Spring has Sprung!
Thoughts turn to blue skies and flowers. (Shh! Yes, it is snowing right this very minute in Chicagoland!)
Have you given thought to your commercial refrigeration needs? Probably not. When everything is chugging along in perfect working order, preventative maintenance often slips our minds. So, we’d like to give you a gentle reminder that preventative maintenance is always better than trying to find a cure for something that has already met its demise.
The best way to stay on top of your preventative maintenance needs is to keep a to-do list. Sounds like one more thing to add to your already full schedule, but it can be very simple. No need to complicate things. All you need is a straightforward checklist with the following:
- Task
- Department
- Person
- Date Checked
To make things easy for you, we’ve put together a list of items you should check on a regular basis.
Commercial Refrigeration Maintenance Checklist
Basic Refrigeration Maintenance Check List:
- pressure clean / degrease condenser coils
- clear condensate drain lines
- check condition of door gaskets
- monitor thermostat operation and adjust as needed
- monitor temperature and cycling
- check compressor operation and control wiring
- check refrigerant level
- oil motors if oil ports exist
- check unit thermometer
- check suction line insulation
- inspect door hinges & door closers
- check and adjust defrost timers
Ice Machine Maintenance Check List:
- all removable parts should be taken out and cleaned
- bin drain should be pressure cleaned
- an acid wash should be done on evaporator
- bin should be scrubbed and sanitized
- after cleaning ice level sense probe will need to be adjusted
Maintenance Check List for A/C:
- pressure clean condenser coil
- replace air filters
- replace blower belt
- clear condensate drain
- check thermostat operation and settings
Did you know it can be dangerous to have a dirty ice machine? It is very important to keep your ice machine clean!
Important Ice Machine Maintenance Tips
- Clean Ice Cooler: Do this every other week and you’ll have ice cubes that are uniform in shape and don’t harbor an unpleasant odor. You risk your machine shutting down if you don’t clean regularly.
- Check for Brown Slime: Ice machines can develop a brown slime. This brown slime develops from specific types of yeast such as: airborne yeast, beer, brewing yeast, and baking yeast. We recommend that you consult your ice machine manufacturer’s manual.
- Check Ice Machine Temperature: It’s important to keep your ice machine in a cool location. It will expend less energy and make better cubes.
- Replace Ice Machine’s Water Filters Regularly: Every six (6) months. Ice quality will increase, and the speed in which ice is produced also increases.
- Clean Your Condenser Coils: Condenser coils are often ignored by restaurants. Dirty condenser coils have an adverse effect on your ice cooler’s temperature, resulting in slow ice production. If your condenser coils are weighed down by gunk and grease, you should give us a call or Tweet us!
- Maintain a Regular Professional Cleaning Schedule: Ice machine cleaning should be on your list of highly important kitchen jobs. We recommend you hire a certified technician, like Northeast Cooling, to clean your ice maker every 6 months.
It’s easy to take your commercial refrigeration, especially your ice machine, for granted. It’s always there: churning out perfect cubes for your every need. To keep those cubes perfect, you need regular preventative maintenance.
Benefits of Regular Preventative Maintenance
- Reduce power consumption. It’s easy to be GREEN with a little preventative care.
- Extend life of equipment, especially critical components like the compressor, capillary tube, and condenser fan motor.
- Avoid costly EMERGENCY service caused by lack of maintenance.
- Avoid mold growth and contaminated “spotted” ice. (To combat this, have ice machines taken apart and cleaned at least twice per year.)
- Properly maintained line coolers won’t cause system oil and capillary tube breakdown and/or compressor failure.
- Proper door seal reduces power consumption and extends life of equipment.
Find more helpful information on how you can save energy, and money, by following @Refrigeration on Twitter and Northeast Cooling on Facebook.