walkin coolers

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I'm not sure at what stage in the game it happens, but I know walk-in coolers around here are humid, and frequently damp. Around here, it's about 15% humidity outside in a pouring rain, but inside walk-in coolers are always damp, as far as I've noticed.

And I probably have the most recent daily experience, being out of fast food for only 7 years now. :D
 
Next time you have a chance bring a humidistat in with you. ;)

I feel you will be surprised.

The condensate drains installed on these units are not there for show. All the water that is draining out is being pulled from the air. The humidity in the chest should be lower than that of the room it's in and certainly not higher.

The possible exceptions to that are long defrost cycles in freezers or wash down by employees with hoses which makes it a wet location not a damp location.
 
I'd bet you can even dehydrate meat (make Beef jerky) in a walk in cooler.

Roger
 
As far as I know,the evaporative coils in the walk-in absorb the heat in the

air, leaving the air cooler. How much water is in hot air compared to cool

air, or better said, is it the fact that the heat returning to the compressor

from the coils and the cool air blowing thru them that causes moisture?

Ok, maybe that wasn't better said.

I agree that the humitity goes down, but how, by removing heat does it do

it????
 
Weird. I could have sworn I remembered moisture in there, but I could be mistaken. I know the floor got slippery from the ice packed around the kale. I remember moist boxes on the shelves.

It has been long enough now I could be forgetting the important details that were causing what I remember. :D
 
Cold air can hold less water in vapor form, thus it condenses out on the coils of the evaporator. As this process continues, the air sample will contain less and less water in vapor form in terms of grams of water per liter of air sample.
 
I'm still not convinced that 1900 boxes are listed for dry locations only. They are made from the same material as mud boxes which are installed in poured concrete.
 
infinity said:
I'm still not convinced that 1900 boxes are listed for dry locations only. They are made from the same material as mud boxes which are installed in poured concrete.
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Notice that the NEC does not require that boxes used in damp locations be listed for the purpose.

Check 314.15(A)
 
I agree, but would you use a 1900 outside, there are still elements inside a walkin cooler, and the original question was is it listed in the nec what box is approved, a 1900, bell,or fs
 
wprice said:
I agree, but would you use a 1900 outside,
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Yes, if the installation didn't need to be raintight.

wprice said:
there are still elements inside a walkin cooler, and the original question was is it listed in the nec what box is approved, a 1900, bell,or fs
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Approval would be up to the AHJ if there are no listing requirements or other specific rules involved, this doesn't mean that an inspector can make up rules.

Approved. Acceptable to the authority having jurisdiction.
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Roger
 
It was always a health dept. issue with regards to washing down the walk-in and bacteria not having someplace to grow. They wanted bell boxes with gasketed covers, and the KO plugs to be sealed. then you'ld have the thermostat with a stamped steel cover on it located by the evaporator and it was "acceptable".
 
jpresort said:
It was always a health dept. issue with regards to washing down the walk-in and bacteria not having someplace to grow. They wanted bell boxes with gasketed covers, and the KO plugs to be sealed. then you'ld have the thermostat with a stamped steel cover on it located by the evaporator and it was "acceptable".
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Ever open one of these boxes up after several years? Moisture still gets inside, but somehow it doesn't seem to be able to escape afterwards. YUCK
 
paul said:
Ever open one of these boxes up after several years? Moisture still gets inside, but somehow it doesn't seem to be able to escape afterwards. YUCK
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You mean after it has been shut down for some time?

If so yes and I second that YUCK!

All you can hope is someone left the door open from the day it was shut down.
 
I see 2 things here.One is they can even get wet.We wire up the big ones that you can drive lifts into.Ice and water on floor is not unexspected.Also they must get cleaned from time to time.
 
Jim W in Tampa said:
I see 2 things here.One is they can even get wet.We wire up the big ones that you can drive lifts into.Ice and water on floor is not unexspected.Also they must get cleaned from time to time.
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Jim if you read the posts you will notice that no one has said a walk in cooler can't be a wet location.

What has been said is not every cooler is a damp location.

A look at the definition of damp location even backs that up

'some cold storage warehouses'
 
I'm not sure why I'm being so passionate about saying that the walk in box does not need wet location wiring methods all the time, because I wire the interiors of my walk-in boxes with wet location methods anyhow. Just seems like the thing to do, even if not expressly required.

I was discussing this topic today with another fella on the phone, and he remembered some health inspectors requiring a liquidtight type wiring method, for sanitary reasons (whatever that means).

It's bad enough that us electricians also need to know some fire codes and some building codes, but now a few health codes. That's why I don't care as much for all this 'design/build' stuff. Give me some prints.
 
The ones we usually do are for large food stores.They are built out of 6 inch panels rated at r 30.We make them weather proof 100%.Perhaps its more of a helth issue than nec.Some water is at issue here because we do have door heaters and line heaters .
 
As I was reading this thread, I was wondering if the healt depts have any requirements HOW these units are to be cleaned. Hose down? Its been a few years since I worked in a restaraunt (flipping pizzas, not electrical) and I can't remember how we cleaned the walk-in. I do seem to recall condensation at certain times though.
 
JohnJ0906 said:
As I was reading this thread, I was wondering if the healt depts have any requirements HOW these units are to be cleaned. Hose down? Its been a few years since I worked in a restaraunt (flipping pizzas, not electrical) and I can't remember how we cleaned the walk-in. I do seem to recall condensation at certain times though.
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They are very much so checked.Temp is a big thing,should it get even 1 degree too high they are forced to dump the food.
 
mdshunk said:
I'm not sure why I'm being so passionate about saying that the walk in box does not need wet location wiring methods all the time, because I wire the interiors of my walk-in boxes with wet location methods anyhow.
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Same here, unless they are prewired knocked down units that I have wired once assembled that use dry methods.

The inspector did not like it and told me he would fail it, he called the manufacturer and changed his tune it passed fine.

Keep in mind the NEC is not as restrictive as many believe it is.

As an example FMC can be used in wet locations, the key is using conductors rated for wet locations.

If anyone here thinks that using wet location methods in a cooler will keep the conductors dry if the space is indeed damp I have seafront property in death valley for sale.
 
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