Preventive Maintenance: Yes or No
EMR Service’s Bruce Peeling provides an overview of the necessary steps associated with any preventive maintenance program.
By Staff -- Foodservice Equipment & Supplies, 4/1/2007
You are either a believer or you are not. There seems to be no middle ground. I have to agree that not all programs are good and not all equipment needs preventive maintenance. Today's service leaders have developed good preventive and planned maintenance programs for critical pieces of equipment. If you plan to spend any dollars on preventive maintenance, your budget should take into account four critical areas: installation of water-using equipment, refrigeration, HVAC and cleaning.
Good maintenance begins at the time of installation. Does the facility allow for proper ventilation of the equipment? Are the cooling air intakes next to a broiler or fryer? Does the drain line on the steamer flow downhill with the minimum amount of elbows? All of these problems can cause continued service issues that extend beyond the warranty period and shorten the life of the equipment. Spending a few extra dollars in the beginning will definitely give you better performance overall.
The next area is steam and ice equipment. Installing a good filtration system allows operators to take their first steps toward success. A part of a good maintenance program will be checking and replacing clogged filters. The meeting of water and heat in a boiler-type steamer always leaves behind scale deposits, which will coat the heating elements. A quarter inch of scale on an element can cause that piece of equipment to consume up to 35 percent more energy, which can be the most costly part of ownership.
“Good maintenance begins at the time of installation.” |
For example, most problems with ice machines are water-related. Good preventive maintenance for ice machines begins by regularly cleaning the units and changing the filter. The king of kitchen water consumption, the dishwasher tends to be the most expensive item to maintain in the kitchen. The best way to handle maintenance for this item is to have service professionals take a little extra time to check the dishwasher and its various components when they visit an operator's location for other repair calls.
Refrigeration seems to be the area where operators embrace preventive maintenance the most. It only takes one breakdown of a walk-in to show value in maintaining the equipment. Cleaning the coils at least twice a year, or more depending on the environment, remains a must. Again, a dirty unit requires more energy to reach the required temperature. A good practice for the operator would be to walk around the kitchen each week and look at the air vents on all the equipment for dust and dirt. Make sure all the louvers are not covered with boxes or other items that would block the flow of air. If you see small fans on the top of the unit are no longer running, stop and make a call for service. Many units today have electronic controls that when starved for air will overheat and fail. A little preventive maintenance can save hundreds of dollars in repairs.
Ventilation is critical to today's cooklines. All gas kitchens need to have the proper airflow to move the combustion products from the kitchen. Many systems lack proper balance, which can cause pilot outages and other tricky maintenance issues for the technician. When making a trip to the roof, always check exhaust and make-up fans' motors.
In closing, let's review the minimum steps necessary to keep an operation up and running. Check the filtration quarterly. At least twice a year, check all boiler-based steamers for scale deposits and have the units descaled. Clean and sanitize the ice machine at least twice a year. Have your service rep regularly review each major piece of equipment, such as dishwashers, steamers, combination ovens, ice machines and large refrigeration equipment to ensure you get some value for your dollars spent.
