Why Your Freezer Needs to Go to the Workshop

The service department at Holm & Halby often gets asked by customers, “Why does my laboratory freezer need to go to the workshop for repairs? Can’t you just do it here?” After all, it is a major undertaking to move the 600-800 kg heavy laboratory freezers out of the laboratory and back to the workshop. “We obviously repair what we can on-site, but if there is an issue with the cooling system, then we take it back to the workshop. You can’t just release refrigerant into the atmosphere. You need to have powerful extraction,” says Kristian Ipsen, a refrigeration technician at Holm and Halby.

Freezer ER
Getting a freezer down to minus 80 degrees is no simple matter. It requires quite advanced compressors and condensers, and if there is moisture anywhere in the cooling system, the whole system must be emptied and cleaned to prevent issues. Moreover, emptying and replacing the refrigerant is a lengthy process that can take several days.

At the freezer workshop, informally known as the cooling surgery department, Kristian Ipsen often has plenty to do: “I can be working on five or six repairs at a time, but when the freezers are here at a good working height and with good extraction, I am happy not to be crawling around on the floor in a customer's laboratory,” he says. Henning Christoffersen, the technical manager at Holm & Halby, compares a problem in the cooling system to a motor problem in a car:

“Falck would never think of putting a new engine in a car while it’s parked on the emergency lane of the highway. The car needs to go to the workshop,” says Henning Christoffersen.

Help for Self-Help 
One way customers can gain useful tools to avoid problems and potential workshop visits for their freezers is by attending a so-called first aid course. Here, Holm & Halby's technical staff go practical and teach troubleshooting, tips, and tricks for different freezers. This way, the customer can resolve minor issues themselves and prepare the technician if the problem is serious. And this is a huge asset, say participants who have attended the freezer seminar first aid course.

“We have avoided many technician visits based on the knowledge we gained from the course. Additionally, we have also gotten to know our freezer very well,” Henning Christoffersen agrees: “In the course, one can get into environments and learn to change important parts, and learn the basics of freezer maintenance,” he says.