of heaters. Kitchen is hot, food is going off, chef is fuming. Here I am with a little blow dryer trying to melt the iceberg, no luck......its going to take ages with water droplets falling on my face.

With those electronic controllers I havent got a clue how to bypass the defrost termination sensor and initiate a continuos defrost.

One last moan about the Williams, thank goodness the evaporator heater element was working, but if it wasnt how the heck do I remove and replace it without major surgery?

I couldnt believe this was a Williams unit, they used to be the most service freindly units I had ever come across.

With the Eliwell you can reprogram the defrost to terminate at +99°C if you want or extend the termination time whichever is best.

One thing I have done to speed up an ice block melt down is to get some salt from the kitchen staff, put it with water into my coil sprayer and start soaking that sucker.

It can be quicker than a heat gun....if you have the defrost heater heater running as well you can at least start thawing out the corners.

Also, lets be honest, most equipment now is becoming a real pig to work on.

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One thing I have done to speed up an ice block melt down is to get some salt from the kitchen staff, put it with water into my coil sparyer and start soaking that sucker.

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Great idea. :)

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Also, lets be honest, most equipment now is becoming a real pig to work on.

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A lot of this comes under the heading of "They don't teach me, but they expect me to know".

Someone comes out with a new gadget, and their "training" (if they offer any) consists of pure sales hype. By the time you figure out how to work on that gadget, someone will have come out with the new whiz bang doodad. And it goes on and on.

I am afraid I have to agree... equipment is becoming so complicated that even the simplist of tasks has become a service nightmare.

I ran into a similar situation on a 2 door reach in unit.... giant snowball... no access from the top, hard to get to...hot water lots of it.

The salt idea is very smart but I bet the equipment manufacturer is against its use... tough luck for them is my reply! :)

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Originally posted by subzero*psia
The salt idea is very smart but I bet the equipment manufacturer is against its use... tough luck for them is my reply! :)

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Exactly :D

Heya,
I just get my brazing gun out on the bugger.

Ive tried salty water, hot water etc many times to my experience just be very careful and use the blow tourch (If in Emgency)

I get lots of 'fuming' chefs, I just reach for the blow tourch, or just use my misses hair drier Ive nicked lol :P

Thanks, hope this helps.....Might think Im crazy, but it works...Fast and makes the day a whole lot easier.

Perhaps you could use some RV antifreeze? It's supposed to be safe.

Zolar

I just put a portable propane torch on it till I can see a little bit of fins (this is usually because the defrost heaters have failed) and run the fans in the box, because by the time they call you and you arrive it's above freezing and this will naturally defrost the box, have them transfer the product or if it has thawed, junk it. Alot of the times its because the staff left the door open or propped open and frost built up. If you smell a nasty odor when getting near the coils, its the blanket of crud on the backside of the coil burning. When I get near the coils I either use a paint stripper heat gun or run the fans and return after I do another service call.

Maybe the 'hot' chef's temper woul;d melt the ice faster if you put HIM in there? LOL

Better yet....hand him a flashlight and ask him to point it at the evaporator.

Close the door and leave without telling him. Come back an hour later and ask him if he saw any changes?

LMAO

I wonder how long the chef would wait with the flashlight in his hand watching the ice melt???

The salt water solution may accelerate the de-ice process but is extremely corrosive. Be sure to thoroughly rinse with fresh water afterwards.

An excellent point, Al. :)

Why not just use the alternative method of BST?
Back Sometime tommorrow. The Chefs food will be destroyed and youll be out of a job but the coil will be defrosted.

Most of the time, your customer wants to actually see service work. Even if it's just standing there with a heat gun. They want the problem fixed, and hopefully an explaination of the cause, especially during the first service call. There's nothing worse than a person coming in for approx 10 minutes, initiating an extended defrost cycle and then saying, "I'll be back tomorrow."
That's the ticket towards loosing an account.