Grab-and-Go and Open-Air Display Cases

Home › Refrigeration by industry › Convenience store refrigeration › Grab-and-go and open-air cases

Open-air grab-and-go cases sell sandwiches, salads, fruit, dairy and drinks without a door in the way. They also have the hardest job in the store: holding food at 41°F with the front open to the room. This page is part of our convenience store refrigeration section.

How an open case stays cold

Cold air comes out of a grille at the top of the case and falls in a curtain across the front, back into a return grille at the bottom. That air curtain is the case's door. Anything that breaks it (product stacked past the load line, signs hanging in front of the grille, a fan blowing across the aisle) lets store air in and warms the food.

Why the food runs warm

• Overloading. Product above the load line or blocking the return grille.
• Store air. An HVAC diffuser or door draft blowing across the case front.
• Dirty coils and grilles. Both the condenser and the evaporator air path.
• Iced evaporator or failed defrost. The case runs constantly but cannot keep up.
• Fans and controls. A failed evaporator fan kills the air curtain.

California requires ready-to-eat potentially hazardous food to be held at 41°F or below (HSC 113996), and each case needs a thermometer in its warmest part (HSC 114157). Check product temperatures at the front, top shelf: that is usually the warmest spot. More in display case problems.

Night covers and doors

Night covers pulled down after hours help an open case recover and save energy. When it is time to replace an open case, a doored case uses much less energy. PG&E's business rebate catalog includes new display cases with doors replacing open multi-deck displays (PG&E). See lowering refrigeration energy costs.

R-290 open cases

Many new self-contained open cases use R-290. EPA allows charges of up to 494 g in open cases designed to UL 60335-2-89, requires red-marked hoses or piping and marked service ports, and allows R-290 only in new equipment designed for it, never as a retrofit (EPA). Service needs technicians trained on flammable refrigerants.

Repair and service

We repair self-contained and remote grab-and-go cases, open multi-decks and deli cases. For doored units, see glass door merchandiser repair. For hotel lobby markets, see hotel kitchen and banquet refrigeration. Everything else: refrigeration by industry.

Book display case service →

Frequently asked questions

Written and reviewed by Jim McKinny, owner of Cool Aid Air Conditioning & Refrigeration — California C-20 and C-38 licensed, EPA Universal certified, second generation of a family business serving the Bay Area since 1966. Every job we complete is backed by our 1-year parts & labor warranty.