Fred’s Appliance Academy is excited to announce a new two-week refrigeration course! This course will cover topics from temperature and defrost issues to electronic controls, including the inverter board. The course will also teach students how to determine if an issue is related to the unit’s sealed system. Two weeks of refrigeration training will allow students to learn more about the fundamentals of how the components work together to make cold and expel heat. Students will be introduced to standard refrigerators and built-in units at a slower pace and with an in-home like experience. 

This two-week course can offer much more than a one day or one week crash course on refrigeration. Important information is often left out in shorter, more fast-paced classes. We wanted to provide an alternative where we would be able to slow down the pace in order to give students a better understanding of how refrigerators work. The students will receive twice the amount of hands-on training than what we offer in the third week of our basic appliance repair course. We will focus on tearing units down to their bare bones (removing shelving, panels, doors and all internal components for testing), the reasoning behind how shelving is placed, and where a thermistor or defrost bi-metal are placed on an evaporator. These are all very important and we are excited to share more information with our students.    

This new two-week refrigeration course will go in-depth on how to read and use schematics and techsheets. These are important, and often misunderstood tools used to understand and diagnose units properly. The course will allow students to focus on how a refrigerator works and what state the refrigerant is in, (i.e. low pressure gas/vapor or high pressure gas to liquid), how to test all components of a refrigerator from power cords to controls, from water valves to ice maker/dispensers, from door switches to light sockets, and the sealed system. All of our test units are fully functional with both R134A and R600A sealed systems. The ability to work with both types of gas, especially the new R600a, highlights the big differences in how they operate and the speed of cooling. Within the training industry, a student would typically see one or the other, but both are available at our training facility, at the same time, to train with side by side. Additionally, students will be trained on single and dual evaporator systems. Our students will learn the functionality of how the systems work both together and independently when dealing with the dual evaporator systems. They will learn the difference between how an R134a system and an R600a system, the proper procedures to follow when reclaiming the units, and different techniques of brazing, soldering, and Lokring. Our students will build a functioning sealed system from the ground up on our modified training units. Then, there will be simulated evaporator installations on top freezers, side by sides, and french door units using all available repair techniques. 

This course is structured similarly to our Basic Appliance Repair course. It offers a lecture followed by a lab experience where students will apply what they have learned. Our instructors are also available as a resource outside of scheduled class time. We believe that continuing education after training is an important tool to have in a  technician’s tool bag. Our students learn a lot of information in the course but, time and practice are needed to ensure that the skills are maintained. We strongly encourage our students to lean on their classroom peers as another great resource after completing the course.

The instructors at Fred’s Appliance Academy have over 10+ years of road experience each, have received all course certifications and more, and are top-notch at what they do. The instructors’ experience, both on the road and in the classroom, allows them to see the strengths and weaknesses of the students in front of them and to tailor the course to any particular group. They adjust the pace of the course to ensure students don’t fall behind before moving on to another subject and provide one-on-one training as needed.

Refrigeration is often the most challenging subject to learn, and it’s ever-changing. We are always adapting to these changes and familiarizing ourselves with new products and procedures so that we can pass the knowledge to our students. We are excited to share this new two-week refrigeration course with the appliance repair industry!