Published on July 20th, 2021 | by Mila Jones0
Why is Preventative Maintenance Important For -70 Degree Freezer
Lab refrigerators and freezers need preventive maintenance for maximum efficiency. In addition, the cold storage units should function adequately to preserve the potency of the stored items.
What is Preventative Maintenance, and Why is it Important?
It is worth knowing what preventive maintenance is, as that will create a solid foundation to understand its necessity.
Preventive maintenance is the routine servicing of your freezer by certified personnel to ensure it is in a good operating condition. It involves inspection, detection, and correction of possible failures. It helps in averting significant losses that can disrupt the functioning of the cold storage unit.
For example, the COVID19 vaccine can remain effective only if the ultracold freezer works well. If not, the vaccine will lose its potency.
By and large, preventive maintenance is important to:
- Detect malfunctions
- Lower energy consumption
- Ensure proper performance
- Prolong equipment life
The Preventive Maintenance You Can Do Yourself
Ideally, you should delegate the task of carrying out preventive maintenance of your ultra-low temperature freezer to trained technicians. But, there can be some steps which you can accomplish, which are as follows:
Clean the Condenser Filter
When condensers get dirty, they cannot transfer heat from the refrigerant to the ambient environment, leading to many issues—the temperature and pressure of the refrigerant rise that causes the compressor to pump forcefully. So, you should clean the condenser filter every three months. If your lab gets more footfalls near the freezer, it can generate more dust, so you should clean the condenser more frequently. You can get the cleaning instructions in the manufacturer’s manual.
Clean the Door Gaskets
You should clean the door gaskets at least once a month. First, find out if the gaskets have any leaks to allow air inflow. And if air flows in, it might raise the internal temperature. The primary purpose of a gasket is to form a tight seal around the edge of the freezer door to restrict warm air from entering or cold air from going out of the unit. As such, you should keep them clean as part of maintaining your freezer.
Remove Frost or Ice Build-Up
If you open and close the door excessively, it can cause frost and ice to accumulate in your freezer. You should periodically remove the frost and ice from your freezer to prevent ice buildup. It can be due to frost buildup in your freezer when you find it difficult to close your freezer door. Frost accumulation can negatively impact heat transfer through the freezer walls and the temperature recovery rate.
Stock the Interior
It will help if you bear in mind that all cold storage units, including ultra-low temperature freezers, work to their full potential when you stock them properly.
When you run them with less stock, the temperature might fluctuate, damaging the stored items. Therefore, you should make sure that your cold storage unit runs at 30 percent stocks.
But, what to do if you do not have enough items to stock your cold storage unit to at least 30 percent of its capacity?
There is a simple solution to this issue. You can add water bottles or freezer gel packs to make up the capacity.
However, you also should not overfill the unit to allow air to flow freely.
Monitor the Internal Temperatures
Keeping track of the internal temperatures is essential because if the temperature goes out of the prescribed range, it can damage the stored items.
But monitoring the temperature is not a problem because your ultra-low temperature freezer will come with temperature monitoring devices, which are the right places to track the internal temperature.
You can also add your probes. But, you should place them properly if you do so. The best area to place the probes is the center of the unit.
Moreover, there are other facilities in an ultra-low temperature freezer. It has a digital alarm to send alert signals when the temperature goes out of the prescribed range.
Temperature fluctuations can occur due to many reasons, like power failure, the door being left open, etc. And ensure that you do not undermine the alarms. Instead, take corrective action when they send out alert signals.
Utilize Freezer Service Agreement
Usually, day-to-day lab operations are hectic. So, it can be challenging for your staff to maintain your ultra-low temperature freezer while executing their regular duties.
Therefore, the best thing you can do is utilize the freezer service agreement of the manufacturer to conduct maintenance checks and clean the unit on a scheduled basis.
Minimize Door Opening Time
In an ultra-low temperature freezer, heat exchanges occur very quickly. So, you should take adequate care while taking out items from the freezer. It will help if you know the locations of your samples before you take them out. When you know the precise locations of your samples, you can quickly get them out, minimizing the time during which you keep the door open. It would be best to reduce the door opening times to allow warm air to get into your freezer, which can damage your sample. Similarly, put samples inside your freezer as quickly as possible.
You need an ultra-low temperature freezer to store delicate and temperature-sensitive items, which might degrade if they get exposed to the wrong temperature. But what often happens is that labs disregard the need for adequately maintaining the freezer. As a result, they perform poorly, which will affect your samples and your freezer.