You may consider yourself just another technician, but, as a Service Manager in Texas I recommend to my technicians to watch your videos. You are very knowledgeable. I've been in the business for over 20 years and you have shown me a few things. Love your demeanor and work ethic. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the nice words bud! I will be going live on TH-cam this evening 9/13/21 @ 5:PM (pacific) to discuss my recent uploads and answer questions from emails, the live chat and TH-cam comments. Come over and check it out th-cam.com/video/jyfQ49s2Lm8/w-d-xo.html
Some of us aren't even in the HVAC industry and follow your content. I enjoy watching someone troubleshoot. And troubleshooting spans across many fields. Keep up the content.
I wish more people would get this in their heads. Especially companies that cheap out on gear or even tech. And wonders why it runs so poorly. It then starts to cost the company in down time or low productivity. Then have to buy the equipment again but in a higher quality. So it ends up costing them A LOT MORE 🙄
You are one-off-a-kind in this industry. I truly appreciate that you share your calls and process with us. As another field service technician, I have no shame saying I view you as a mentor in the HVAC field. Thanks for all the videos, thanks for all the training, and thanks for all the insights into the finer details of this industry and operating your own company.
As an ice machine technician, who represents Iceomatic, Manitowoc, Scotsman, Hoshizaki and Ice Tro. I agree with everything you did, and said in this video. You're legit.
Chris: "You need to do this maintenance so your ice machine works better" Customer: (Doesn't approve quote) ... Customer: "Now the ice machine isn't making regular ice" Chris: (Well, I don't know what you expected)
"Hey man, it works like this. I give you the first quote, you scoff at it and say you can't afford it, and walk away. Then later on, you contact me again and say it's even worse, and then I give you a second quote worse than the first, and you accept because now you have no choice. Either way, I get paid, one just costs you less money." Word from my boss who does AC repair. It's 100% true too. Like, they don't wanna pay to do maintenance, but then it gets worse and then suddenly they wanna have it repaired NOW and at any cost. Like, why couldn't ya just do that earlier when it wasn't an emergency! You wouldn't let a glass shard sit in your foot until it starts to rot, so why would you let a machine fall apart until it's broken?
I feel as if they denied it due to the fact they was trying to get a new icemachine but ended up not finding any so they ended up having to do the extra cost maintenance that they really didnt want before
Chris, you're an absolute diamond, mate. I wish I'd looked at the big picture many times over my career, I may not have made as many screwups as I did. Your attitude and philosophy are needed today. Thank you.
Great job! Very impressed. In 50 years of HVAC I never needed to do ice machines. Good thing as I don't think I would have survived this episode. Great instructional video!
I appreciate your videos. Its not so much about learning the Service Tech, its more about learning HOW you work. Thats whats interesting. The thoroughness (cleaning where people dont see), safety checks (double checking), relationship with customer (telling him truth as ugly as it may be), and being a professional (not having people just the area "because," let them do it when you are gone). Even when my profession is different, I learn how to be a professional, and you got lots of experience to learn from. Thank you for making these videos.
I will discuss this on my Livestream on TH-cam this evening 9/20/21 @ 5:PM (pacific) come over and check it out th-cam.com/video/GHCvsPQCU0I/w-d-xo.html
With this much ice, I don't expect everything going into drinks. I expect it more to be used to keep things cool. If this is all going into drinks, then i just don't know how many you Americans drink, as fuck this is about the same volume as my seven restaurants/bars combined.
@@user2C47 I will never understand the habit to water down everything cold you drink with ice. A standard order I used in the US was always - no ice. I hate if a coke taste like colored water
@@seanthiar - It's very simple. Ice is cheaper than the syrup. The workers are actually instructed to fill the cup with ice to at least 75% of the volume. I've had words with managers when I've requested 'light ice' and had half a cup of ice after finishing the drink. I personally consider it fraud.
You don't really understand what grows in an ice machine, do you? Most of the problem with the 'slime in the ice machine' isn't a health concern. The mold/algae is usually non-toxic. The main problem is clogging, ending up with garbage in your drinks, etc. Some point to e.coli or salmonella growth, but those tend to be warmer temperature bacteria. Yes, they can grow at temperatures as low as 4-6 C (39-42F), but their optimum growth temperatures tend to be over 20C. (68C) The acids in many drinks will generally damage most bacteria as well. Mostly, it's a sign of the workers not knowing what to do with it, and the managers would rather not be visible to the customers doing something as mundane as equipment maintenance. Weird, considering you'll see them helping with food prep, but it is what it is.
I dig the repositioning of the solenoid magnet at 17:22. Gotta keep the sponsors happy. Also, I love these videos. I learn things in each and every one. Chris is truly providing an invaluable resource to all of us techs out here.
Ice machines can get pretty nasty, they require maintenance. It doesn’t help if the costumer is too cheap to put money back into their profitably earning business. I cleaned two ice machines at a popular restaurant that sold $150-$200 dry aged steak plates. The dunk tanks I prepared for each machine’s parts looked like they had a couple of heads of lettuce chopped up in them from the algae they had. Gross, I wouldn’t want a glass of water from a place like that, much less a $200 plate of food. Don’t get me started on the really old semi hermetic rack they had with the shot corroded condensers either. Always losing compressors, multiple leaking circuits yet they don’t follow recommendations, always want the band aide and always bring you out with sky is falling emergencies at the most inconvenient times. Many businesses out there that don’t deserve their customer’s money.
Alright, so on these machines theres a sticker that says something like “no need to service” if i go past mcdonalds again ill go capture the picture. It was to do with one part of the machine, not the actual ice bin… but personally, i highly recommend to never order drinks with ice. Anywhere… i had regular servicing on ice machines for my last company, its tedious and very time consuming. The hygiene is important because youll just reintroduce a new bug into the box if you put the pieces down on a dirty unsanitised surface… i was always having to get the water introduction rate balanced so the ice formed evenly, and the bridge of course. And in 3 months do it again. Going back to the sticker, we had to tell the owner of mcdonalds the machine has to be entered into his scheduled maintenance after finding this issue, which did catch him off guard, its all fine now, just more work for everyone, and trying to fit in the stripdown clean time of 3 hours per unit in a busy 24 hour restaurant is a nightmare…
I'm not even remotely in this field anymore but for some reason I still watch these videos just out of curiosity. About 8 years ago I was a maintenance persons for a large bar and restaurant in a building that was over 100 years old. I was constantly battling the AC units on the roof and the ice maker. Ahhh those were the days. I am somewhat of a problem solver and out HVAC guy was super busy so he was happy to help me over the phone try to fix things before he came out.
I love the way you practice everything you preach in your closing words. You are an inspiration to all! Thanks for sharing the service calls with us! This was a crazy one🙂
I don't do any HVAC work beyond changing out the thermostat in my own house and changing filters - don't even have AC!. This channel is fascinating and I'm hooked.
As a chef its always fun to see your side of the job and I am always interested in how the machines work that I use all day. Thank you for your content! You are a great mechanic and a great person! Greets from Germany!
In the past, when I worked on a near end of life machine that I felt the cost of the customary repair was approaching an excessive amount, I would offer the option of using a pinch off tool to replace the low pressure control. Had to let the customer know that it this isn't an ideal permanent repair, but it can extend the life of the machine so they can begin budgeting for a new one when an inevitable failure happens down the road. I've had several machines go years longer and fail later on from another issue.
Not the best You say? You are without a doubt (at Least) one of the Best Commercial AC Technicians ever ! I have been to AC/HEATING School with the Military. Ran a Shop for 2 years in Korea , and Licensed in the USA. I admit that was back in the 80's ,but I really admire Your understanding of this Field .
Hello from Beckley WV. keep up the good work Chris I have been in this industry for 23 years now and I enjoy your videos and I have my new apprentice watching them as well.
you are not a normal surface technician, only you are able to explain your train of touch like you do. And beside a great service technician you are a person al round, trying to stay out of political discourse in this tough environment is not an easy task to do.
I think I would have checked those capacitors in the back of the machine there while the machine was out from the wall. Thanks Chris for another great video. :)
I see quite a few comments below regarding the cleanliness of ice machines in eating establishments. Most of those comments are, sadly, accurate. Keep in mind, however, that there are a few of us out there in those minimum-wage positions that really do care about the quality of what we serve to our customers, and some of us actually know how to perform a proper cleaning (including some managers!) and we do so without a technician. How can you, as the customer (or the food service employee), know for sure? The absolute best way is to look at a few individual ice cubes. They should be water-clear, fully-formed, and consistent from batch to batch. Cloudy ice is usually the very first warning sign. You're also spot-on about doing random acts of kindness, or even simply making the decision to be nice... Let someone know their brake light is burned out, hold the door for someone, say "please" and "thank you." You don't have to pay off their mortgage to change someone's entire day - the little things count, and take little to no effort. A smile and a friendly word can completely change the mood of someone that's going through a rough patch. I can't tell you how many times I've been stressed to the point of walking out of work early - and one interaction with a customer leaves me thinking, "Gosh, she/he was a really nice person" and it helps me face the rest of my shift with a better attitude.
Congratulations, Chris, on your continued TH-cam success! I still have no idea why the Almighty Algorithm put your videos on my feed, but I'm glad it happened. I've learned a lot more about HVACR from your videos than I knew before, and I find myself taking a critical look at every unit we have in the workplace as I go about my daily routines in the hopes I can spot a problem before it becomes major. I'd rather be proactive than reactive, or as the old saying goes, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." In the day and age of TH-cam channels cranking up the "cheese factor" for more clicks, or even clickbaiting, it's always refreshing to see someone bucking that trend and giving us clear, concise information in a humble way that makes us feel as if we're having a friendly conversation at the kitchen table. I appreciate that in a YT Creator, and I reward that behavior with subscriptions and "community interaction." (Perhaps a bit too much community interaction, as I tend to ramble on -a little bit- way too much, but TH-cam is pretty much my only social outlet since I have two jobs...)
Thanks bud, I appreciate you recognizing the way I prefer to run my channel, I try to not jump on the band wagon of doing things to get clicks and likes! I will discuss the on my livestream this evening 9/13/21 @ 5:PM (pacific) on TH-cam , come over and check it out th-cam.com/video/jyfQ49s2Lm8/w-d-xo.html
There's a national chain fast-food restaurant in town I won't eat at because of an incident that happened ~20 years ago. I was sitting in the dining room, and observed that a mop bucket had been left unattended in the dining room. (I can't imagine any restaurant where this is acceptable.) But that wasn't the problem. The mop handle had fallen over, across an exit doorway. But that wasn't the problem, either. One of the employees STEPPED OVER the mop handle to go out the exit door to bring an order to a drive-thru customer. I get it -- picking it up at that point could result in contamination of the customer's order. But that wasn't the problem. No, the "straw that broke the camel's back" that when the employee came in, he stepped the handle again and went into the kitchen, leaving the handle lying across the egress. Oh, and the tile floor had that persistent, greasy film buildup that some restaurants with poor cleaning practices get. This all points to systemic training and management problems in that restaurant. Nope, even after 20 years, I'm not going there.
Im not in your industry. But what I like about your videos is your ability to logically troubleshoot the problems. I work in IT and am known in my circles as the guy to go to when you cant figure an issue out. Im not super book smart and dont know everything. But I have the ability to look at an issue, quickly and logically process information given to me and gathered, then fix the issue or point the real experts in the right direction. Some people just cant logically think problems through. They are smart people but their brains just dont work that way.
Go to a professional bicycle store and get a valve tool. Use that to tighten or replace the valve. It also has parts to retread the internal and external. You may not be able to use external threads because they are for bike valves.
having begun my career as a commercial fridge tech,coming across these ice machines, really makes me avoid ordering a drink from a restaurant!! people have no idea , blech :(
Your water distributors that you suspected to be plugged in the beginning were put together wrong. The holes on the inner distributor tube should have the holes facing up. A good way to know if it is up is to look at the ends and it has two flat spots on each end it has a dimple that sticks out. Make sure the dimple is facing up and then you will know it is in rite. That will also cause your ice to be uneven as it distributes your water across the evaporator in usually 4 thick streams. A faster easy way to test your pressure switch for harvest and your timer is to turn off the water to get your pressure to go down faster. It's not a bad thing to adjust your timer just test it to see if the time is accurate.
Also, that timer (timer #2) next to the pressure switch was more than likely good. Can check it by confirming voltage to that pressure switch after 6 minutes. Helps protect compressor like in this case, with a faulty pressure switch..may have saved the customer some down time. When sweating that drier out, should have started by removing the outlet end first. That way you don't loose your nitrogen purge to the outlet end, by removing the inlet end first. Enjoy your videos tho..keep up the good work 👍
its better to have a mistake with a novice, that way the novice understands that its possible, what it looks like when you go wrong, and most importantly, has an understanding of how to deal with it.
when the spray bar sags in the middle, you can stack change up under the center or washers to support it, i don't know why there isn't a support made into the plastic there.
@@russellmurphy3835 got several that have made it longer with the 37 cents under the center than they did originally. :) poor original design calls for innovation on your part.
Those pressure controls are factory set. Ice omatic uses the same one for all there machines A word of advise not that you did but you never want to put a high PSI pressure test on a ICE Omatic the bellows in that pressure control will blow with 200 psi of nitrogen So if a tech is trying to find a leak on one and he puts a huge pressure test on it he will find a leak that he made in that p-control and sure enough a recall will in the way because he will think he found the leak when in reality he made it lol I also thought it was 45 psi to intimate the timed portion of freeze I could be wrong though it’s been a couple of years since I was doing ice omatic every day at Starbucks they all they use lol Great video I love Ice- Omatic the only machine that will make ice broke
@@HVACRVIDEOS you are a working man. Its great to watch your videos.....but i understand if you don't put a video out due to work load or family time. I look forward to them. Sunday mornings and Thursday afternoons.
Thanks bud!! I will be going live on TH-cam this evening 9/27/21 @ 5:PM (pacific) to discuss my recent uploads and answer questions from emails and the Livechat, come over and check it out th-cam.com/video/lWwuolBnxGc/w-d-xo.html
Watching your videos makes me want to go to school and do this type of work. However being almost 30 and am currently in the automotive field I don't know that I should make a jump.
I could be wrong but if you order the low pressure control according to the M# you won’t need to adjust it . All the ones I’ve done I’ve never had to adjust it and I order it by m#. Ice O matic ice machines are notorious for evaporator plates separating , and leaking low pressure controls . New style Ice O matics are trash 🗑. If you’re ever on a pinch for a timer Johnstone carries those of course not OEM but they work well. Good video enjoyed 😀
@@MariosACandRefrigeration most Ice O matic low pressure controls are set to close between 25 psig and 28psig although it really depends on the model number of the unit to determine the compressor capacity, but ball park 25-28 if I had to chose a number it would be 27 psig . You can hook up a peanut style switch with a tee that will work , or bypass the the low pressure switch and set all the pins at the timer to the on position that will give you around 17 minutes of freeze time 😉. There you have it 😎
The timer by the start components is a 6 minute compressor on timer. There should be a second extended freeze timer in by the contactor area to adjust for thickness.
Probably stupid question, but I never brazed copper, why do you blow the oxygen on it afterwards? I assume it's to cool it, but doesn't that blast of oxygen contribute to it oxidizing more? Or is that what you are trying to do, oxidize it to build up a protective layer? Normally you want to keep the oxygen off the materials, when you weld anyway. Quick FYI, silver oxide is actually conductive and that's why you will see some electrical contacts with a silver plating. Some silver colored contacts will be tungsten for arcing / heat resistance, but non-arcing silver looking contacts will normally be silver plated for better conductivity.
Ice-O-Matics alway reminded me of every other ice machines left over parts from prior years production,not really a scottsman,not really a manitowac,not a hazi,like they were built with surplus parts!
If you ever make it out to the east coast, I work for an ice company. We make and bag about 100k a pound a day. I’ll show you our facility. We are the largest smallest ice company in North America if that makes sense. I think it would be a pretty cool video
Learn something new everyday, I had no clue a ice machine was so complicated and so much refrigerant in it. Makes a normal a/c single stage unit at a home look silly stupid by comparison.
Some people need to get this in their heads. With vital stuff in life/equipment in work. Do it once and it right. Don’t cheap out on gear and maintenance. It will save you so much time and hassle ie, $$$.
4:40 Was that ADR? Replaced dialogue? That was slick, sounded good. P.S. I gotta remember to stop getting ice in my drinks... I don't imagine most HVACR techs are like Chris when it comes to the cleanliness, and obviously not the restaurant operators
As in IT service provider, I'll often find myself troubleshooting a computer that's approaching the end of its service life. In that case, I'll give estimates for both repair and replacement, with the suggestion that replacement may be the better option. Another thing I try to do is give the customer estimated service life when installing a new machine. This helps them to plan and budget for eventual replacement. The time to plan for replacement is when you install it.
Different budgets. The manager on site is only concerned with kitchen staff budget. (There’s also the thing where kitchen staff time potentially translates directly into not having the prep done on time, which might cost you more than service tech rates cost)
You may consider yourself just another technician, but, as a Service Manager in Texas I recommend to my technicians to watch your videos. You are very knowledgeable. I've been in the business for over 20 years and you have shown me a few things. Love your demeanor and work ethic. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the nice words bud! I will be going live on TH-cam this evening 9/13/21 @ 5:PM (pacific) to discuss my recent uploads and answer questions from emails, the live chat and TH-cam comments. Come over and check it out th-cam.com/video/jyfQ49s2Lm8/w-d-xo.html
Some of us aren't even in the HVAC industry and follow your content. I enjoy watching someone troubleshoot. And troubleshooting spans across many fields. Keep up the content.
Been a service tech for 18 years and still picking up new information when I watch your stuff awesome job
After dealing with software all day, it's nice to see someone do real work and troubleshooting.
one of the best ways I've heard it put was simple
"Do the Maintenance today, or do the repairs tomorrow"
stay safe out there Chris
I wish more people would get this in their heads. Especially companies that cheap out on gear or even tech. And wonders why it runs so poorly. It then starts to cost the company in down time or low productivity. Then have to buy the equipment again but in a higher quality. So it ends up costing them A LOT MORE 🙄
You are one-off-a-kind in this industry. I truly appreciate that you share your calls and process with us. As another field service technician, I have no shame saying I view you as a mentor in the HVAC field.
Thanks for all the videos, thanks for all the training, and thanks for all the insights into the finer details of this industry and operating your own company.
As an ice machine technician, who represents Iceomatic, Manitowoc, Scotsman, Hoshizaki and Ice Tro. I agree with everything you did, and said in this video. You're legit.
where can I get some hands on training ?
@@ethanolavarria6092 the factories hold classes. You can find them on their websites
@@robertmoore1472 I looked and everything offered was online.
@@robertmoore1472 or classes passed already
Chris: "You need to do this maintenance so your ice machine works better"
Customer: (Doesn't approve quote)
...
Customer: "Now the ice machine isn't making regular ice"
Chris: (Well, I don't know what you expected)
Story of my damn life
Lol
"Hey man, it works like this. I give you the first quote, you scoff at it and say you can't afford it, and walk away. Then later on, you contact me again and say it's even worse, and then I give you a second quote worse than the first, and you accept because now you have no choice. Either way, I get paid, one just costs you less money."
Word from my boss who does AC repair. It's 100% true too. Like, they don't wanna pay to do maintenance, but then it gets worse and then suddenly they wanna have it repaired NOW and at any cost. Like, why couldn't ya just do that earlier when it wasn't an emergency! You wouldn't let a glass shard sit in your foot until it starts to rot, so why would you let a machine fall apart until it's broken?
It worked before you touched it.
I feel as if they denied it due to the fact they was trying to get a new icemachine but ended up not finding any so they ended up having to do the extra cost maintenance that they really didnt want before
Chris, you're an absolute diamond, mate. I wish I'd looked at the big picture many times over my career, I may not have made as many screwups as I did. Your attitude and philosophy are needed today. Thank you.
Great job! Very impressed. In 50 years of HVAC I never needed to do ice machines. Good thing as I don't think I would have survived this episode. Great instructional video!
I wanna know what the hell they were doing to the front of that thing… looks like Bubba had some anger management with it lol
' work! g'damn you'
Percussive maintenance
In my experience people use the ice paddles to smack the machine to loosen the ice inside. Instead of, you know, poking the ice with the ice paddle.
Poor machine.
I appreciate your videos. Its not so much about learning the Service Tech, its more about learning HOW you work. Thats whats interesting. The thoroughness (cleaning where people dont see), safety checks (double checking), relationship with customer (telling him truth as ugly as it may be), and being a professional (not having people just the area "because," let them do it when you are gone). Even when my profession is different, I learn how to be a professional, and you got lots of experience to learn from. Thank you for making these videos.
I will discuss this on my Livestream on TH-cam this evening 9/20/21 @ 5:PM (pacific) come over and check it out th-cam.com/video/GHCvsPQCU0I/w-d-xo.html
Great job , content, technology .Great person 😂🎉
I have never done any HVAC work, but I find myself watching these videos. Great stuff.
I bet you never have ice in your drinks Chris, I wouldn't after seeing the state of that machine!
With this much ice, I don't expect everything going into drinks. I expect it more to be used to keep things cool.
If this is all going into drinks, then i just don't know how many you Americans drink, as fuck this is about the same volume as my seven restaurants/bars combined.
It's pretty standard for a normal drink here in the US to be 60-75% full of ice, by volume.
@@user2C47 I will never understand the habit to water down everything cold you drink with ice. A standard order I used in the US was always - no ice. I hate if a coke taste like colored water
@@seanthiar - It's very simple. Ice is cheaper than the syrup. The workers are actually instructed to fill the cup with ice to at least 75% of the volume. I've had words with managers when I've requested 'light ice' and had half a cup of ice after finishing the drink. I personally consider it fraud.
You don't really understand what grows in an ice machine, do you? Most of the problem with the 'slime in the ice machine' isn't a health concern. The mold/algae is usually non-toxic. The main problem is clogging, ending up with garbage in your drinks, etc. Some point to e.coli or salmonella growth, but those tend to be warmer temperature bacteria. Yes, they can grow at temperatures as low as 4-6 C (39-42F), but their optimum growth temperatures tend to be over 20C. (68C) The acids in many drinks will generally damage most bacteria as well. Mostly, it's a sign of the workers not knowing what to do with it, and the managers would rather not be visible to the customers doing something as mundane as equipment maintenance. Weird, considering you'll see them helping with food prep, but it is what it is.
Kudo's for watering the plant.
Kudo's taken back for giving the plant thermal shock.
I dig the repositioning of the solenoid magnet at 17:22. Gotta keep the sponsors happy. Also, I love these videos. I learn things in each and every one. Chris is truly providing an invaluable resource to all of us techs out here.
they didn't approve a quote TO CLEAN AN ICE MACHINE? I know it's harsh but some people really deserve to go out of business...
^^^^^^^^^^^^ already i saw like 7 issues first 3 minutes
Ice machines can get pretty nasty, they require maintenance. It doesn’t help if the costumer is too cheap to put money back into their profitably earning business. I cleaned two ice machines at a popular restaurant that sold $150-$200 dry aged steak plates. The dunk tanks I prepared for each machine’s parts looked like they had a couple of heads of lettuce chopped up in them from the algae they had. Gross, I wouldn’t want a glass of water from a place like that, much less a $200 plate of food. Don’t get me started on the really old semi hermetic rack they had with the shot corroded condensers either. Always losing compressors, multiple leaking circuits yet they don’t follow recommendations, always want the band aide and always bring you out with sky is falling emergencies at the most inconvenient times. Many businesses out there that don’t deserve their customer’s money.
Alright, so on these machines theres a sticker that says something like “no need to service” if i go past mcdonalds again ill go capture the picture. It was to do with one part of the machine, not the actual ice bin… but personally, i highly recommend to never order drinks with ice. Anywhere… i had regular servicing on ice machines for my last company, its tedious and very time consuming. The hygiene is important because youll just reintroduce a new bug into the box if you put the pieces down on a dirty unsanitised surface… i was always having to get the water introduction rate balanced so the ice formed evenly, and the bridge of course. And in 3 months do it again.
Going back to the sticker, we had to tell the owner of mcdonalds the machine has to be entered into his scheduled maintenance after finding this issue, which did catch him off guard, its all fine now, just more work for everyone, and trying to fit in the stripdown clean time of 3 hours per unit in a busy 24 hour restaurant is a nightmare…
Why there has to be health departments. Required inspections every 3 months.
It’s likely they had an ice machine cleaning company corporate has a deal with
I'm not even remotely in this field anymore but for some reason I still watch these videos just out of curiosity. About 8 years ago I was a maintenance persons for a large bar and restaurant in a building that was over 100 years old. I was constantly battling the AC units on the roof and the ice maker. Ahhh those were the days. I am somewhat of a problem solver and out HVAC guy was super busy so he was happy to help me over the phone try to fix things before he came out.
I love the way you practice everything you preach in your closing words. You are an inspiration to all! Thanks for sharing the service calls with us! This was a crazy one🙂
I don't do any HVAC work beyond changing out the thermostat in my own house and changing filters - don't even have AC!. This channel is fascinating and I'm hooked.
I must be tired - when I think it was funny that the part with the most delayed delivery was the timer.
Thank you for another great video!
As a chef its always fun to see your side of the job and I am always interested in how the machines work that I use all day.
Thank you for your content! You are a great mechanic and a great person!
Greets from Germany!
I remember the first time I forgot my solenoid magnets for an ice machine. Went to cut and got a pretty high pressure surprise
Good lesson learnt. Take care!
You're hands down my favorite hvac TH-camr ❤️
I’m way out in PA and your videos help me everyday ! You’re pretty much a wizard
i never get ice in my drink anymore, now that I clean ice machines...
What part of PA? I'm near Philly.
@@mark351 near Williamsport
In the past, when I worked on a near end of life machine that I felt the cost of the customary repair was approaching an excessive amount, I would offer the option of using a pinch off tool to replace the low pressure control. Had to let the customer know that it this isn't an ideal permanent repair, but it can extend the life of the machine so they can begin budgeting for a new one when an inevitable failure happens down the road. I've had several machines go years longer and fail later on from another issue.
Hey, your hose would shrink too if it was stuck in an ice machine.
My shrunk and then it stayed that way lol 😂
"Normal" service technician. Dude, you taught me so much applicable information and thank you for it.
Not the best You say? You are without a doubt (at Least) one of the Best Commercial AC Technicians ever ! I have been to AC/HEATING School with the Military. Ran a Shop for 2 years in Korea , and Licensed in the USA. I admit that was back in the 80's ,but I really admire Your understanding of this Field .
You are a great teacher and also a great human being Chris! I look up to you, keep it up brother!
Hello from Beckley WV. keep up the good work Chris I have been in this industry for 23 years now and I enjoy your videos and I have my new apprentice watching them as well.
Your an excellent technician and a superb customer technician that's why people call you back time and time again! Well done
you are not a normal surface technician, only you are able to explain your train of touch like you do. And beside a great service technician you are a person al round, trying to stay out of political discourse in this tough environment is not an easy task to do.
I think I would have checked those capacitors in the back of the machine there while the machine was out from the wall.
Thanks Chris for another great video. :)
Great content. All the best of luck to you.
We need more people like you, thanks.
im in the IT field but i can tell you would make a great teacher and produce students of great caliber...
I like the fact I learn stuff on nearly every video.
I see quite a few comments below regarding the cleanliness of ice machines in eating establishments.
Most of those comments are, sadly, accurate.
Keep in mind, however, that there are a few of us out there in those minimum-wage positions that really do care about the quality of what we serve to our customers, and some of us actually know how to perform a proper cleaning (including some managers!) and we do so without a technician.
How can you, as the customer (or the food service employee), know for sure? The absolute best way is to look at a few individual ice cubes. They should be water-clear, fully-formed, and consistent from batch to batch. Cloudy ice is usually the very first warning sign.
You're also spot-on about doing random acts of kindness, or even simply making the decision to be nice... Let someone know their brake light is burned out, hold the door for someone, say "please" and "thank you." You don't have to pay off their mortgage to change someone's entire day - the little things count, and take little to no effort. A smile and a friendly word can completely change the mood of someone that's going through a rough patch. I can't tell you how many times I've been stressed to the point of walking out of work early - and one interaction with a customer leaves me thinking, "Gosh, she/he was a really nice person" and it helps me face the rest of my shift with a better attitude.
Congratulations, Chris, on your continued TH-cam success! I still have no idea why the Almighty Algorithm put your videos on my feed, but I'm glad it happened. I've learned a lot more about HVACR from your videos than I knew before, and I find myself taking a critical look at every unit we have in the workplace as I go about my daily routines in the hopes I can spot a problem before it becomes major. I'd rather be proactive than reactive, or as the old saying goes, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
In the day and age of TH-cam channels cranking up the "cheese factor" for more clicks, or even clickbaiting, it's always refreshing to see someone bucking that trend and giving us clear, concise information in a humble way that makes us feel as if we're having a friendly conversation at the kitchen table. I appreciate that in a YT Creator, and I reward that behavior with subscriptions and "community interaction." (Perhaps a bit too much community interaction, as I tend to ramble on -a little bit- way too much, but TH-cam is pretty much my only social outlet since I have two jobs...)
Thanks bud, I appreciate you recognizing the way I prefer to run my channel, I try to not jump on the band wagon of doing things to get clicks and likes! I will discuss the on my livestream this evening 9/13/21 @ 5:PM (pacific) on TH-cam , come over and check it out th-cam.com/video/jyfQ49s2Lm8/w-d-xo.html
There's a national chain fast-food restaurant in town I won't eat at because of an incident that happened ~20 years ago.
I was sitting in the dining room, and observed that a mop bucket had been left unattended in the dining room. (I can't imagine any restaurant where this is acceptable.)
But that wasn't the problem. The mop handle had fallen over, across an exit doorway.
But that wasn't the problem, either. One of the employees STEPPED OVER the mop handle to go out the exit door to bring an order to a drive-thru customer. I get it -- picking it up at that point could result in contamination of the customer's order.
But that wasn't the problem. No, the "straw that broke the camel's back" that when the employee came in, he stepped the handle again and went into the kitchen, leaving the handle lying across the egress.
Oh, and the tile floor had that persistent, greasy film buildup that some restaurants with poor cleaning practices get.
This all points to systemic training and management problems in that restaurant. Nope, even after 20 years, I'm not going there.
Dude you are the best, cause you are the You in you tube..please stay you and stay strong..we love your content
Thank you for always being straight about what you do. And for reminding us to be kind to one another which is we need so much. 👍🙏
Im not in your industry. But what I like about your videos is your ability to logically troubleshoot the problems. I work in IT and am known in my circles as the guy to go to when you cant figure an issue out. Im not super book smart and dont know everything. But I have the ability to look at an issue, quickly and logically process information given to me and gathered, then fix the issue or point the real experts in the right direction. Some people just cant logically think problems through. They are smart people but their brains just dont work that way.
I love your attention to the small details.
Been watching you from before but your videos are recommended by our profs at my trade school now. Cheers :)
I like that. Mistakes are always made. What is important is how we grow from them.
This is what we do HVAC/R !
Thanks for the video!
🥃🥃🍺🍺🍺🍿🏌🏻♀️
Stay safe.
Retired (werk'n)keyboard super tech. Wear your safety glasses.
Sono un semplice appassionato di elettronica e meccanica ed è bello impare cose nuove grazie ai tuoi video !
Nice, thorough, intelligent service and explanations, as always.
Go to a professional bicycle store and get a valve tool. Use that to tighten or replace the valve. It also has parts to retread the internal and external. You may not be able to use external threads because they are for bike valves.
Great explanation of your diagnosis. Sporlan done good sponsoring you.
Great video as always and every video I learn more, love the song, a great addition.
having begun my career as a commercial fridge tech,coming across these ice machines, really makes me avoid ordering a drink from a restaurant!! people have no idea , blech :(
i just watched a 38minutes video on an ice machine in class. i think i learned more in this video then i have in the last month
I love finding customers with Ice O Matic units. Guaranteed money for years to come.
You’re awesome brother. Maybe you are a normal technician but you’re a good human being.
Im a tech doing commercial ice as well. I found this video helpful. thx!
You always go the extra mile it’s great to see such quality work 👍👍👍👍👍👍
I love the Ice-O-Matic 's....... Simple electro mechanical.. Less to break!
Did you say “there goes that coke nose”? 😂 great video!
Ha ha yep I always say that when my nose itches.....
I have no idea what half of the things you say even mean but your job looks so cool and interesting
Thanks bud
Nice to see real life and noted the dryer that could have been cut but great keep on giving it real..
Your water distributors that you suspected to be plugged in the beginning were put together wrong. The holes on the inner distributor tube should have the holes facing up. A good way to know if it is up is to look at the ends and it has two flat spots on each end it has a dimple that sticks out. Make sure the dimple is facing up and then you will know it is in rite. That will also cause your ice to be uneven as it distributes your water across the evaporator in usually 4 thick streams. A faster easy way to test your pressure switch for harvest and your timer is to turn off the water to get your pressure to go down faster. It's not a bad thing to adjust your timer just test it to see if the time is accurate.
Also, that timer (timer #2) next to the pressure switch was more than likely good. Can check it by confirming voltage to that pressure switch after 6 minutes. Helps protect compressor like in this case, with a faulty pressure switch..may have saved the customer some down time. When sweating that drier out, should have started by removing the outlet end first. That way you don't loose your nitrogen purge to the outlet end, by removing the inlet end first. Enjoy your videos tho..keep up the good work 👍
Indeed your right Chris we do need more kindness these days
Thanks for helping chage carriers and ger into a challenging and rewarding trade
its better to have a mistake with a novice, that way the novice understands that its possible, what it looks like when you go wrong, and most importantly, has an understanding of how to deal with it.
when the spray bar sags in the middle, you can stack change up under the center or washers to support it, i don't know why there isn't a support made into the plastic there.
Yeah but that’s not the correct fix. Replace it, Anything else is a temporary fix.
@@russellmurphy3835 got several that have made it longer with the 37 cents under the center than they did originally. :) poor original design calls for innovation on your part.
@@mattlocklin6471 - Even better, use pre 1982 pennies, and maybe an old silver dime, and you'll also be adding an antibacterial to the area :)
Pay now or pay later, the issues won't go away on there own.
Those pressure controls are factory set. Ice omatic uses the same one for all there machines
A word of advise not that you did but you never want to put a high PSI pressure test on a ICE Omatic the bellows in that pressure control will blow with 200 psi of nitrogen
So if a tech is trying to find a leak on one and he puts a huge pressure test on it he will find a leak that he made in that p-control and sure enough a recall will in the way because he will think he found the leak when in reality he made it lol
I also thought it was 45 psi to intimate the timed portion of freeze I could be wrong though it’s been a couple of years since I was doing ice omatic every day at Starbucks they all they use lol
Great video I love Ice- Omatic the only machine that will make ice broke
5 P's take effect in my life
Proper
Preparation
Prevents
Poor
Performance
Ahhhhh. My reminder its Thursday......HVACR Videos
I try to stay consistent
@@HVACRVIDEOS you are a working man. Its great to watch your videos.....but i understand if you don't put a video out due to work load or family time. I look forward to them. Sunday mornings and Thursday afternoons.
I love the music you put in some of these vids
Good job Chris, stay happy.
I'm at 13 minutes in and I've never been so claustrophobic watching one of your videos
Just saw this one ..::you were in the middle of the pandemic and still just as rock steady
I've never worked on those cube ones but I work on the nugget follett machines and the flake machines all the time. Very different machines.
I work on those a lot too. The cubers I work on don't have remote condensers though
Yoooo this vid is sick new favourite channel
Thanks bud!! I will be going live on TH-cam this evening 9/27/21 @ 5:PM (pacific) to discuss my recent uploads and answer questions from emails and the Livechat, come over and check it out th-cam.com/video/lWwuolBnxGc/w-d-xo.html
Watching your videos makes me want to go to school and do this type of work.
However being almost 30 and am currently in the automotive field I don't know that I should make a jump.
Best on this type contract. Please don't stop
That was silly,all you needed was a T.but thanks for sharing we are not too far of.
I would like to buy that hat. lol
I could be wrong but if you order the low pressure control according to the M# you won’t need to adjust it . All the ones I’ve done I’ve never had to adjust it and I order it by m#. Ice O matic ice machines are notorious for evaporator plates separating , and leaking low pressure controls . New style Ice O matics are trash 🗑. If you’re ever on a pinch for a timer Johnstone carries those of course not OEM but they work well. Good video enjoyed 😀
at what pressure is it set for to close,and could you abandon the bad switch add a tee and hook up the new control ? thanks for the info Felipe.
@@MariosACandRefrigeration most Ice O matic low pressure controls are set to close between 25 psig and 28psig although it really depends on the model number of the unit to determine the compressor capacity, but ball park 25-28 if I had to chose a number it would be 27 psig . You can hook up a peanut style switch with a tee that will work , or bypass the the low pressure switch and set all the pins at the timer to the on position that will give you around 17 minutes of freeze time 😉. There you have it 😎
@@philltafolla thank you and saludos from San Antonio tx.
@@MariosACandRefrigeration saludos 🖖🏼
The timer by the start components is a 6 minute compressor on timer. There should be a second extended freeze timer in by the contactor area to adjust for thickness.
14:30 Very cool brazing montage!
It's like those crazy kitchen shows... IT'S EFFING FILTHY!!!! CLOSE THE PLACE DOWN!!
HA. nice job yo.
thanks for sharing your info with us. i use your info to help me with the ice machines at the casino i work at. you are appreciated.
Probably stupid question, but I never brazed copper, why do you blow the oxygen on it afterwards? I assume it's to cool it, but doesn't that blast of oxygen contribute to it oxidizing more? Or is that what you are trying to do, oxidize it to build up a protective layer? Normally you want to keep the oxygen off the materials, when you weld anyway.
Quick FYI, silver oxide is actually conductive and that's why you will see some electrical contacts with a silver plating. Some silver colored contacts will be tungsten for arcing / heat resistance, but non-arcing silver looking contacts will normally be silver plated for better conductivity.
Ice-O-Matics alway reminded me of every other ice machines left over parts from prior years production,not really a scottsman,not really a manitowac,not a hazi,like they were built with surplus parts!
My personal favorite ice machine
by watching this video i remember to change our filter soon.
we clean our ice machine (Manitowoc) weekly.
with all the money spent on service calls they could of just bought a new machine
Probably
I wanna know what he is charging per hour
Not with these big units.
If you ever make it out to the east coast, I work for an ice company. We make and bag about 100k a pound a day. I’ll show you our facility. We are the largest smallest ice company in North America if that makes sense. I think it would be a pretty cool video
It must be Thursday ... Lol ... Good vid , lots of info ...
Learn something new everyday, I had no clue a ice machine was so complicated and so much refrigerant in it. Makes a normal a/c single stage unit at a home look silly stupid by comparison.
Some people need to get this in their heads. With vital stuff in life/equipment in work. Do it once and it right. Don’t cheap out on gear and maintenance. It will save you so much time and hassle ie, $$$.
Those machines are notorious for grid seperation as well.
Nice post commentary^^ Barely noticeable until you don't notice a difference in voice quality with different positions.
4:40 Was that ADR? Replaced dialogue? That was slick, sounded good.
P.S. I gotta remember to stop getting ice in my drinks... I don't imagine most HVACR techs are like Chris when it comes to the cleanliness, and obviously not the restaurant operators
Hope the volume of ice dilutes any pathogens 🤞🏻
Don't starve your gut biome
The mold wasn't in the bin, tho.
I try not to think about what I've seen in these videos when eating out.
As in IT service provider, I'll often find myself troubleshooting a computer that's approaching the end of its service life. In that case, I'll give estimates for both repair and replacement, with the suggestion that replacement may be the better option.
Another thing I try to do is give the customer estimated service life when installing a new machine. This helps them to plan and budget for eventual replacement. The time to plan for replacement is when you install it.
your music is better than others :-)
Amazing that they weren't willing to pay kitchen-staff labor rates to empty the machine, so paid service-tech labor rate instead.
Different budgets. The manager on site is only concerned with kitchen staff budget.
(There’s also the thing where kitchen staff time potentially translates directly into not having the prep done on time, which might cost you more than service tech rates cost)
@@JasperJanssen fair enough, I suppose.
Chris stay cool man !