Preventing Dispenser Problems and Malfunctions

A great restaurant or bar is a combination of great drinks, exemplary staff, and excellent food. In fact, your guest’s experience relies a great deal on the initial impression made by the first drinks they receive. A refreshing drink sets the stage for your staff and food to truly shine. As a result, it is vital that your soda fountain equipment and bar are up to the standards you expect from your establishment. This way, you keep preventing dispenser problems and malfunctions before they can turn into real problems.

For the best dispensers and beer equipment in Orange County, SC Beverage has you covered. From dispensers to other soda fountain equipment, we cover all of OC and Los Angeles.

Preventing Dispenser Problems and Malfunctions

Luckily, it isn’t hard to prevent dispenser problems and malfunctions. All you require is quality equipment, a filtered water supply, and a well-established maintenance schedule. These three pieces are all that is required to ensure that your guests receive delicious and refreshing drinks on time, every time.

Starting with Quality Equipment

There are many options for soda fountain equipment, so it pays to know what to look for in a quality manufacturer. Choosing a well-established provider with a solid reputation is always a good bet. Companies like SC Beverage have been operating since the 1990s solely because they can reliably provide a high-quality product to all of their clients.

In addition, you should providers who offer a variety of beverage services made by a range of manufacturers to suit all of your needs. Water filtration systems, juice systems, coffee systems, and beer systems are just a few that you should expect to find on a manufacturer’s website. This gives you flexibility and allows you to integrate these systems as needed for the most efficient bar/kitchen set-up.

Always Have a Filtered Water Supply

A commercial water filtration system is a must-have for any form of food or drink service. It affects practically everything. From coffee to soda to soups, you’ll get plenty of use out of your water filtration system, and you’ll notice a boost in the quality of your food and drinks as a result. Of course, your water filtration system is only good as long as it’s maintained. You’ll want to clean it out and replace the filter about every six months to maintain the clarity and quality of your water.

A Rock-Solid Maintenance Schedule

Once you’ve set up your equipment and water filtration system, the best thing you can do to protect your investment is to create and act on a set maintenance schedule. Essentially, all of your drink machines will have three separate maintenance schedules with daily, weekly, and monthly tasks assigned.

  • Daily: Taps, handles, and surfaces should be cleaned. That includes ice trays. For soda fountain equipment, the nozzles can be soaked in an appropriate cleanser overnight. The morning staff should then rinse the nozzles prior to replacing them.
  • Weekly: You’ll want to completely clean out your ice machine. This is also a great time to take stock of syrups, kegs, and other supplies. Check all connections to make sure they’re secure. Leaking lines should not be used. If they can be tightened to eliminate the leak, then flush the line prior to use.
  • Monthly: Flush the lines on every system. This is the best way to ensure that your lines are clear of contaminants and working properly. It is much easier to replace one faulty line than to replace an entire system. This process is a bit time consuming, but it is easy enough to master with a little training.

Investment and Maintenance are Key

When it comes to preventing malfunctions in your drink systems, the initial investment and ongoing maintenance are the two primary factors that will contribute most to your success. It can be frustrating to maintain, but it’s worth it in the end.

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How to Maintain a Soda Machine

The soda machine is an important component of any food service provider. They offer a quick, inexpensive way to expand the products available to your customers without requiring almost any additional work. However, many of these machines aren’t properly maintained. This makes them a health hazard and increases the risk that your equipment may fail long before you expected it to. Learning how to maintain a soda machine is quite straightforward.

Even the highest quality soda fountain equipment requires regular maintenance to run properly. This maintenance enables the machine to deliver the same quality product to every customer you serve. Put simply, maintaining your equipment protects your initial investment and ensures that customer satisfaction stays predictable. To help you do what is best for your business, here are easy steps to cleaning and maintaining your soda fountain equipment Los Angeles.

Cleaning your Machine

Cleaning the soda fountain should be a normal part of closing procedures. It ensures that the nozzles get cleaned daily, allowing your morning staff to start off fresh. It’s quick and easy. Here’s the daily cleaning routine.

Remove the nozzles from each dispenser.
Clean them thoroughly using warm, soapy water.
Let the nozzles soak in warm, soapy water.
While they are soaking, remove the spill tray and clean it out with warm, soapy water.
Rinse the spill tray and allow it air dry.
Remove the soaking nozzles, rinse them, and allow to air dry.

Don’t Forget to Let Your Soda Machine Dry

To ensure that all of this is done, many restaurants leave the nozzles to dry overnight. The morning staff then place the clean nozzles back onto the machine.

The weekly cleaning routine is a little more thorough, so you may want to save it for the middle of the week when business is slow. You should not try going through this routine while your restaurant is open. Here’s what is entailed.

  • Wash the diffusers in warm water.
  • Empty the ice chute.
  • Take a clean sponge soaked in warm water and wipe out the ice chute.

By doing this process after closing on a quiet weekday, you give your staff the time to do it right. The ice chute will dry and re-fill overnight.

How to Maintain a Soda Machine

Regularly cleaning the nozzles, diffusers, and ice chute is an important part of maintenance because your machine is less likely to experience clogging. However, that doesn’t mean we get to ignore the inner-workings of the machine. The syrup lines are the most crucial part that you can maintain yourself by simply flushing them about once a month.

Some restaurants choose to flush a syrup line every time the syrup has to be replaced. This ensures that the lines are being flushed frequently, but not every business has the excess staff to make this possible. Experts suggest flushing all of the lines at least once a month, so you can work it into the schedule regularly.

This is how you flush a syrup line.

  • Remove the syrup bags/boxes from the lines.
  • Place the intake end of the line and place it in a bucket of cleaning solution.
  • Secure the line in the cleaning solution if it is likely to fall out.
  • Dispense the cleaning solution through the syrup line until it runs clear.
  • Attach the intake end of the line to a bucket of clean, warm water.
  • Flush for several seconds to rinse out the cleaning solution.
  • Re-attach your syrups.
  • Dispense liquid through the nozzles until the soda is flowing normally.
  • Do a taste test to make sure the syrup is being effectively delivered through your clean line.

Your nozzles, spill tray, ice chute, and syrup lines are all relatively easy to maintain. If you find yourself struggling with more severe mechanical problems, then you should speak to the original manufacturer and have the problem diagnosed by a mechanic familiar with soda machines.

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