Cooler and Freezer Temperature Monitoring-Switch from Chart Recorder to Digital
We have a walk-in cooler and a full door freezer which we store ingredients for use in our confection kitchen. The cooler stores eggs, butter and cream. The freezer stores WIP's such as a raspberry reduction. We have been using a circular chart recorders which are reviewed for temperature compliance on a weekly basis. Maintenance has had issues maintaining the chart recorders functionality (sometimes they are not recording and we have to fill out corrective actions forms) so we installed digital temperature recorders. Can we get rid of the circular recording charts? We are using a glycol and air temperature on both. They will be sent out for calibration once a year. What, if any, additional monitoring should be performed other than weekly data review?
Additional thoughts: For crisis management sake, if there was a power outage, the digital recorders rely on a battery and thus would continue to record data. There is an alert in the system if the battery is running low and needs to be replaced.
Curious as to what type of digital record system you are using. I'm thinking of doing the same thing, and intend for it to replace the circular charts. I've looked at a lot of digital thermometers with USB capability, so that you can review, and save or download a chart as often as you need. The circular charts are really a pain and are expensive to calibrate and repair.
If the digital recorder charts can be inspected as often as you need and provide you with a record of the data that is equal to the circular charts or better, and is auditable/calibratable/etc., I think you can get rid of the circular charts.
My company uses T&D thermometers. They have a line of Wifi-enabled thermometers that are battery powered and offer a complimentary webstorage service. You can review temperatures online and set alert settings that are connected to an e-mail notification system. They also have a smartphone app which has just been updated to include push notifications for alert settings.
https://www.datalogg...toring-systems/
I review my data weekly and check for trends monthly as part of my GMP audit.
Thank you, Spidey. This is exactly the same type of system I've been looking at, from various companies. We have one cooler and one freezer that I would like to monitor, temp only. Do you find this company to have reasonable prices and good support?
When we purchased ours, T&D had us go through a distributor for the purchase; I think they were $204 each. As far as support goes, I've never needed to contact them directly; T&D has very detailed instructions so I've been able to figure everything out on my own.