Your commercial refrigeration system can make or break your company. Whether you're keeping food cold at a grocery store or restaurant, medicines cold at a hospital or pharmacy, or anything in between, if your refrigerator breaks down and ruins your inventory, you could face devastating financial losses. 

That's why it's so important to know when it's time to replace your walk-in refrigerator with a new, better, working model. Take a look at four signs that could indicate that your refrigerator is breaking down or no longer efficient enough.

1. Water leakage

Water leaks are one of the most common walk-in refrigerator problems. In many cases, leaks are caused by a problem that's easy to fix--such as a dislodged drain pan or a blocked drainage hose. However, water leakage can also be caused by more serious problems like worn out or damaged seals, which stop your fridge from staying cool enough. If you're dealing with seal damage, it could be time to consider getting a new walk-in refrigerator. 

2. Frost build-up

Frost build-up in walk-in refrigerators and freezers is a commonly misunderstood problem. While many assume frost mounts because the temperature is too cold, it's actually more typically caused by warm and humid air seeping inside your refrigerator. Again, this is another problem often caused by damaged seals and gaskets that don't create an effective barrier between your refrigerator and the outside world. A door with faulty hinges that doesn't close properly could also be the culprit, as could faulty insulation. Many of these issues are expensive to fix, which means upgrading to a new model is often the best choice.

3. Power outages

Have you noticed that your walk-in refrigerator sometimes loses power despite everything else in your facility functioning correctly? If your cooler shuts down for seconds, minutes, or even hours at a time, there's something going wrong with your wiring. While it may be fixable, messing with refrigerator wiring is often more hassle than it's worth, and the cables could end up breaking down again in the near future. As such, don't hesitate to consider a replacement.

4. Inventory spoilage

Perhaps the worst concern you could face with your walk-in refrigerator is inventory spoilage. From food to medicine, if the goods inside your cooler are starting to go bad, this means there's a serious problem with the temperature. Unfortunately, this problem can have several root causes, from worn down seals and doors to insufficient power to a broken thermostat. If you don't pick up on it quickly enough, inventory spoilage could seriously harm the health of your clientele. Even when you do spot it early, once inventory is ruined, you'll have to fork over a lot of money to replace it. As such, if your walk-in refrigerator is no longer up to scratch when it comes to keeping things cold, it's best to get a new one at your earliest convenience. 

Contact a commercial appliance dealer near you to learn more about commercial refrigeration.

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