Florida Fall Commercial HVAC & Kitchen Maintenance

 

October in Florida is a funny month for commercial equipment.

Up north, people are already talking about heating season. Here, we can still have the air conditioning running most of the day.

Florida has never paid much attention to calendar seasons.

By October, though, we do get a good opportunity to look back at what our equipment has just been through.

For months, rooftop units have dealt with heat and humidity. Walk-in condensers have been working in some pretty unforgiving outdoor conditions, while ice machines have tried to keep bins full through summer demand. Inside restaurants, fryers, ovens, exhaust fans and make-up air units have been putting in the hours right alongside them.

Most of it made it through summer just fine.

But "still running" and "nothing needs attention" are not always the same thing.

We see that difference all the time.

Someone might mention that the fryer takes a little longer between baskets. In another kitchen, the oven still works, but the staff has quietly added a few minutes to the cook time. Down the hall, a walk-in is holding temperature even though the refrigeration system seems to run forever.

And what about that exhaust fan everyone has been listening to for the last three weeks?

None of those observations tells us exactly what is wrong.

They do tell us something has changed.

When equipment starts behaving differently than it did six months ago, it is worth asking why.

That is the idea behind our October Reset.

Nothing dramatic. We are not suggesting that every piece of equipment that survived summer suddenly needs repair.

Instead, walk through the operation and ask one simple question:

What has changed?

 

Start Where the Day Usually Starts: The Cooking Line

In a commercial kitchen, people are remarkably good at working around equipment problems.

Sometimes too good.

When an oven starts taking longer to cook, someone adjusts the timer.

Give a fryer another minute between baskets, and slower recovery becomes a little easier to manage.

Got a door that does not quite close right anymore? Someone gives it an extra shove.

Service keeps moving, which is the important thing at the time.

After a few weeks, though, those little workarounds start becoming normal. Eventually, nobody really remembers when they started.

That is when a minor change in performance can become easy to overlook.

 

When an Oven Starts Changing the Recipe

A commercial oven does not have to stop heating completely to have a problem.

Consistency is often where operators notice a change first.

Yesterday's cook time does not work quite as well anymore. Food comes out unevenly. Maybe the displayed temperature and actual performance do not seem to agree.

Take a look at the door too. Is the gasket flattened or damaged? Does the door close the way it used to?

Plenty of things can cause an oven to perform differently. Controls, sensors, heating components, ignition systems, gas supply, electrical components and door hardware can all be involved depending on the equipment.

Guessing at the cause from the kitchen does not accomplish much.

Recognizing that something changed does.

Once the staff has gradually rewritten the cooking process to compensate for an oven, it may be time to stop adjusting the recipe and have the oven checked.

 

Then There Is the Fryer

Want to know how a fryer is really doing?

Watch it during a rush.

On a slow afternoon, everything may look perfectly normal. Oil reaches temperature and holds it.

Then football starts, the restaurant fills up and baskets begin dropping one after another.

Recovery becomes pretty obvious at that point.

When the oil temperature drops and takes too long to come back, the kitchen feels it immediately.

Several things can contribute to slow recovery. Depending on the fryer, burner operation, heating elements, ignition components, controls, gas pressure or temperature calibration may need to be checked.

High volume did not necessarily create the problem.

It exposed it.

SSI Services works on commercial ovens, fryers, griddles, charbroilers, steamers, and other commercial kitchen equipment. If something on the line has started behaving differently, that is usually reason enough to have it looked at.

 

Open the Walk-In Door

Next stop is refrigeration.

Walk into a cooler that is holding temperature, and everything appears fine.

Sometimes it is.

Temperature alone, however, does not tell the whole story.

A box might still maintain temperature while the refrigeration system runs much longer than it used to.

Knowing what normal operation looks and sounds like becomes useful here.

Has the system always run this long?

Did that fan always sound like that?

Was that frost there last month?

Small observations can tell you quite a bit.

 

Take a Look at the Condenser

Commercial refrigeration spends its entire day moving heat.

During a Florida summer, getting rid of that heat becomes harder because the surrounding conditions are hotter.

Now picture a condenser coil slowly collecting dust, grease and debris along the way.

Nothing necessarily shuts down.

Instead, the system may simply run longer.

For weeks, nobody may notice because the walk-in is still cold. Eventually, though, the change becomes harder to ignore.

Longer run times are one clue. Temperature changes, high-temperature alarms, unusual fan operation, water around the unit or frost showing up where it should not can be others.

See a visibly dirty condenser?

That deserves attention too.

 

Before Blaming the Refrigeration System, Check the Door

Not every refrigeration problem starts inside the refrigeration circuit.

Sometimes the first place worth looking is the door.

Run your hand around the gasket. Is it torn or flattened?

Watch the door close. Does it actually seal on its own?

Frost around the opening can be another clue.

And if someone has to hip-check the door every time they leave the walk-in, we have probably found something worth addressing.

Warm, humid Florida air does not need much of an invitation.

Once that air enters the box, the refrigeration system has to handle the additional load.

A complicated mechanical failure is not always hiding behind a refrigeration problem.

Every once in a while, the problem is attached to the door.