The importance and use of ice have gone through a dramatic evolution over the past few years. A luxury item in the 20^th century to a necessity you find in homes and restaurants all over the world. When it comes to commercial kitchens in bars and restaurants, an efficient ice maker is the main factor for keeping food items cold, such as drinks.

However, you cannot have a steady supply of ice without a good ice maker. As a restaurant owner, you should consider paying for commercial ice maker repairs in the future, but it should not be too soon. The maintenance of your ice maker will depend on how good you are at following some tips mentioned here:

Sanitize and Clean the System

While ice forms on your ice machine’s evaporator plate, there will be separation. Minerals are going to separate from the form and water scale that will stick to water system component surfaces. This scale is going to be more visible when there are dry surfaces. The scale color varies because of the kind of minerals in the water supply. Lime or calcium scale is going to be off-white while iron scale becomes rusty red. Slime or algae growth can also occur in other locations. This is because of air or water-borne bacteria that settles in the wet areas.

Activate the Cleaning Cycle

Some ice makers use a “clean mode” that you can set in order to clean the internal unit and lines. It could require using a descaler cleaning solution, which is normally a mixture of vinegar and water. The yearly service must be checked to find out the instructions and recommended cleaning cycle time, which is about 20 to 45 minutes.

Follow the Shut Down Procedures

You cannot deny that ice makers use a lot of electricity. You could feel tempted to turn off the ice machine when you are not using it. This is not an issue as long as you turn it off properly. If you do not, bacteria can accumulate.

It is easy to avoid this. All you have to do is follow the manufacturer’s instructions if you want to turn off the ice maker. Before you walk away from the machine, you should drain excess water and wipe off residual moisture.

Inspect the Auger and Bearing

Flakers are producing ice inside the evaporator cylinder. The ice is extruded and broken away out of the cylinder with a gear motor-driven auger. The bearing allows the auger to maintain and rotate the positioning in the evaporator cylinder. While the auger turns, bearing wear is eminent. A flaker bearing is known as a wear item. These bearings have to be inspected based on the manufacturers’ recommendations.

You can recommend yearly bearing instructions. It might be necessary to have the appliance inspected more frequently if you are in a bad water area, especially if you do not use any water treatment. This only involves checking the top bearing.

Check Filters

Ice machines are comprised of multiple filters. Some filters can be bought to prevent debris and dirt from going into the system. If there is no filter, particles are going to stick to the condenser and prevent proper cooling. There is a water filter that prevents contaminations.

You can replace the filters every six months, but you should do it sooner if the ice maker is already experiencing issues. if you doubt this, you only have to clean the filters when deep cleaning the machine.

Do not hesitate to call commercial appliancesrepair Alexandria anytime if you need an ice maker repair service.