ICE MACHINE INSTALLATION
We at Jeans Restaurant Supply
strive on superior sales and service and customer satisfaction.
We recently sold an ice machine to
a car wash that has a drive-up ice and water dispenser vending machine next to his
car wash. It has one ice machine and he wanted to add another one. His business
was increasing and he need to step up his ice production. The building, the ice bin, and the remote unit framework where the outside condensing unit sits on
the roof were originally designed and ready to accommodate two ice machines.
Therefore, we sold him another ice machine to sit on the bin directly next to
the other machine. The units were both Manitowoc CVD remote 2000 lb per day ice
machines.
First we had to get the new
condensing unit on the roof which involved a three man crew and our manual
material lift to hoist the machine onto the roof, then secure it to the angle
iron frame it sits in. While on the roof we noticed that the electrician had
already ran us the new 240 volt, 30 amp, 3 phase circuit with disconnect placed
close to our unit.
Upon examining the inside of the building
we found that it was very tight with limited space beings it was full of a large
filtration system and conveyors to filter and transfer the ice to the dispenser
outside where it fills bags of ice automatically.
As we were attempting to install
the new unit we found that they will both sit so tight next to each other and
almost against the wall on the right side of the room that we weren't going to
be able to get into the right side panel to open the shutoff valves to release
the charge on the new unit once we got our pipes soldered and the unit properly
vacuumed out. Since the building is so small (about 10' X 12') we had to recover
the refrigerant out of the old unit, disconnect the plumbing, and remove the
ice machine head from the building so we could place the new unit in the left position
where the old unit was.
Once we had the old ice machine head out we were able to install our new one in place on the left side and complete
our installation. This involves piping the remote line set, vacuuming the lines
and the outside condensing unit, running the low voltage wires along with the
line set to the remote unit and wiring them into the control panel. Once this
is all done we open the valves in the inside unit to release the refrigerant
into the system. Once we opened the valves we were able put the panel on and be
done on that side so that we could go ahead and reinstall the old unit on the
right hand side of the new one.
Since we moved the old unit to the
right side we had to re-route the old units line set. Once the line set was
reconnected we had to run a 4 point, 500 micron vacuum and recharge it. The inlet
water lines and drain lines had to be reworked to accommodate both units. The
inside units both operate off a regular 15amp, 120 volt power source with a
standard power cord on them. Once we completed the plumbing we removed all the
shipping materials from the new unit and started both units up.
Once started you must wait through
a typical ice making cycle to make sure they make properly and in the specified
time. Some ice machines require an initial adjustment of the ice thickness by
the installer so we check the thickness after the first drop of ice. The cycle
time on these models are approximately 12-15 minutes. Both ice machines dropped
in the prescribed time but our new one had cubes that were a little hollow so
we had to adjust the thickness control for a slightly longer freeze time. The
second cycle put out a proper size cube and everything seemed to be good.
However, during the third freeze
cycle the new unit cut off in the middle of the cycle and the control board had
a fault code that said HPCO fault. This code means "high pressure
cutout". When this code shows up it is because the refrigerant pressure
got so high the unit cut out on high pressure. This can be due to a condenser fan
failure, dirty condenser, blocked air flow at the condenser, bad fan pressure
control, etc. In this case we have a brand new unit so we know the condenser is
clean.
I proceeded to the roof to check
the condensing unit. Once it cooled down I restarted the unit and found the fan
would not come on. Further inspection found that the fan had a run capacitor
mounted on its body and the factory had apparently left the capacitor mounting
bracket loose so it allowed the metal capacitor cover cap to vibrate and shift
and rub against the wire terminal and
short circuit. Upon testing the capacitor we found it to still be good but the
motor windings were damaged in the short. By this time it was late into the
evening so we had to leave the new unit off until we could get a replacement
motor.
The following day we checked and
the parts distributor had the motor in stock so we were able to go and replace
the motor under the manufacturers warranty and get it up and running.
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