Whether your business is a hospital, a supermarket, a night club, a bar, a restaurant or a hotel, you simply cannot afford to make costly ice machine mistakes.
Today, the market offers a diverse range of ice machines that produce different forms of ice such as crushed ice, ice nuggets, ice flakes, ice cubes and ice chips. Many businesses have discovered that obtaining a machine according to their needs is very important.
For instance, companies that deal with perishable food items such as meat and seafood need snow flake makers while beverage businesses need nugget snow making machines.
Businesses have also invested in regular cleaning and maintenance of the ice machines to prevent growth of algae, mold and bacteria. Robustness of the motor, serving capacity, standard features and energy efficiency are other factors that are also considered. Despite taking extra precautions to ensure they have chosen the right ice machines, they still make these costly ice machine mistakes.
Costly Ice Machine Mistakes You Should Never Make
It’s usually too costly to repair an ice machine that is out of warranty. If the machine is still under warranty, certain costly mistakes can make it void. An example of a problem that could void your warranty is damage to the evaporator.
The evaporator is where the ice forms. After the ice has formed, the evaporator warms and the ice falls off so when it is damaged, the ice won’t be released. If this happens, the machine will either try to make more ice on top of what is already there or it will shut off for safety concerns. Whichever the case, the machine will stop working.
One of the reasons why the evaporator stops working is because it is dirty. This is a very easy situation to deal with because all you have to do is clean it properly after all the ice has melted.
Forcing the ice off or using other means to make it melt faster can result in serious damage. Keep in mind that once an evaporator has been damaged, it cannot be repaired. You will have to buy a new one and this can be very expensive.
The most common way that people damage evaporators is by scraping the ice off using a spoon, knife or screw when the ice does not release. What started out as a small problem can become a major problem caused by a small nick.
Using a heat gun is also not advisable because it can easily burn the plastic parts. If you feel that waiting for the machine to thaw will take a long time and you will lose customers, it’s better that you buy some ice rather than damage your evaporator and end up incurring unnecessary expenses.
Another way that you can make costly ice machine mistakes is by using the wrong cleaner for your evaporator. Some ice makers come with nickel plated evaporators which can easily be damaged by using the wrong cleaner.
The safest cleaner to use is the one recommended by the ice machine manufacturer. If the damage to the evaporator is minimal, you can extend its life by using food grade, non stick spray.
In case you have an evaporator that is damaged beyond repair, consider acquiring a used one. Many used ice machines have one problem or another but most of them have an evaporator that is in good condition. Installing an evaporator might take a few hours.
Leasing Your Ice Machine
Leasing is one way of avoiding costly ice machine mistakes. Many lease agreements have provisions that allow lessees to have their ice machine repaired and maintained as is necessary.
Therefore, if your evaporator stops working, you can call the equipment leasing company and ask them to send someone to take a look at it. This does not cost you extra because it is already covered in the lease payments. Before you sign a lease, however, ensure that you talk to a financial advisor or a lawyer who specializes in the leasing industry. They can review your lease and identify any loopholes that may make your lease unfavorable.
Ice machine evaporators can last a very long time and typically don’t cause any trouble. They usually have the longest warranty of any part of ice machines.
For more information on leasing ice machines, simply CLICK HERE.