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.

How To Clean A Koolaire Ice Machine January 09 2015, 0 Comments

Keeping your Koolaire ice machine clean is the number one way to reduce ownership cost.  The purpose of cleaning is to remove lime scale and mineral deposits.  Most ice machine problems stem from components having scale build up or the evaporator being too dirty to harvest properly.  Keep your ice machine investment running efficiently, by following these Koolaire cleaning steps.

Depending on the severity of scale, cleaning may be required more frequently than the recommended once per 6 months.  In addition, cleaning times may vary depending on water quality or dirtiness of ice machine components.

Ice machine cleaner is not the same as ice machine sanitizer.  Sanitation may be required if you need to disinfect and remove algea or slime.

Koolaire and Manitowoc Float Parts September 23 2014, 0 Comments

Manitowoc float valves are not the same as Koolaire float switches.  The terminology can sometimes be confusing, but there is a difference and they are not interchangeable.  The biggest difference is that Manitowoc will use a float valve, where Koolaire uses a float switch.  This means that water does not actually pass through the Koolaire float, it will only read the level in the water trough.

Float valves are also typically only used on older ice machines or undercounter models.  Modular units and modern Manitowoc ice machines rely on a separate water inlet valve, that provides a higher rate of water flow.  Because they can bring in more water and operate on cycles, they are more energy efficient.  A water float valve will simply let water in, anytime the float drops, wasting water.  The Koolaire ice machine uses a combination of the two technologies.

Ice Thickness Float Switch Adjustment on Koolaire August 13 2014, 2 Comments

Ice machines require the proper ice thickness or bridge thickness, to properly harvest.  Setting this thickness allows for faster harvest cycles, depending on condition and customer preference on cube size.  Manitowoc and Koolaire recommend a 1/8" thick bridge on all of their cuber ice machines.  Adjusting a Koolaire ice thickness is unique, because harvest is triggered by a float switch and not an ice thickness probe.

To adjust the float switch, you will need a 3/4" wrench.  Use the wrench on the float switch located on the left, as you are facing the front of the machine, to loosen or tighten the nut located right above the white plastic float.  Turn the float switch clockwise to increase thickness and counterclockwise to decrease.

Manitowoc Ice Warranty Claim Form August 01 2014, 0 Comments

Did you know that most Manitowoc ice machines come with a 3 year parts and labor warranty?  This means that if your commercial ice machine experiences a failure in the first 3 years of purchase, Manitowoc will pay a trained technician to come to your company and fix the ice maker.  More expensive components like the evaporator and compressor will also have an extended warranty, which includes 5 years parts and labor on most evaporators and 5 year parts warranty on the compressors.  This allows you, the customer, to not need a Manitowoc claim form.  All warranty related paper work would be completed by the Factory Authorized Service representative.

So what isn't covered by Manitowoc warranty?

Anything that has to do with cleaning issues would not be covered under the manufacturers warranty.  If you have hard water or scale issues in your area, this can lead to the probes and water related parts to sense incorrectly.  Often times an ice thickness control will think that it's time for harvest, when no ice has formed, causing the machine to shut down on a safety limit 2 after 3 consecutive cycles.  This would be an example of a service issue not covered under warranty.