New Year Ice Machine Maintenance January 12 2015, 0 Comments
Happy New Year! Now is the time to start taking action and reduce the cost of owning your commercial ice machine. To do this, plan a maintenance schedule right now, which includes cleaning your Manitowoc or Koolaire ice machine at least once every 6 months. Depending on your location, you may need to do this more often, ideally once per quarter.
An ice machine has a foodzone, just like your grill, so keeping it clean is important. There are things to help with keeping the ice machine free of mold and scale, like adding a water filter or Guardian Sachet to reduce slime. However, nothing beats taking components apart, putting the ice machine into clean mode, and using nickel safe cleaner to scrub that evaporator.
Follow these guides to properly clean your ice machine.
How To Clean a Manitowoc Ice Machine
How To Clean a Koolaire Ice Machine
5 Ice Machine Maintenance Tips
- Use a soft bristle brush on all components. Scarring the probes or evaporator will keep your ice machine from working properly and may require replacement.
- Clean with nickel safe cleaner on all Manitowoc cubers. Manitowoc cubers have nickel plated evaporators, using a strong cleaner will actually strip the nickel plating, ruining the ice machine.
- Sanitize when you have a mold growth problem. Cleaner will get rid of the nastiness, but sanitizing will keep it from growing back. Delay growth by using sanitizing solution, after a thorough cleaning.
- Remove all probes and soak in a solution of cleaner. Taking apart the ice machine may be time consuming, but will save you money in efficiency and repair costs.
- Do a visual inspection monthly. This will allow you to stay on top of problems, before they shut the ice machine down. It’s faster and easier to clean more frequently, than to let the scale build up over months.
If you have any maintenance questions, related to your Manitowoc ice machine, just let us know in the comments below or in an email at sales@icemakerpartsshop.com.