Grocery store find

I just got a hold of 2 Refrigerator display units that I will be trying to disassemble in the next week or so. These are the large, about 11ft. units that your typical grocery store has to display Deli meats/cheeses or to display fresh seafood.

Any one have any experience with these?!

If they work, try tossing them on CL. Otherwise you are going to be dealing with refrigerant when you go to tear it down. Unless these had remote compressors?

Originally Posted by IdahoScrapper

If they work, try tossing them on CL. Otherwise you are going to be dealing with refrigerant when you go to tear it down. Unless these had remote compressors?

These things are in pretty bad shape... they were taken out because the needed to be upgraded... and they weigh ALOT. they'd be pretty tough to move.

btw. are these the remote compressors your talking about?
because i have about 4 of these too.



And i have someone coming in fri to double check for refrigerants and what not.
the two smaller items look like they might be ok considering the pipes are all snipped up..

Prgiva,
Your top picture looks like an ice machine. Do you have another picture of it?

Congratulations Prgiva...that's looks like $$ to me. good luck.

Nope! have fun and let us know how it goes.

Originally Posted by CMHN

Looks like fun, you should find a bunch of stainless steel in it.


Be careful of the refrigerant, if it hasn't been properly evacuated I suggest calling somebody to come and get it out. If they are already free of refrigerant, go to town tearing them down, you should get a decent penny for them units.

Just curious, did you have to pay for them or were they given to you?

They were given to me!

A Friend of a friend owns a small grocery store chain and they are currently renovating some of their older refrigerated units. They told me they had 7 total units outside... 5 of them were gone by the time that I had gotten there. Apparently they were much smaller, like the kin that you you can slide open from the top and reach in to go get some ice cream bars from...

Missed out on those bad boys.

They left these guys because they're too big. I brought a box truck and needed the help of the stores forklift to get the badboy on to the truck... had to make 1 trip each for the big units.

Originally Posted by Mechanic688

Joe, I think that is the back and front of the same one,,, But I'm just guessing.

yup you're right.

Front and back of the same unit. I have 2 of them.

Condensing units don't have capillary tubes. Hopefully whomever removed them evacuated them and didn't just pump them down.

Very nice and unique find, Prgiva! I know I'd be excited about something new. T.Vs and Microwave are getting boring if you know what I mean.

Originally Posted by freonjoe

Condensing units don't have capillary tubes. Hopefully whomever removed them evacuated them and didn't just pump them down.

I learned something. Kind of. When I heard terms "pumped down" and "evacuate" I thought it was one and the same.

When I bought some restaurant equipment last year, the guy that came out was "pumping" all of the remote compressors down. Apparently this is not the same as evacuating.

Could you clarify the difference?

Thanks.

Originally Posted by injunjoe

I totally do not understand what you are thinking when you say the things I underlined above.

You tell how to do it then tell how bad it is to do!
The clunker comment is completely irreverent to suggesting that it is okay releasing green house gasses into the atmosphere!

A part of doing Biz is to grease the palm here and there! The guy may have called you back but perhaps he felt insulted for not offering gratitude.

I'm glad I'm sober tonight or this would have sounded much different!

If I had to guess, he is justifying the release of refrigerants since there are so many "clean" cars now on the road, since the "junker/dirty" cars are now removed, through the train wreck known as cash for clunkers. In his mind it equals out the same.

Idahoscrapper, when you evacuate a system you remove all the refrigerant. When you pump down a system, you close the high side valve, start the compressor and run it until it has sucked all the refrigerant back into the condensing unit and then you close the low side valve. That way all the refrigerant is in the condensing unit. It's a lot faster than evacuating the system.

Originally Posted by freonjoe

Idahoscrapper, when you evacuate a system you remove all the refrigerant. When you pump down a system, you close the high side valve, start the compressor and run it until it has sucked all the refrigerant back into the condensing unit and then you close the low side valve. That way all the refrigerant is in the condensing unit. It's a lot faster than evacuating the system.

Thanks. I am always learning something!