Know when to maintain em’…

 

“You’ve got to know when to hold ’em
Know when to fold ’em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run”
– Kenny Rogers, The Gambler

 

Not maintaining your refrigeration or air conditioning equipment can be a huge gamble. What’s the cost of being broken, rejected and unwashed? Most of us aren’t really sure and can’t put a number on it. So why, when it comes to some of the most expensive equipment we own, we are willing to take the risk on that investment failing.  

“And the night got deathly quiet
And his face lost all expression
He said, If you’re gonna play the game, boy
You gotta learn to play it right 

Play it right, be prepared. A clean here and a check there can leave you with a solid hand. Your chance of losing a bucket load of money on an expensive breakdown is awesomely reduced. 

So many times we go out to a breakdown service and find the root cause to be a lack of care. An analogy frequently used in our industry is the one about the car. If you buy a car, whether it’s worth $13,000 or $300,000 you get it frequently serviced to maintain its integrity and reliability. But on the flip side, our commercial equipment, more often than not (worth more money) is neglected and left to burn… 

 

Below is a photo of a small display fridge that’s been operating for 6 months. You can see the accumulation of dust has blocked about 30% of the condenser. If left, this will grow to 50, 60 or 70%, leaving the system exposed to failure, Failure of the compressor, condenser motor or pipe work. 

 

All breakdowns can be costly. The cost of repairs, the cost of stock loss, the cost of human comfort.  

 

So before summer hits “and the dealin’s done”, now’s the time to fold ‘em and get your equipment serviced, maintained or up-graded. Service rates are still low, and companies will be fighting for your business. You’ll also get the added bonus of being prepared for the next endless heat wave and even save some energy costs along the way! 

 

We asked one of our service techs for a couple of ‘this could have been avoided’ pics. He did not disappoint. Thanks Chris!

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We usually make it pretty clear that we are proud of our people and the work that they do. This year to coincide with World Refrigeration Day, we are holding our first annual Coolphase Values Awards – “The W’s”. We’ll have a chilled celebration, throw in a few AWESOME miniaturised trophies and recognise the people that best represent who we are.  

“The W’s, what the hell are W’s” you say… Yep, our crazy sense of humor is at it again… Being unique in all things that we do, our awards just couldn’t be boring. And this month the photo on the wall award goes to blah, blah, blah… ha-ha, no way! So, the W’s are Wadey, Woody and Warney, all three symbolise our core values of Up-Front, Humble and Craftsman. 

 

The Wadey

The Marvel anti-hero Wade Wilson AKA Dead Pool, is an in your face guy that is brutally honest and extremely up-front. Although we don’t shoot things, we do love honesty and an up-front approach. So, our first W trophy (after countless ebay searches) is a bobble head Dead Pool figurine. 

 

The Woody

After his early days as a jealous and arrogant “I’m Andy’s one and only” toy, Woody transformed into one of the most humble toys in the world. Woody always helps his friends and goes above and beyond to do what’s rightWe’ve had many occasions where our guys have gone out of their way to help people in need. 

 

The Warney

It is without question that Shane Warne is the greatest leg spin bowler that the world has ever seen. His bowling was an art form, he was a true craftsman, far superior to other bowlers that were mere skilled technicians. Our best tradesman are proud to be called craftsmen, they always take pride in what you can’t see. Although the motive for this award is greatfinding a Warney doll was impossible, time to get creative! One of Warney’s greatest off-field achievements, without a doubt was Liz Hurleyand after a trip to Zing Pop Culture, we walked away with a Vanessa Kensington Pop vinyl figure. 

 

As peer voting winds up this morning on “World Refrigeration Day”, we are proud to say that nearly all of our employees have received votes. It’s great that we all share and live our values and are proud of them! 

One of our brilliant young technicians Aaron Wulff recently started up his first Co2 rack. We asked him a few questions about his experience. 

Were you nervous?

Definitely! Co2 under the right/wrong conditions can cause a lot of damage, I triple checked my safety setpoints but there’s multiple “what if” scenarios in the back of my mind, the racks come with every ball valve open but some need to be closed for normal operation – figuring out which valves to shut without closing the wrong one. Tight deadline between start up and hand over. But, I was confident enough with my own experience, knowledge and on/off site training with other commissioners/manufacturers.

 

How did you feel once that first compressor started?

Relieved and proud. Relieved the rack was up, running and was stable for the limited load it had. Proud of myself and my work. Looking back to where I started my trade doing domestic split installs and light commercial HVAC servicing and where I am at now commissioning supermarket refrigeration.

 

Did you feel you had received adequate training to complete the task?

Yes, Coolphase has organised training days for all technicians. I have been to Sydney twice for Co2 training with both Danfoss and Bitzer, worked alongside other commissioners on new and refit jobs and doing Woolworths after hours breakdown service (fault finding on Co2 racks). It’s also comforting to know help is only ever a phone call away.

We are certainly proud of Aaron! Coming to Coolphase with predominately an air conditioning background, Aaron was quick to embrace the world of commercial refrigeration. That willingness to learn and accept has seen Aaron move through the ranks to now be one of our trusted commissioners. We look forward to watching Aaron’s development for many years to come!

What’s wrong with stripping down and being natural? We can get rid of synthetics, remove all fake blends and use what the earth provides, propane, Co2 and ammonia all the way! 

I had a great time speaking at ATMOsphere Australia 2019. To be on the contractor’s panel where we could share our challenges and ideas was awesome. Although nervous and flapping around like a fish out of water, I was glad to be able to share our views on mindsets and training. Critical to our future, being prepared and accepting is essential, hopefully, our ideas and beliefs were well received. 

Mindsets are so powerful they can be created or changed, developed or perfected. Our push to create a natural world will face many challenges, we will have nonbelievers, nonspenders and miserable realists. Our ability to inspire what is “just and right” will be significant in cementing change. 

We have so many things in our favour when we try to instil a positive natural mindsetFor us and our people it’s exciting, new and old technologies combine to keep our minds fresh. Our customers can be shown the benefits of a reduced carbon footprint and the future proofing from increased and accelerated synthetic refrigerant costs. Clients can also be shown (in most cases) lower energy costs

 

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” – Lao Tzu

 

Training us and our people is a great extension of mindset change. Once we have an open mind and our thoughts in a row, we can perfect and challenge. We can come up with new ideas, new technologiesand new best practice 

All training starts with the teacher, in this case that’s us. teacher should be the greatest learner, you can’t teach what you don’t know. In a changing world we need to constantly learn so our lessons are up to date and informativeInformation on natural refrigerants and technology is everywhere, one of the best available resources is the Danfoss eLearning platform. Everyone at Coolphase, from apprentice to engineer is encouraged to log on and learn. 

Attending ATMOsphere Australia 2019 was especially awesome, learning and hearing the experiences of  so many educated and knowledgeable people. I truly appreciate the opportunity to present and share our own views. The ‘Natural Refrigerant World’ is an exciting place, one we should all take pride in being a part of.

Every strategic discussion in our office more often than not, includes a reference to the use of natural refrigerants. We all know that we have an obligation to guide and direct our customers towards what is right. And ensure we can direct them on right thing by our planet and the sustainable future of resources. We are aware that we can’t let our “ego” or the “fear” of something new affect our judgement. Transcritical is not a dirty word. 

 

The Process

To look at embracing natural, we first understood that we needed to change mindsets before we could change behaviors. And now in the midst of that process we have turned our focus to coaching and training. 

The Challenge

We definitely see that some of the biggest “natural” challenges in our industry are a lack of training and the willingness of some people to accept something different. At Coolphase, it is our continued focus to train and to prepare our people for what’s to comeOur sector of the industry “Supermarket Refrigeration” has seen a decline in the employment of apprentices; so, the next generation of support will not there when the current ageing collective of fridgies retires. Not an ideal situation when we are about to enter our biggest period of change since the phase out of CFC’s.

And wow, when it comes to difference, there is a huge level of inherent misery and negativity in the Australian refrigeration industry, and the miserable hate change! We need to change minds and perceptions, then we can change behaviors and acceptance, we then need to coach.

The Future

As a contractor completing work for major retailers in Queensland we have been limited by the lack of “transcritical” and “full natural system” acceptance. However, with updates to technology and the continued promotion of all things non-synthetic, that should (hopefully) change soon.  

 

If you’re interested in the changing future of natural refrigerants, join us for ATMOsphere Australia in May. For more information visit their event page.

Transcrital CO2 refrigeration systems are here and we can’t wait to play our part!

 

Perceptions, ideas and beliefs, it’s amazing what a change in mindset can achieve.

 

While on a recent “work trip” to Europe my mind was set alight with the brilliant acceptance of change and the boom of transcritical refrigeration. The European Union has played its hand straight-up in combating the effects of global warming. Wind and solar farms distort the landscape and the endeavor to remove F-gases is ongoing and systematic. There is a distinct aura of responsibility and willingness in Europe to find a better, greener way.

Our short trip involved a visit to Chillventa the expo for energy efficiency, heat pumps and refrigeration, where we witnessed first-hand a drive to create sustainable solutions for the future. Every second stand involved natural refrigerants, CO2 transcritical racks, propane systems and one guy was even trying to sell systems that contained good old H2O (water) as a refrigerant.

 

Change was everywhere, and change was commonplace.

 

Several factory visits later and our initial perceptions were confirmed, innovation and belief. And the most amazing thing was, people weren’t scared of transcritical CO2 systems. The demand for the natural solution is huge, manufacturers can’t keep up.

Continued after image: sheccoBase (2018), ongoing research for World Guide to CO2 Transcritical Refrigeration, to be published in 2019 (more information at info@sheccobase.com)

Mindset Change.

 

We have a knack in Australia to make things more complicated than they really are.  We fear the word and system “transcritical”. But, don’t be afraid. People have installed it all over the world. Not so long ago we led the world in refrigeration. In fact we were the first to patent the vapour compression cycle! Therefore, we need to catch up and get back to being innovative and responsible.

Whether you are a conspiracy theorist or hardcore environmentalist, the change in the earth’s surface temperature is evident. 0.85oC higher than late in the 19th century, man-made or a cycle of the sun? In conclusion, as an industry we can help just a little by using natural refrigerants. So, what are we waiting for?

Last week I had the opportunity, along with our service manager and commissioners, to attend Bitzer’s training course on their transcritical CO2 systems and a walk through their production line. The training course ran us through the basics of CO2 – why it’s used as a refrigerant and some of its limitations e.g. warmer ambient temperatures and higher operating pressures.

With the world pushing for natural refrigerants CO2 is arguably one of the better options due to its non-toxic, non- flammable characteristics and very good heat transfer coefficient. CO2 isn’t without its limitations though; high ambient temperatures is one of them. All refrigerants have a decline in efficiency with higher condensing pressures/temperatures however CO2 has one of the largest drops.

It was pretty interesting watching a video of the different phase changes CO2 goes through – between its triple and critical point. A vessel is charged with liquid CO2, the pressure is dropped rapidly and BOOM the liquid CO2 almost instantly turns to a solid (dry ice). The vessel pressure is then raised – you can see the solid dry ice boil off to a gas, then liquid and once pushed past its critical point, CO2 sits in equilibrium, now a supercritical fluid! (expands to fill its container yet has the properties of a fluid).

That being said there are a number of safety devices in place to keep the CO2 between these two points, whether it be a backup cascade system to cool the liquid using another refrigerant or parallel compression where flash gas is pulled from the top of the receiver and recirculated back into the system or mechanical venting of the receiver. All of these methods are trying to drop the receivers pressure/temperature to design conditions.

CO2 can be intimidating due to its characteristics but like most things if you do the training, take your time and know the limits you will be fine.