Walk In Cooler Maintenance Checklist

3 min readMar 28, 2023

Follow some simple steps of walk in cooler maintenance to extend the life of your units.

Clean the equipment

It is important for you to clean food and beverage spills and drips on a timely basis as part of your daily walk in cooler cleaning. The longer you let a spill settle, the harder it will be for you to clean it without the use of a harmful cleaning agent. Be careful not to use steel wool and other abrasives and chemicals, such as bleach. This can damage your appliance’s finish.

Moreover, uncleaned spills also lead to unpleasant odor that can affect the quality of your ingredients. Furthermore, mold growth can jeopardise the safety of your food.

Check frequency settings

Another tip for your walk in cooler maintenance checklist is to check your temperature and defrost frequency settings daily. If the temperature is set lower than it is necessary, your system will be working too hard. This can shorten its life. Moreover, ice could form, especially on liquids. On the other hand, if your temperature is not cool enough, your food will spoil.

Defrost

Excessive ice buildup is caused by fluctuating temperatures inside the cooler. As fluctuating temperatures mean inventory is melting and then refreezing, it can compromise the food items inside. Ice buildup on the evaporator coil, air ventilation, or drain pipe is also alarming and can be threatening to your food inventory.

Make sure you follow the manufacturer’s recommendations for defrosting for regular commercial fridge maintenance. Similarly, defrosting your unit too often can create unnecessary work for your walk-in cooler.

Thorough Cleaning of Condenser Coils

One of the important tasks in the Walk in Cooler maintenance checklist is to clean the condenser coils. A walk-in cooler can not do its work properly when the coils are blocked with dust and debris. These coils must be clear so that the refrigerant can cool the refrigerator to maintain a constant temperature.

Prevent overcrowding

When coming up with a walk-in cooler maintenance checklist, make sure you are not over crowding the cooler with unnecessary food items. . The air will not be able to freely circulate in a refrigerator packed to the gills. This will make the unit work harder to maintain its set temperature.

Maximise airflow by clearing the surrounding area

Besides the proper interior airflow, appropriate exterior airflow is equally important and shouldn’t be overlooked. Unfortunately, kitchens are often cramped spaces. Even if you have little room to spare, it’s important that you don’t block the air intake and exhaust vents of your walk-in cooler. If you do, your unit will have to work harder to cool the food stored inside.

This not only consumes extra electricity units but could also decrease the life expectancy of your equipment. That’s why this task on What to Prioritise for Your Walk-In Cooler Maintenance Checklist is vital.

Inspect hinges and door sealings

Another regularly performed task on your walk in cooler maintenance checklist should be air leak inspections. Any tear in the gaskets or broken or misaligned door hinges and latches can cause cold air to escape and warm air from outside to seep into the refrigerator. It can compromise the food and cause an excessive load on the refrigerator’s compressor to maintain the optimum temperature. Inspect walk-in cooler hinges and door sealings once in a month.

Check interior lights

Although checking the interior lights may seem trivial in a walk in cooler maintenance. But lights generate heat, which is another reason your refrigeration units might be working harder than necessary.