Hello and Happy Friday to all, For those of you who use walk-in freezers for pest extermination, have you ever had to deal with ice build up around the frame of your freezer door or the unit itself? We've been having this issue for the last two years (our freezer box is about 10 years old) to the point where we now have to open and de-ice the freezer doorway (interior) every day so that it can be opened without strain. The freezer technicians we work with are perplexed and the manufacturer of the box (Imperial Brown) and the unit (Heatcraft) aren't sure what to do. Imperial Brown suggested replacing the door entirely ($$$) in case it's been warped, but there's no obvious warpage and they're not certain that will help. We're all the way in Hawai'i so they haven't sent out a representative to check it out.
Here is what we have done so far which has not helped the issue at all (some of these were done with the hopes of solving the ice build up issue and some were necessary repairs to faulty parts): -Replaced the door heater with one that is hotter (this actually might have made the problem worse) -Installed a plastic strip curtain to reduce air exchange when the door is opened- we took it off because ice was just building up at the top of the curtain -Replaced the gasket on the door -Installed a new hydraulic door closure -Repaired an evaporator leak -Replaced a faulty evaporator board/changed sensors/transducer The technicians can't find any air leaks in the freezer box and there's no sign of sweating on the freezer box exterior. Our freezer runs 24/7 and has a brief unit-defrost cycle 4 times each day. It usually maintains -25F according to the freezer's own thermostat. Our PEM2 inside the freezer itself reads -18F and 75% RH. The room just outside of the freezer door is pretty warm and humid (67-70 degrees F and about 67% RH) but we never leave the door open for more than a couple minutes each day. Have you had any similar experiences? Do you have any suggestions for us? Feel free to email me privately if you'd prefer, at [email protected]. Thank you for your time! Megan -- *Megan McInnis* *Preventive Conservation Specialist (Preservation Department)* *University of Hawai'i at M**ānoa Library* 2550 McCarthy Mall Honolulu, HI 96822 Office: 808-956-5734 [email protected] -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MuseumPests" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/CAL%2BTgGbmfxh_zpZHBHS2Yfaju_ByLu%3DmdC2yqYPhURj6cy4xKg%40mail.gmail.com.
