Upright, under-counter and prep fridge repair across London and the South East
The uprights and prep counters in a commercial kitchen never get a rest: doors opened hundreds of times a service, in hot, greasy air. Our F-Gas certified engineers repair single and double door cabinets, under-counter fridges and freezers, prep counters and saladettes.
- Gastronorm cabinets, prep counters and saladettes
- All major brands repaired
- 24/7 emergency call-outs
- F-Gas certified, Refcom registered
Certified, accredited and insured
The faults we fix most on kitchen cabinets
Kitchen cabinets fail in predictable ways because they live in a hard environment. Heat, grease, constant door openings and the odd knock from a pan trolley all take their toll. Here is what each symptom usually means.
Door gaskets split, hinges worn
Gaskets harden and split with age and cleaning chemicals, hinges sag, and doors stop sealing. Warm air gets in around the clock, so the compressor runs longer, ice forms on the evaporator and the temperature creeps up. New seals and re-hung doors are among the cheapest repairs in refrigeration, and often bring a struggling cabinet straight back to temperature.
Iced evaporator
A wall of ice behind the interior panel points to a defrost fault: a failed heater, a timer or sensor that has stopped working, or a door seal letting moist air in. As the ice thickens, airflow through the coil stops and the cabinet warms even though the compressor runs non-stop. Do not chip the ice off. Switch off, defrost fully, and call us.
Condenser blocked with kitchen grease
Kitchen air carries grease as well as dust, and it mats onto condenser fins far quicker than ordinary fluff. A choked condenser forces the compressor to run hot and long until it fails. We clean the condenser properly, and on greasy sites we will tell you how often it needs doing so it does not kill the compressor.
Controller and probe faults
A cabinet displaying 3°C while a probe thermometer says 9°C has a sensor or controller problem, not a refrigeration one. We test probes against a calibrated thermometer, replace failed sensors and controllers, and programme the set point, differential and defrost settings to suit how you actually use the cabinet.
Compressor not starting
Clicking every few minutes is the classic sign of a failed start relay or capacitor: the compressor tries to start, cannot, and cuts out on its overload. Relays and capacitors are inexpensive parts. If the compressor itself has burnt out, we will give you the repair figure and, where it makes sense, a replacement figure too, so you can decide with the numbers in front of you.
What our engineer does on a visit
A proper diagnosis works through the cabinet in order, instead of swapping parts until something sticks.
- Step 01
Confirm the real temperature
We check cabinet and product temperatures with a calibrated probe, compare them with the display, and read the controller set point and differential.
- Step 02
Inspect the cabinet
Doors, gaskets, hinges, closers and shelving all get checked, along with the clearances around the cabinet. A unit pushed flat to the wall cannot shed heat.
- Step 03
Test the refrigeration system
We clean the condenser, check both fans, take refrigerant pressures and measure the compressor current draw against its rating plate.
- Step 04
Fix it or quote it
Small parts are fitted on the spot where they are available. Anything bigger gets a clear cost before we fit parts, and honest advice if the cabinet is not worth repairing.
Who we repair uprights and prep counters for
These cabinets are the workhorses of any food business, and when one drops you feel it in the same service. We repair uprights, under-counters, prep counters and saladettes for:
- Restaurants and head chefs
- Takeaways and dark kitchens
- Pubs serving food
- Bakeries and patisseries
- Schools and care homes
- Hotels and catering teams
- Butchers and farm shops
- Contract caterers
Prep counters and saladettes: two temperatures, one cabinet
A prep counter or saladette has to hold the base cabinet cold and keep the raised rail of ingredients safe at the same time, with the rail lids opening all through service. When a rail runs warm but the base is fine, the fault is usually a blocked rail coil, a failed rail fan or a controller set up for the wrong duty. When both run warm, treat it like any cabinet fault and call us.
During service, keep the rail lids shut between orders and do not overfill the pans above the rim, because cold air has to flow over them. At close, empty the rail, cover the pans and let the cabinet recover overnight. These habits will not fix a broken unit, but they stop a good one being blamed for a warm rail.
Helping cabinets survive a hot kitchen
Position matters more than most people realise. Leave the ventilation gap the manufacturer specifies behind and above the cabinet, keep it out of the direct line of the cooking range where you can, and vacuum the condenser grille regularly, monthly in a greasy kitchen. Wipe gaskets weekly and check they seal all the way round with the paper test: shut a strip of paper in the door and it should grip firmly on all sides.
None of this replaces a repair when something has failed, but it is the difference between a cabinet that lasts fifteen years and one that needs a compressor at five.
Areas we cover
Our engineers cover Greater London, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Surrey and Berkshire. If you are close to the edge of those areas, call 020 3488 1889 and we will tell you straight away whether we can get to you.
Read up before you book
Plain advice from the people who fix these units, written for the people who own them.
We repair all the major commercial refrigeration brands
- Williams
- Foster
- Gram
- True
- Polar
- Precision
- Hoshizaki
- Scotsman
- Electrolux
- Adande
What Be Cool Group customers say
Commercial Fridge Repair is part of Be Cool Group. These are reviews from the group's customers.
Great Cold Room!
We had a small but difficult installation of a coldroom in our restaurant. Ali helped us minimise the downtime of our restaurant and installed a great coldroom for us!
Best Advice & Service!
I have known Ali from ‘Be Cool Refrigeration’ for the past year and he is a committed individual running a business that provides exceptional service. I had no hesitation to recommend one of my clients to him and not only did Ali deliver on a promise of great service but also recommended the right solution for the new showroom we had acquired for my client. This solution comprising of multiple units was not only effective given the size and format of the showroom it also has reduced the cost base and carbon footprint long term. Overall Be Cool Refrigeration has the right attitude and competence to be a trusted partner for whatever A/C, refrigeration, heating or similar systems you require. You are sure to be in the best hands with the best advice and service. I cannot recommend them highly enough.Read more
Knowledgeable! Professional!
Fridges, cold rooms, air-conditioning, ice machines, electric ovens, ice makers and MANY MORE…Be Cool have supplied and maintained our equipment since our restaurants, pubs and hotels opened (since 2010) and we have never look further…they have always responded to our calls and breakdowns. Knowledgeable! Professional!
Work to high quality
Be Cool have been working for us for over 5 years (since 2011), they install and maintain all the commercial refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment for our projects. Our trust has always grown in Be Cool and because of this we always follow their recommendations…. “They have simply never let us down attending emergencies immediately and undertaking the work to high quality”.Read more
The professionalism and quality of work was second to none!
We used BeCool Ltd. to install new air conditioning in one of our 800sqm London venues. Top class! This was a big project but took little over two weeks. From the initial consultation to the handover, nothing was too much. The professionalism and quality of work was second to none. Following that, we used them to upgrade the air conditioning in our second London venue. Could not fault Ali and his team and BeCool Ltd is now our go-to place for AC and refrigeration. Thanks!Read more
Huge thank you to Be Cool!
Huge thank you to Be Cool after picking up the phone on a Sunday and providing good fast advice which other companies had completely failed to do. Thank you.
Upright fridge repair FAQs
Is it worth repairing a ten-year-old cabinet?
Often, yes. A sound Williams, Foster or Gram cabinet with a failed fan, seal, sensor or controller is usually well worth repairing, because those parts sit far below the price of a new cabinet. A rusted cabinet with a dead compressor is a different conversation, and we will tell you honestly which one you are having.
My fridge display says 3°C but the food feels warm. What is wrong?
Trust the food, not the display. Check with a probe thermometer between packs. If the probe reads warm, the cabinet has a real cooling fault. If the probe reads cold, the display sensor or controller is lying to you and still needs replacing, because you cannot run a kitchen on a reading you cannot trust.
Do you repair my brand of cabinet?
Almost certainly. Our engineers work on all major commercial brands, including Williams, Foster, Gram, True, Polar, Precision, Electrolux and Adande, plus the older cabinets that have been in kitchens for years.
The compressor clicks but never starts. Is it dead?
Not necessarily. Clicking is most often a failed start relay or capacitor, which is an inexpensive repair. A compressor that hums and locks up, or trips the supply, is more serious. Either way the cabinet needs an engineer, because repeated failed starts will finish a tired compressor off.
Can you repair the saladette rail as well as the base cabinet?
Yes. Rail coils, rail fans and their controllers are all part of the same job. Tell us on the phone whether it is the rail, the base or both that are warm, because it helps the engineer arrive with the right parts.
Kitchen cabinet down?
Call us with the make, the fault and your postcode and we will give you a realistic arrival window, or send the form and we will ring you back.