PROFESSIONAL COLD ROOMS - Installations by MARCOLD in Cape Town

A walk-in cold room is an insulated, refrigerated room to maintain a temperature of between 0°C to 8°C.

It is accessible by at least one door which is large enough for at least one person to walk through.

Walk-in cold rooms are mostly used is in the science, hospitality and food industries to preserve and avoid cross contamination of products been stored.

Cold room temperature ranges:

0°C
Cold rooms designed to rapidly cool hot food down to 0°C, called blast chillers (or blast coolers). They could also be used to store consumables that will be used within a few days.
2°C to 4°C
Cold rooms needed for when large stock of fast perishing items need to be kept just above freezing.
For the storage of consumables and fresh produce (such as meat, fish, cheese, yogurt and or cooked meals) that would be used within a few days to a few weeks.
6°C to 8°C
Cold rooms for the storage of vegetables.

How does the refrigeration system of a walk-in cold room work?

→ The refrigeration system of a walk-in cold room consists out of a compressor, condenser and evaporator.
→ The compressor compresses a refrigerant at a high pressure and this refrigerant then condenses in the condenser, expelling excess heat.
→ The high-pressure liquid refrigerant is passed through an expansion device to the evaporator where the low-pressure liquid evaporates, absorbing heat.
→ This energy absorption cools down the evaporator coils and the air moving over it.
→ Fans circulate the air moving over the cold evaporator coils, thereby cooling the cold room and the products it contains.

at marcold
we know
that

At marcold we know:

That the integrity and "safeness" of the produce to be stored in your cold room is of utmost importance to you.

We know that you want a reliable cold room which must run constantly, giving you peace of mind.

We know that you desire a cold room which would run cost-effectively, with low running costs over an extended period of time (saving money).

We also know that:

- You do not want to lose your produce.
- You do not want to be worried about the idea of potentially losing your product.
- You do not want your workflow to be interrupted by cold room down times.
- You do not want a cold room which requires constant repairs.
- You do not want high maintenance fees.

We know
you want a reliable
always optimally functioning cold room
running cost-effectively
saving you money
via:

- No product losses (avoidable).

- Relative low electricity usage.

- Overall low running costs.

- Low maintenance fees.

- Relative low repair expenses.

The ability to resolve issues before they occur, makes for a professional designer.

marcold
installs
new
cold rooms

New

Cold Room Installations

At Marcold We Have Already Successfully:

» Custom-Designed
» Supplied
» Installed
» Serviced and
» Maintained brand new walk-in cold room installations.

Our cold rooms are purpose-built according to client application and need.

To avoid external factors from compromising stored produce, we make every effort to ensure that our cold room refrigeration systems are to be successful in maintaining constant temperatures relative to usage, length of time doors are to be open (based on client forecasts), seasons, and or weather conditions.

Thus, to provide stable and even temperature control, to boost stock longevity.

refrigeration system
equipment
for
cold rooms

Evaporative Condenser Installed By Marcold

Walk-in Cold Room Drain Pipe work by Marcold

At marcold our cold rooms refrigeration systems are custom-designed.

We calculate and select the correct and optimally sized refrigeration equipment for the job at hand.

We make sure that our selected equipment combinations meet the needs (current and future) of our clients refrigeration requirements and product protocols, in order to obtain a cost-effective and reliably functional cold room.

Our cold rooms refrigeration systems are designed to ensure a constant climate at any given time.

We can design cold room refrigeration systems to maintain a consistent temperature ranging anything between 0°C to 8°C as determined by the client's need.

Equipment we install can include:

» Compressor Racks

» Compressors

» Pressure Controls

» Oil Separators

» Oil Management & Control

» Suction Accumulators

» Heat Recovery For Potable Hot Water

» Cooling Towers

» Evaporative Condensers

» Condensers (water-cooled, air-cooled)

» Evaporators

» Valves

» Refrigeration Tubing

» Cooling Tower Piping

» Drain Piping

» Refrigerants

We only make use of NON-CFC refrigerants, which are environmental-friendly odourless gasses for Freon applications.

Other equipment we install relating to the cold room include:

» Air Curtains (PVC strip curtains)

» Force Draft Air Curtains

marcold
repairs
old
cold rooms

Old

non-marcold

Cold Room Installations
As installed by other companies

We Have Also Already Successfully:

» Serviced
» Fault Diagnosed
» Repaired and
» Maintained

Old, faulty, non-functioning
non-marcold
cold room installations
which were previously installed by other companies.

take note
take care
be aware

Be Carefull Of
Cheap Quotes

We know that you will be tempted to go with the cheapest given quote.

But be aware that cheap = very expensive in the long run.

Companies supplying cheap quotes usually cut everything except their profits in order to arrive at such a low priced quote.

They engage in aggressive cost cutting measures by:

→ Cutting corners in the design of their refrigeration systems, especially with regards to the omission of safety and system protection features.
→ Deliberately selecting cheaper undersized equipment.

Common faults on cheap cold room installations we observe regularly are:

→ Undersized refrigeration equipment for the duty cycle.
→ Condensers undersized, leading to high discharge temperatures.
→ This intern leads to premature compressor failure.
→ Cold rooms not reaching promised temperatures. Common excuses then given to their clients, are high ambient temperatures, doors left open, high traffic in/out rooms.
→ Undersized evaporator coils.
→ This intern leads to high temperature differences between refrigerant and air, causing coil freeze-ups, requiring frequent defrosting.
→ This as consequence will lead to product dehydration and surface freezing, thus ruining the product.
→ Electrical switch gear undersized for electrical duty.
→ This intern leads to premature failure of electrical motors and subsequent lost of produce held in cold rooms.

All the above mentioned measures enable companies so supply cheap quotes on which they then deliver substandard cold room installations which become running soars, causing reoccurring product loses for the respective owners.

How do we know all of this? We know this, because we see this on a daily basis when we get called out to non-functioning, substandard, cheap cold room installations.

We speak to these highly frustrated business owners who then tell us about their financial product losses due to the cheap installations. We also hear of their deep regret of accepting these cheap quotes.

How can you avoid the pitfalls of a cheap quote:

→ Look at the finer details of the quotations.
→ Ask questions.
→ Compare the specifications offered between different quotes.
→ Make sure to ascertain whether the solutions offered will indeed solve your refrigeration problem and serve your current and future needs adequately.
→ Ask for proof in refrigeration theory if need be.
→ But whatever you do, make sure that you compare apples with apples.

Case Studies

case study A

We were called out to one such facility (where the owner accepted a cheap cold room quotation) now suffering the consequences of a very poorly designed & installed and poorly maintained walk-in cold room refrigeration installation.

Here is our observations as made on site.

Walk-in cold room - faults observed

Evaporator fan motors:

→ Evaporator fan motors fields were burnt out.
→ This caused fan motor failures.
→ Fan motors rotors were locked by excessive ice built-up.
→ Safety thermal protection circuit (inside the fan motor) has not been wired to the control circuit. One circuit feeds all three fans with a thermal protection rated at 10 amps.
→ But each fan motor only draws 2.5 amps (maximum), thus, there are currently no protection for these fan motors.
→ Fan wiring and cables were of very poor standard.

Defrost:

→ Defrost heaters were faulty.
→ Klixons switches have been bypassed.

Compressor:

→ Safety controls for the compressor motor thermistors and oil failure switches have all been bypassed, rendering the compressor unprotected.
→ Compressor oil very contaminated.

Whole refrigeration system:

→ Whole refrigeration circuit (coil, refrigeration pipping, compressor) were all internally contaminated.

Electrical control panel:

→ Electrical schematics were not available.
→ All electrical wiring and switch gear had to be evaluated and upgraded where needed.

Cold room faults:

→ Sliding doors were not sliding.
→ Door gaskets were broken.
→ Door frame heaters (including door floor sliding path) were not functioning.
→ Door frame damaged by forklifts.

walk-in
cold room
defined