Why Does My Display Cabinet Struggle in Warm Weather?

Do your refrigerated or frozen display cabinets sometimes struggle to maintain their temperatures in the warm and humid weather?

There maybe a very simple solution…

Refrigerated and frozen displays usually work in one of two ways:

Static – these cabinets have a refrigerated panel located withing the cabinet which radiates cold into the chamber.

Ventilated – these cabinets have an evaporator hidden in the bottom of the cabinet with a fan which actively blows the cold air around the cabinet.

Both styles can suffer from the same problem – ice build up.

No refrigerated display completely defrosts when the cabinet goes through its automatic defrost cycle. There will always be some form of ice or frost present on the evaporator or freezer panel. It’s this ice and frost build up which causes your cabinet to struggle to maintain its temperature. The ice forms from the natural moisture found in the air, when it come in contact with the cold surfaces of the freezer it freezes. When it builds up it forms an insulating barrier around the cooling components preventing them from cooling the cabinet properly. In ventilated cabinets it restricts the airflow around the display and in extreme circumstances it can actually prevent the fan from blowing.

The knock on effect is that your cabinet has to work harder and harder to maintain the set temperatures and eventually something will fail; whether it’s a fan blower, the evaporator or the compressor. Some failures are unavoidable, but a lot can be reduced by some simple preventative maintenance…

Turn your cabinet off once a week and clean it!

Cleaning your display cabinets should be part of your daily/weekly cleaning schedule anyway. But to clean your frozen displays properly you need to empty them of product and turn them off so that they fully defrost and come up to room temperature (this is best done by leaving them off over night). It’s impossible to effectively clean a frozen cabinet while its frozen – any water and cleaner will freeze to the walls almost instantly which will do nothing but compound the ice problem.

If your cabinet has a very large build up of ice, you may find that water leaks over the floor when it defrosts. To prevent this happening in the future, try to get into the habit of defrosting your cabinet more often. If your store is particularly warm and humid the ice formation will occur faster and in larger amounts.

How to Clean Your Display Cabinet?

1. DO NOT use hot water to melt any ice build up, the temperature shock could severely damage your cabinet. Also, don’t be tempted to chip the ice off as the refrigeration pipes can be punctured easily, just leave the cabinet over night to defrost naturally.
2. DO use a mid detergent and warm water with a soft cloth to clean the inside of the cabinet.
3. DO NOT flood the bottom of the cabinet with water – it will leak out of the bottom, potentially damaging electronic components.
4. DO wipe all surfaces with sanitiser once any food debris and dirt has been removed and cleaned.
5. DO NOT use any abrasive cleaners or scouring cloths on any of the surfaces of your cabinet, especially the clear plastic or bright stainless steel, you will scratch them.

Find out more about our Display Cabinets

If your display cabinet is still experiencing issues once you’ve fully defrosted and cleaned it then you may require an engineer to visit. Call the Taylor UK Customer Service & Support Centre on 0845 601 2312 to arrange a service call.