By Commercial Service Company · September 4, 2026
Storms, ice, and summer grid strain all hit central Arkansas, and when the power comes back the temptation is to flip every switch at once and get the doors open. That is usually the moment good equipment gets hurt. A short, orderly restart protects your food, your compressors, and your evening.
While the Power Is Still Out
- Keep walk-in, reach-in, and freezer doors shut. Every opening costs you hours of holding time.
- Write down the time the power went out. You will need it for your food-safety decisions and for your health inspector.
- Turn off or unplug what you can — fryers, ovens, ice machines, POS gear, anything with a control board. Less connected load means less inrush when the utility restores service, and it keeps electronics off the line during the voltage swings that come with restoration.
- Log walk-in and freezer temperatures now with a probe thermometer so you have a starting point.
Food Safety Comes Before Equipment
Product decisions get made on time and temperature, not on how the food looks or smells. Published USDA guidance puts an unopened refrigerator at roughly four hours of safe holding, a full freezer at about 48 hours, and a half-full freezer at about 24. Those are estimates for household units. A loaded commercial walk-in with tight gaskets often does better; a lightly loaded reach-in does worse. Work off your own readings, not off an average.
- Check internal product temperature with a calibrated thermometer, not the door display. The display reads air, and air recovers faster than food does.
- Cold potentially hazardous food that sat above 41°F for more than four hours should come out. When in doubt, throw it out — that includes the expensive protein.
- Frozen product that still holds ice crystals and reads 40°F or below can generally be refrozen, though quality will suffer. Fully thawed and warm product goes.
- Write down times, temperatures, and everything you discarded. Your local health department and your insurance carrier will both ask.
Your health department has the final say on your operation. If the outage ran long or you are unsure about a product, call them.
Bring Equipment Back in Stages
Energizing everything at once creates a large inrush of current, trips breakers, and can stall compressors that are trying to start against a head of pressure. Stage the restart instead.
- Refrigeration first — walk-ins, reach-ins, prep tables — one unit at a time, a few minutes apart. Refrigeration is what protects inventory.
- Let each compressor start and settle into a steady run before you energize the next unit.
- Hot side next: ovens, fryers, holding cabinets, dish machine. Again, one at a time.
- Ice machines and beverage systems last. Run a sanitation cycle and dump the first production of ice before anything goes to a customer.
- Give refrigeration several hours to pull back down to setpoint before you reload it heavily.
Breakers, Compressors, and What They Are Telling You
A breaker that trips once during restart may simply be inrush. A breaker that trips again after you reset it is telling you something is wrong downstream. Do not keep resetting it. Repeated resets into a fault are how a small problem becomes a fire.
Compressors are the other pressure point. Short cycling, a hum that never turns into a run, an overload that trips over and over, or a condenser fan that will not spin all point to a starting component or an electrical fault. Those are technician calls. Refrigerant work is federally regulated and requires EPA certification, and compressor and control diagnosis means working on live high-voltage circuits. Do not open a sealed system, jump a control, or bypass a safety.
What Needs a Licensed Technician After a Surge
Utility restoration and lightning both put spikes on the line, and modern commercial equipment is full of control boards that do not survive them cleanly. Call for service when you see:
- Blank, frozen, or scrambled displays, or error codes that will not clear
- A unit that powers up but will not cool, will not heat, or will not hold setpoint after several hours
- Any burning smell, scorch marks, discolored outlets, or a hot breaker or panel cover
- Buzzing, chattering, or clicking from a contactor or panel
- Gas equipment that will not light, or an ignition module that keeps locking out
- An ice machine that runs but makes thin, soft, or no ice
- Breakers or GFCIs that trip repeatedly
Electrical, gas, and refrigerant work belongs with a licensed, certified technician. There is no safe do-it-yourself version of any of it.
Before the Next Outage
- Post a written restart order in the kitchen and put one manager in charge of it.
- Keep calibrated thermometers and a temperature log at every refrigeration unit.
- Ask your service company about surge protection for refrigeration controls and kitchen electronics.
- Keep door gaskets in good condition — they are what buys you holding time.
- Label your electrical panel. Clear labeling saves an hour when it counts.
If something did not come back the way it should have, do not fight it through a dinner rush. Commercial Service Company has kept refrigeration, HVAC, kitchen equipment, ice machines, electrical, and beverage systems running for central Arkansas businesses since 1976, from Conway and Little Rock to Benton, Bryant, Maumelle, Jacksonville, Searcy, and Russellville. Call us at 501-548-2374 and we will get a technician headed your way.