The Backstory
A couple walks into a new restaurant – they own it, and they’ve got a headache the size of a condenser coil.
This was the situation we walked into at a newly purchased restaurant in East Vancouver. The previous owners had been gone for a while, and the place came with an older walk-in freezer that had seen better days – way better days. The restaurant was under new management, and the owners had a hard opening date locked in. Every day the freezer wasn’t running was a day they couldn’t accept deliveries, couldn’t prep, couldn’t open.
And the old unit? It was barely limping along.
The Problem
When we first got the call, the owners explained the situation: they’d bought the building and the existing equipment as-is, hoping the walk-in would hold out long enough to get them through the first few months. Instead, they got a refrigeration system that was already on life support.
We sent a technician out to evaluate. The old unit was a mismatch of parts – compressor looked like it had been swapped at least once with whatever was available, the evaporator coils were corroded, and the overall efficiency was shot. It would run for a while, then trip out, then someone would reset it and cross their fingers.
We gave the owners the straight goods: you can patch this thing and it’ll fail again in a month, or we can rip it out and put in something reliable. To their credit, they didn’t hesitate. They told us their number-one priority was keeping the freezer downtime to an absolute minimum so their opening wouldn’t get pushed back. That was the mandate: new equipment, fast turnaround, done right.
The Solution
We spec’d a Bohn wall-mounted refrigeration unit – a 4-fan model with the distinctive blue fan shrouds and a silver galvanized body. Bohn is a brand we’ve trusted for years. They’re not flashy, they’re not trendy, they’re just solid commercial refrigeration equipment that holds up in a restaurant environment. For a walk-in freezer in a busy kitchen, you want something that’s going to cycle reliably, hold temperature steady, and not give the chef any surprises during a Friday night rush.
The unit was mounted on the interior wall of the walk-in with a wooden support structure – the wall construction needed a little extra bracing to carry the weight, so we framed in a treated lumber backing before hanging the evaporator. Nothing complicated, just the kind of detail work that keeps a unit from rattling loose after a few years of compressor vibration.
On the exterior, we ran new linesets, installed a properly sized condensing unit, and made sure the refrigerant charge was dialed in for the exact volume of that box. We also replaced the old mechanical thermostat with a digital controller – better accuracy, easier for the staff to read and adjust.
The Challenge
The hardest part of this job wasn’t the technical work – it was the timing.
The restaurant was days away from its soft opening. Food orders were already placed. Staff were hired and scheduled for training. Every hour the walk-in was down was an hour the owners couldn’t receive the perishables they needed to fill their initial menu.
We coordinated with the owner to schedule the work in a tight window. We showed up, pulled the old unit, prepped the mounting surface, hung the new Bohn, ran the lines, evacuated, and tested – all in a single day for the bulk of the install. We came back the next morning to fine-tune the charge and verify the box was pulling down to -18°C without issues.
From the time we stepped on-site with the new equipment to the time the freezer was holding temperature and ready for product, we were under 48 hours. The owners had their walk-in back, and their opening date never moved.
Why Bohn?
A lot of contractors have their go-to brands, and Bohn is one of ours for freezer applications. The 4-fan evaporator we installed moves a lot of air across the coils without being overly noisy – important in a kitchen where line cooks are already dealing with hood vents and dish machines. The blue fan shrouds are easy to spot during maintenance checks, and the build quality is consistent. We’ve installed enough of these to know they hold up in Vancouver’s climate, whether the condenser is out in the rain or tucked under a roof overhang.
For this job, the Bohn unit matched the box size well. We did the load calculation, confirmed the BTU rating was right for the cubic footage, and it’s been holding strong ever since.
The Result
The restaurant opened on schedule. The walk-in freezer went from being the biggest liability in the building to a piece of equipment the owners don’t have to think about – and in this business, that’s the best compliment you can give a refrigeration system.
We’ve since been back for a routine check – no issues. The Bohn unit cycles clean, the digital controller keeps the box stable, and the owners are happy they didn’t try to squeeze another month out of the old setup.
“We were sweating bullets about the freezer. The old one was held together with hope, and we had a grand opening locked in. Air Solutions came in, told us what we needed, and had the whole thing swapped out in two days. Our walk-in was cold and ready before our first produce delivery showed up. I can’t recommend them enough if you need fast, honest work.”
– Restaurant Owner, East Vancouver
Key Takeaways
– Fast turnaround: New unit spec’d, ordered, and installed in under a week – bulk of the install done in one day
– Right equipment: Bohn 4-fan wall-mounted evaporator with blue fan shrouds, properly sized for walk-in freezer volume
– Minimal downtime: Freezer back to operating temperature within 48 hours of install start
– Reliable results: Digital temperature control, clean installation, stable operation since commissioning
– Opening saved: Restaurant opened on schedule with zero refrigeration delays
If you’re dealing with an aging walk-in freezer in East Vancouver or anywhere in the Lower Mainland, give us a call. We’ll tell you what you need – not what we want to sell you.
Client: Independent restaurant – newly purchased, East Vancouver location
Project: Walk-in freezer refrigeration replacement
Equipment: Bohn wall-mounted refrigeration unit (4-fan, blue fan shroud, silver body)
Timeline: Scheduled & completed within one week – zero impact on restaurant opening
Location: East Vancouver, BC
Need commercial refrigeration installed or repaired in Vancouver? Contact Air Solutions Mechanical Ltd for a free consultation.
