Content sponsored by: Heritage Parts
Heading into the summer months, it’s important to be proactive in taking good care of your in-demand machines with preventive maintenance. For example, making sure that your ice machines produce clean, good-tasting ice is one of the most cost-effective ways to enhance the performance and prolong the life of your equipment, helping you avoid potential problems during the busiest seasons.
Although maintenance duties can require a bit of time and effort, once you develop preventive maintenance habits, keeping up with them becomes second nature. Whether cleaning your appliances or replacing worn parts, regular maintenance is the smartest way to get the most out of your equipment.
Cleaning In-Demand Machines
During the warmer months, a clean ice machine is vital to your kitchen’s success. Customers expect ice that is safe and tastes good, and in the summertime, they expect a lot of it.
If you don’t regularly clean your ice machines, you can expect longer harvest times and reduced capacity, which means you might not be able to keep up with the seasonal demand. In addition to diminished ice production, a number of problems can result from neglecting your ice machine’s cleaning schedule.
- Scale or calcium and magnesium buildup can change the taste of the water.
- Buildup can damage your machine by adhering to the surface of the evaporator plates.
- Damage can lead to expensive repairs as well as costly equipment downtime.
- Slime or mold can develop, creating an unsanitary environment, violating health codes and putting customers’ health at risk.
You can consult your machine’s manual for a specific timeline for cleaning, but most ice machines should be cleaned every 30, 60 or 90 days. Taking a proactive approach to cleaning machines likely to be in great demand can help reduce downtime when you need the equipment most.
Replacing Parts
Replacing parts is another key practice of preventive maintenance that can help improve the performance and extend the life cycle of your kitchen equipment. For ice machines, most manufacturers recommend replacing the filter at least every six months. As such, keeping extra filters on site is a smart way to make your maintenance routine quicker and easier. Ice scoops are another part you might want to keep on hand, since they are frequently lost or stolen.
Listed below are ice machine parts that you may need to replace frequently:
- Casters
- Water hoses
- Sump pump
- Evaporator
- Water distributor parts
- Reservoir
- Ice machine cleaning kits
- Ice scoops
- Water filters
A Partner for Preventive Maintenance
Preventive maintenance is the best way to ensure your kitchen equipment continues to perform well, and finding a parts provider you can rely on makes such maintenance simple and easy, so you can focus on what matters most.
Heritage Parts can help you keep your preventive maintenance schedule and make repairs by setting up detailed reports to identify the parts you need. Heritage’s parts specialists can help identify parts and even provide the proper equipment manuals to assist you in your maintenance, so you can avoid costly downtime.
For your preventive maintenance needs, turn to the industry’s leading distributor of foodservice replacement parts. Call Heritage at 1-800-458-5593 to speak with your dedicated parts specialist or visit HeritageParts.com to create your own personal online account and order parts anytime. Heritage Parts offers same-day shipping and extended Saturday hours, so you can find the parts you need to keep your equipment running no matter the season.
