Commercial Fridge & Freezer Repair

Commercial fridge repair in London

Climate Flow Limited carries out commercial fridge repair and commercial freezer repair for restaurants, pubs, shops, schools and other businesses across London and surrounding areas. We work on upright and under-counter cabinets, chest freezers and walk-in fridges and freezers. The engineer finds why the unit is not holding temperature, fixes the part at fault, and checks that the cabinet is coming back down to temperature before leaving.

The engineer checks each main part of the system in turn. The evaporator is the cold coil inside the cabinet that takes heat out of the air. The condensing unit holds the compressor and the condenser. The compressor is the pump that moves refrigerant round the system, and the condenser is the coil and fan that reject the heat outside the cabinet. The controller is the thermostat and display that switch the system on, off and into defrost. Fridge and freezer repair is part of our commercial refrigeration services.

What goes wrong with commercial fridges and freezers?

The usual sign is a cabinet that runs warm. Other signs often show first:

• The cabinet reads warmer than its set temperature.
• Ice builds up on the evaporator coil or around the fan inside.
• Water collects in the base of the cabinet or on the floor.
• The compressor runs without stopping, or starts and stops repeatedly.
• A new noise from a fan or the compressor.
• An alarm or error code on the controller.
• A door that does not close cleanly, or a split door seal.

On air-cooled systems, Danfoss fault-finding guidance lists dirt on the condenser surface, a defective fan motor or blade, and restricted airflow to the condenser among the common causes of high condensing pressure. High condensing pressure means the condenser is not getting rid of heat as well as it should, so the refrigerant pressure on that side of the system rises. That is why the condenser and its fan are among the first things an engineer looks at when a cabinet is not holding temperature.

What should you do with the food while the fridge is down?

Move chilled stock to a working fridge if you have one, note the time the fault started, and keep the doors closed. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, chilled food must be kept at 8°C or below by law, and government guidance says to set fridges to 5°C or below so food stays cold enough even if the temperature changes. The same GOV.UK food hygiene guidance says chilled food can be kept out of the fridge for up to 4 hours, after which it must be thrown away.

What does the engineer check?

A repair visit looks at the whole system, not only the part that looks wrong. On a typical cabinet or walk-in, the engineer checks:

• The temperature inside the cabinet against the controller reading
• Controller settings, alarms and defrost settings
• The condenser coil and the airflow around it
• The condenser and evaporator fans
• The evaporator coil for ice
• Door seals, hinges and closers
• The drain line and drip tray
• The compressor, the electrical supply and connections
• Pipework and joints for signs of a refrigerant leak

How a commercial fridge repair visit works

1. Tell us the fault. The make, the type of cabinet, what it is doing and any error code.
2. Diagnose. The engineer reads the temperatures and works through the checks above to find the cause.
3. Repair or quote. Where the fix can be done on the visit, the engineer explains it and carries it out. Where a part has to be ordered or the work is larger, you get a quote first.
4. Test and hand over. The engineer runs the cabinet, checks it is pulling down towards its set temperature, and talks you through what was found.

Who can legally work on the refrigerant?

Only qualified people. F gases (fluorinated gases) are the refrigerants used in many commercial fridges and freezers, and GOV.UK states that it is against the law to work with F gas without the correct qualifications. One of the stationary refrigeration certificates covers installing, maintaining, servicing and recovering refrigerant from systems containing less than 3kg of F gas, or less than 6kg if hermetically sealed (meaning the refrigerant circuit is permanently sealed, with no joints that can be undone), as the F gas qualification rules set out. A company that repairs or maintains refrigeration equipment containing F gas for others must also hold company certification. Climate Flow is F-Gas certified.

Where equipment falls under the leak-check rules, a leak that is found must be repaired as soon as possible and tested again within a month to check the repair worked. GOV.UK leak-check guidance also says responsibility for stopping leaks is shared between the users of the equipment and the technicians who install and maintain it. Never open or top up a refrigerant circuit yourself.

Is it worth repairing an old commercial fridge or freezer?

It depends on the unit. When a fridge or freezer may be beyond economic repair, the engineer weighs a few things and explains them to you before anything is priced:

• the age and general condition of the cabinet, its doors and its insulation;
• the condition of the compressor;
• whether parts are still available for that model;
• the refrigerant the unit uses;
• whether the same fault has come back after earlier repairs.

If replacement makes more sense, the engineer says so and the choice stays yours. For a walk-in room that needs replacing, see our cold room installation page.

Which fridges and freezers we repair

We repair upright and under-counter fridges and freezers, chest freezers, glass-door cabinets and walk-in fridges and freezers in restaurant and commercial kitchens, pubs and bars, convenience stores, schools and gyms. We install and service Foster, Williams, Polar and Atosa cabinets. We also work on blast chillers; see blast chiller installation and repair.

For an example of our walk-in work, read about the walk-in cold room and freezer installation at King's Cross St Pancras Station, built for a food preparation area there.

Book a commercial fridge repair

For commercial fridge repair or commercial freezer repair anywhere in London and surrounding areas, call Climate Flow on 020 3488 5452 or request a quote. We offer 24/7 emergency callouts for a cabinet that has failed. Climate Flow Limited, 2 Engineers Way, Wembley, London HA9 0JS.

This guide is general information, not a survey or a quote for your site; every system is different, so an engineer needs to see yours before any work is priced.