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ICE MACHINE CLEANING

Expert Service

We have the experience and skills necessary to tackle just about every type of job that comes our way. With Eastside Service, clients know exactly what to expect - professionalism, efficiency and exceptional results.

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Personally, I never order ice in any of my drinks unless it’s from one of our customers restaurants. After years in the business, you come across some disturbing images that get imprinted into your mind. This piece will provide a few photos for reference during the discussion. Some photos will be intense, but it’s necessary to be viewed by restaurant owners and managers to ensure the health and safety of your customers and staff.


As a customer, you expect an establishment you enter to be clean and that the food should be at least somewhat tasteful. But the truth is, most managers are unfamiliar with how ice machines work or may even be unaware that they require cleaning. It typically won’t be brought to anyone’s attention until the unit is not producing any ice. A service provider shows up and they are presented with a situation like this:

A customer catching a sight of an ice machine like that is enough to cause an uproar headed straight to the health department. But sad to say, a strong majority of restaurants are in this state. The pictures above are from a Manitowoc Ice Machine located in a bar. This particular setting tends to breed major scale and mold/bacteria build up if left unchecked. The ice machine could start to have a resurgence in as little as a month so bar owners should take extra care that their ice units are checked regularly. General managers of bakery’s should also check their ice machines on a monthly basis.


The ice machine depicted above required a total break down of the machine. Each removable part needed to be soaked in ice machine cleaner and sanitized. Most of the calls for ice machines have to due with a lack of maintenance. New technicians and even some technicians who have been in the field for years will misdiagnose an issue and replace a part only to find out on the return trip that it was maintenance related. This goes for all types of ice machines. A unit without a program will suffer detrimentally.


After proper de-calcification and sanitation, the ice machine should look as follows:

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The following pictures are from a Hoshizaki Ice Machine located in a restaurant that bakes their own bread:

So, as you can see, the health risks from potentially contaminating your customers drinks remain high if a regular maintenance is not in place. Be sure to check your owners manual for proper cleaning instructions. You can always give us a call at 619.513.3736 if you want a complete deep chemical cleaning. The ice machines depicted above are 2 leading manufactures in the industry. 

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