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Butcher’s cold room: drain sludge, a condensate pump and a new expansion valve

Client: Independent butcher shop
Collage of four photos from the butcher cold-room service: the dripping drain, the sludge in the pan, the new expansion valve, the evaporator after service
Scope
Cold-room refrigeration service: evaporator drain pans, condensate pump, thermostatic expansion valve
Timeline
May 2026
Tonnage
1.5-ton expansion valve
Location
New York City
Year completed
2026
What was delivered
  • Evaporator drain pans cleaned
  • Old Sporlan EFSE-1-1/2-C expansion valve replaced
  • Suction line insulated at the new valve

The call

A butcher’s cold workroom, with water dripping onto the cutting bench below the ceiling unit. In a room where meat is cut, that is not a nuisance, it is a health inspection waiting to happen.

The condensate pump under the ceiling unit, dripping straight onto the cutting bench.
The condensate pump under the ceiling unit, dripping straight onto the cutting bench.

What we found

The drip was coming off the condensate pump under the evaporator. In the evaporator’s drain pan was a thick layer of grey sludge, fat and protein carried on the air and settled into the condensate, built up around the outlet.

Inside the drain pan: grey sludge up to the outlet, which is almost closed.
Inside the drain pan: grey sludge up to the outlet, which is almost closed.
The pan out of the unit and on the ladder, full of the same sludge.
The pan out of the unit and on the ladder, full of the same sludge.

Once the unit was open it turned into a list. The thermostatic expansion valve at the coil inlet was an old Sporlan EFSE-1-1/2-C, a 1.5-ton R-404A valve. The drain line runs to a condensate pump mounted on the wall above the cold-room door. The room is served by two Trenton two-fan ceiling evaporators.

The old Sporlan EFSE-1-1/2-C expansion valve. R-404A, 1.5 tons.
The old Sporlan EFSE-1-1/2-C expansion valve. R-404A, 1.5 tons.
The condensate pump above the cold-room door.
The condensate pump above the cold-room door.

The work, in order

  1. Drain pans out and cleaned.
  2. New expansion valve brazed in at the evaporator inlet.
  3. Fresh insulation on the suction line at the new valve.
The new expansion valve brazed in at the coil inlet, bulb capillary routed to the suction line and fresh insulation on the lines.
The new expansion valve brazed in at the coil inlet, bulb capillary routed to the suction line and fresh insulation on the lines.
One of the Trenton two-fan ceiling evaporators.
One of the Trenton two-fan ceiling evaporators.
A drain pan after cleaning.
A drain pan after cleaning.

Equipment and parts

RoomMeat cutting room served by two Trenton two-fan ceiling evaporators
Expansion valveSporlan EFSE-1-1/2-C thermostatic expansion valve, 1.5 tons, R-404A, replaced
CondensateWall-mounted condensate pump above the cold-room door
RefrigerantR-404A
InsulationSuction line insulated at the new valve

What this means if you manage the building

Drain pans in a room where food is cut need cleaning on a schedule, every quarter at least. Sludge in a pan is invisible until it is on the bench, and by then it is an inspection problem, not a refrigeration one. The second lesson is about the visit itself: when the unit is open anyway, look at everything, because the second problem is always cheaper to fix on the same visit than on a callback.

From the job log: Water on the cutting bench (scheduled for 24 Nov 2026, link follows).

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