True Refrigeration Repair

Yes. True Manufacturing is the Trulaske family's 3rd-generation business, headquartered in O'Fallon, Missouri with a second plant in Abilene, Texas. Founded in 1945 by Robert L. Trulaske Sr. It has never been sold, not to Ali Group, not to ITW, not to Welbilt (now also Ali), not to Hoshizaki, not to a private-equity rollup. That matters for two reasons on a service call. First, parts supply is a single channel straight from O'Fallon, which has been uninterrupted through the industry consolidation wave of 2020-2022, our techs don't wait on distributor network transitions for True parts the way we do on some post-2022 Ali Group brands. Second, it explains the pricing premium: True holds its pricing at the higher end of the commercial refrigeration market, and we'll tell you that straight when we quote a repair-vs-replace call.

Three distinct product families that our techs service across LA back-of-house equipment lists every week. T-series is the reach-in upright, the default restaurant and institutional walk-up fridge, sized T-19, T-23, T-35, T-49, T-72 by interior cubic feet. TUC is the undercounter line, the worktop and undercounter refrigerators and freezers that live underneath the pass or the prep counter. TSSU is the sandwich-and-salad prep table line, the cold rail with a refrigerated base that sits at the make-line, the piece of equipment that runs about 80% of LA deli, taqueria, and fast-casual prep stations. Different footprints, different refrigeration loads, mostly shared component ecosystem (same compressor platform, same evaporator style, same door hardware family). Our diagnostic approach is identical across all three; the repair economics differ because prep tables see more door cycles per service window than a reach-in does.

Yes, GDM, TVM, and GDM-HC are a regular part of our dispatch to 7-Eleven, AMPM, Circle K, Food 4 Less, and independent bodega / liquor store chains across LA. The GDM line is True's glass-door merchandiser (beverage cooler, sandwich cooler, single/two/three-door pass-through). Common repair work: door hinge cartridge replacement after thousands of customer opens, LED lighting driver swaps, gasket replacement on the doors (the most common call), condenser coil cleaning (LA dust and ambient heat pack the condenser fins fast in exposed retail locations), evaporator fan motor replacement, and temperature controller drift. We carry GDM hinge kits, gaskets, and common fan motors on the truck.

Yes. R-290 propane (chemical designation: hydrocarbon / HC-suffix True models) is the current-production refrigerant on new THAC and many other True commercial lines, True transitioned much of its commercial reach-in and back-bar catalog to R-290 ahead of the 2025 EPA AIM Act deadlines. R-290 work requires EPA 608 certification plus the hydrocarbon refrigerant training overlay that not every commercial refrigeration tech holds. Our team carries the hydrocarbon endorsement. The service reality: R-290 charge volumes are small (usually under 150 grams per system), leak detection protocol is different (flammable refrigerant, spark-control workspace), and the brazing process requires nitrogen purge. If your THAC unit's serial plate lists R-290 or HC suffix, confirm with your service provider that they hold the hydrocarbon cert before letting anyone touch the sealed system.

Our field answer after running True service calls across LA for years: 12 to 15 years is typical, 18 to 20 is achievable with bi-annual maintenance, and the single biggest predictor is condenser coil cleanliness in the kitchen environment. True builds the box to last 20-plus years structurally, the panels, the door hardware, the interior cabinet don't wear out. What wears out is the compressor, and what kills the compressor is dust, grease, and LA summer heat restricting condenser airflow. A Koreatown BBQ kitchen or a Valley fast-casual with grease-laden exhaust near the condenser runs closer to 10-12 years before compressor failure. A Westside or DTLA prep kitchen with clean ambient airflow runs 15-18 years on the same unit. We see the difference on every service call and we factor it into repair-vs-replace recommendations.

Mixed. Our trucks carry True gaskets, common fan motors, door hinge cartridges, LED driver kits for the GDM line, and thermostats for T-series and TUC. That covers maybe 70% of the repair calls we run. For custom parts, specific compressor models, evaporator assemblies, electronic control boards for newer R-290 units, matched-pair condensing units, we order from True's O'Fallon MO or Abilene TX plants via the commercial parts supply channel. Lead time to LA is typically 2-4 business days on stocked parts, 5-7 days on made-to-order. Our techs will diagnose the failure on the first visit, quote the full job with parts availability noted, and schedule the return visit with your operations window. If the unit is holding temperature in a degraded state, we size the repair window against your service calendar rather than your service day.

Commercial diagnostic is $120, waived when you authorize the repair. Typical repair bands we invoice on True units across LA: door gasket replacement $180-$380 installed; GDM hinge cartridge replacement $240-$480; evaporator fan motor $320-$580; thermostat or electronic controller $220-$460; condenser coil deep cleaning $200-$380; TXV replacement $400-$780; refrigerant recharge (R-404A or R-290) $380-$820; compressor replacement $1,600-$3,800 on standard T-series (higher on larger THAC and custom condensing units). Full cost ranges are in our commercial refrigerator repair pricing guide. Our honest repair-vs-replace line on True: under $1,500 on a unit less than 10 years old, fix it, True equipment holds its value and the rest of the unit will outlive the repair. Over $3,000 on a unit 14-plus years old, we'll run the replacement math with you before recommending the compressor swap.