It can be terrifying if you own a commercial freezer and the alarm goes off. You don’t want to lose all of your food or have to pay for expensive repairs!
It’s essential to know how to repair an alarm on a commercial freezer if this happens in your restaurant, grocery store, or other business. This is especially true if you’re not sure what caused the problem in the first place.
The best way to avoid these problems is to know how to troubleshoot them yourself before they happen. We wrote this guide so that anyone who owns a commercial freezer will know precisely what steps they need to take when their freezer alarms go off!
Supplies You Would Need –
- Longnose pliers
- Wire strippers
- Electrical tape
- Plastic covering/insulator (*for older models only!* [if you have a newer model, please disregard])
- Screwdriver w/ plastic head so as not to damage your machine’s surface
- Metal wire clamps
- Cable ties
- Wire cutters or a utility knife
Safety First
The longest part of this process will be removing the old wires. To start, unplug your freezer and ensure it’s completely shut off before continuing with any other steps.
Make sure it has been turned off for at least an hour so that we can deplete as much power from inside as possible because if there’s still some left in there, then you may get shocked when you touch something metal on the outside of your machine which would not only stop our repairs but also put us at risk for injury.
You are now ready to remove all the wiring from the back of your machine.
The metal will be scorching, so make sure you have a rag to cover it, and remember that just because this is not an electrical circuit doesn’t mean we can cut corners on safety precautions! You may want to wear gloves if you have sensitive skin or allergies to metals for protection before touching any part inside.
How to Repair an Alarm on a Commercial Freezer in 6 Steps –
- Step One – After turning off the freezer, remove any food still in it. You want to ensure no lingering odor or bacteria from thawed meat and other foods.
- Step Two – Clean the alarm area with soap and water. Again, it’s best to do this with someone who knows how to use a ladder safely! If not, be careful not to cause damage or injure yourself when climbing high.
- Step Three – Remove all screws holding the wire coverings over essential parts of the device (including the thermostat) using your hands and needle-nose pliers for those that are hard to reach. Again, please note the parts so you can put them back correctly later.
- Step Four – After removing the screws, clean around the wiring again with soap and water to remove any dirt or grime which might have spread from when you touched it earlier. If there’s a lot of debris here, you may want to use something like Windex so as not to cause further damage while cleaning up wires that need to be replaced.
- Step Five – Carefully cut away all old wire connections by gently peeling off the plastic coating until they are exposed but connected at one end. Again, ensure that if this is for an older model machine, your insulation isn’t causing any fire risk! The newer ones will only require cutting in some small areas where necessary to create dangerous sparks.
- Step Six – Next, attach the new wire connections, ensuring they are securely attached and won’t pull off during use. When connecting them, you’ll want to cover up any metal on the connection with electrical tape or plastic covering of some kind so that it doesn’t make contact with another point if there is an electric current running through this line.
If it’s for an older model machine, wrap around your area where wires connect with insulation, keeping insulation intact while also keeping fire risk low!
For newer models, just cut away any areas near enough to cause sparks when cutting apart old wiring but leave everything else covered up instead. Finally will be attaching our new wire to the alarm.
The best way to do this is by using a screwdriver and pushing it through the insulation on these wires, which will make contact with the metal inside, then wrap cable ties around both sides of that area for them not to move or come loose when used again.
Conclusion
I hope our guide was helpful, and now you know how to repair an alarm on a commercial freezer. We’re happy to know your freezer alarm is back up in running order.
If it’s not, please contact us as soon as possible to help further!
