A small grocery might have a produce case, a dairy run, a meat case, a row of freezer doors and a walk-in in the back, all holding different temperatures. Some stores run every case on its own built-in compressor. Others have a rack of compressors in a back room or on the roof feeding several cases at once. It’s worth knowing which you have, because a compressor problem on a rack can take down more than one case.
Open cases and the air curtain
An open multi-deck case holds temperature with a sheet of cold air that blows down from the top and gets pulled back in at the bottom. Anything that breaks that sheet makes the case run warm. Usually it’s product stacked above the load line, a sign hanging over the front edge, or a box sitting in front of the return grille at the bottom. Check those first, since they cost nothing to fix.
Night covers help if your store closes overnight. If your cases have them and nobody pulls them down at closing, start there.
Meat, seafood and produce
Meat cases run colder than dairy and get washed down more often, so there’s more water around the drains and fans. A clogged drain backs up into the pan and can freeze around the coil. Produce cases with misters need the water line and nozzles working, and they need a clear drain for the same reason.
A fish counter on crushed ice is really an ice machine question. If you’re running short, our ice machine page covers that side.
Temperatures and inspections
A health inspector checks product in your cases with a probe thermometer. Anything meant to be cold has to be at 41 F or below, and most freezers run at 0 F or colder. If you keep written logs, have a look at our guide on reading temperature logs. A slow upward drift often shows up there days before a case actually fails.
Adding or replacing cases
We also install and replace equipment. If you’re adding a freezer run or swapping out old doors, we’ll give you a written price and talk through whether the existing condensing unit can carry the extra load. See installation and replacement for how that works.
