How to Properly Seal Walk in Cooler Doors

SLIDING GLASS DOOR MODELS:

All walk in coolers must be level for sliding glass doors to seal properly. If the floor is not level, there may be gaps at the top or bottom of the door seal against the cabinet sidewall. There may also be gaps on the overlap seal from door to door. In addition, the doors will be unable to glide freely and bind instead. Leveling is not a service performed by delivery personnel. Walk in coolers are manufactured to rest on a sturdy, smooth, and level floor. The longer the cabinet, the more it may be affected.

LEVELING YOUR WALK IN COOLER:

If a smooth and level floor is not available, the walk in cooler will have to be shimmed to compensate for any floor irregularities. First, get a collection of wood squares of assorted thickness. You will also need a 4' carpenter’s level and a tape measure.

1. Using the level, determine the slope of the floor. This will tell you which end is the highest. You will want to raise the rest of the walk in cooler until it is level with this end.

2. Next, hold your level flush against the face of the display against the highest end. This will tell you if the walk in cooler is leaning either forward or back.

3. Now you can start to insert shims under the cabinet supports to raise the walk in cooler into position. All four corners of the cabinet may need to be shimmed, as well as the center, both front and back. It will be helpful if two people level. One person can tip the display, while the second person can insert the shims.

4. You will be finished when your carpenter’s level can be placed anywhere against any of the horizontal or vertical surfaces and read perfectly plumb. A final test can then be made. Measure the doorframe assembly from the lower left corner to the upper right corner, and compare this measurement to the opposite corner-to-corner measurement. They should be exactly the same. If they are off, the walk in cooler is still not level. The bottom rail of the doorframe should also be perfectly straight with no sag or bow.

FINAL ADJUSTMENTS TO WALK IN COOLER DOORS:

Leveling your walk in cooler will generally solve ninety percent of seal problems. In rare cases, individual adjustment to the doors themselves may be necessary. If your walk in cooler is now perfectly square, and one of your doors is now out of square in the frame, the following procedure can usually be performed.

1. Remove the door from the display by lifting it up and swinging the bottom of the door out free from the bottom rail.

2. Once the door is removed, you can shim the individual door rollers with washers to square the door within the frame.

Adjusting Your Walk in Cooler's Temperature

"Help! My product is freezing. What should I do? How do I adjust the temperature and what should I set it to?"

Here’s what’s going on: Air directly exiting the evaporator coil is approximately 10 degrees colder than the overall temperature in your walk in cooler. So, products placed too close to the coil may be damaged. You could adjust your shelving positions or make a temperature adjustment to warm the overall display. It should be operating between 38 to 42 degrees Fahrenheit. Read below for instructions on how to adjust your walk in cooler’s temperature!

If this does not remedy the problem, perform routine maintenance (read here for help with that). Ensure that the condenser coil is clean and make a slight temperature adjustment to warm your walk in cooler a few degrees. If there is no change, and the compressor is running continuously, there may be a problem with the control system. Place a service call to have your walk in cooler examined.

For more information about possible causes, read HVAC Fun's "Troubleshooting a Frozen Refrigeration Evaporator Coil", or check out our post, "My Walk in Cooler is Blowing Warm Air!"

BEFORE YOU ADJUST THE TEMPERATURE:

First, determine what the true temperature is in your walk in cooler. Immerse a floating aquarium thermometer in a vase of water somewhere inside. This will give an accurate reading as to the current set point. As stated previously, we recommend a setting somewhere between 38 to 42 degrees Fahrenheit for optimum performance. Perform normal preventative maintenance prior to any temperature adjustment being performed. Adjustments should not be made to compensate for poorly maintained equipment.

Now, if your product is freezing, you're probably not going to be lowering the temperature of your walk in cooler. However, I wanted to make this a complete guide, so it's important I mention these next few cautionary tips. Consideration should be given to these factors prior to lowering the temperature of your walk in cooler:

1. Each degree you lower the temperature will consume more energy, leading to higher bills.
2. Compressor run times will increase, decreasing the lifetime of the walk in cooler equipment. More heat and noise will be generated in your store.
3. The possibility of freezing product or iced coils will increase. Product loss wastes time and money—and is not covered by any equipment warranties.

ADJUSTING THE TEMPERATURE CONTROL:

IMPORTANT: These controls are very sensitive, so only make small adjustments, and let the temperature stabilize over a few hours. Don’t make any further adjustments before this.

If you determine that an adjustment is required, here are 3 steps to help you do so:

1. Locate the temperature control. Since it is supplied as a loose part for field installation, it may be mounted anywhere on your walk in cooler. Most typically, it will be mounted within the walk in cooler. It is a small unit, usually with two scales, adjustment screws, and a copper sensing probe off the bottom. Electrical conduit will enter the bottom of the control.

*** Be careful! All of our walk in coolers are also equipped with pressure controls and can appear very similar to temperature controls. They are usually mounted as part of the condensing unit. Only trained technicians should adjust these controls. The scales of pressure controls always refer to pressure (P.S.I., bar, etc.) rather than degrees of temperature.

2. There are two scales on the control. One scale measures the set point and the other scale shows the differential. The temperature swing or range of your walk in cooler is determined by the control set point, plus or minus the differential setting, depending on what model you have. It is usually not necessary to adjust the differential of the control.

3. There will be either a screw or a knob located directly above both scales. Turn the adjusting screw above the temperature scale to move the indicator towards the desired setting. Remember to move the indicator in only small increments at a time.

Email from a Happy Customer: Calvin Borisuk from PureCal Produce

A few days ago, Steve Lemieux, president of SRC Refrigeration, received an email message from one of his customers. Calvin Borisuk purchased a warehouse cooler for the new store he's opening in Lexington, SC, called PureCal Produce. It's always nice to hear back from customers, and I attained permission to post the email he sent us. Calvin also attached pictures of his walk in cooler installation--which he completed himself! It's a very big project to take on, but as Calvin wrote, he saved quite a lot of money by doing so.

Calvin writes,

"As you may recall, I am just starting this company, and this purchase was one of our most significant equipment purchases, so I researched it for months to do my level best to make the 'right' decision. And I can say from start to finish, I am very confident my purchase from SRC was the RIGHT decision. From our initial conversations, through the many revisions of design and complexities of equipment selection, you proved yourself to be a very competent business leader who was not just concerned for your bottom line but also that of the client as well. I truly appreciated your patience and professionalism through the design, selection and decision making process.

Also, I would be remiss if I didn't express my appreciation for your staff. Tiffney VanConant and Betty Squier were most helpful and gracious. I spoke with both of them regarding payment, shipping coordination, and a few bumps that came up and both of them were friendly, patient and always willing to help. In addition, I spoke with Allan Jett during installation and start up and he acted in like kind.  It was a pleasure dealing with each of them and they should be proud of the work they do. I am not sure if you hold team meetings or not, but if you do, feel free to use this letter as an opportunity to recognize these folks and to encourage the rest of your team. I know full well that it is easy for folks to go day by day and not think the work they do matters and I want your team to know that what they all do does.

Lastly, I have attached a few photos of the cooler construction process (my apologies for the quality… I am not a techy by any means) and please feel free to use me as a reference for any other customers who may be a little hesitant about building their own cooler. It wasn't easy but it was simple and straight forward. With a little mechanical know how and A LOT of hard work we had the cooler from truck to operational in 5 days and saved about $10-12,000 in the process.

Thanks again and best of luck to you and your team."

Here are a couple pictures of the walk in cooler installation... (MORE PICTURES HERE)

Thank you again Calvin! We are very happy you're pleased with your purchase, and hope to do more business with you in the future!

For more information about industrial warehouse walk in coolers, read here.