When to call a technician
For a full preventive maintenance program, or the moment you notice a unit running constantly, icing up unexpectedly, or holding temperature poorly — catching it before a full breakdown is almost always cheaper and less disruptive.
Why commercial units fail faster without maintenance than home appliances
A commercial kitchen's air carries far more grease and airborne particulate than a typical home kitchen, which clogs condenser coils faster and makes monthly (not yearly) coil cleaning a real requirement rather than a nice-to-have. Doors on walk-ins and reach-ins also open far more often during a shift than a home refrigerator door, which puts more ongoing stress on door gaskets and the unit's ability to hold temperature.
A practical maintenance routine by frequency
- Daily: wipe down gaskets and check they're sealing fully; note any unusual noise or frost patterns.
- Weekly: check that condenser fan vents aren't blocked by boxes, bags or storage.
- Monthly: clean condenser coils on reach-in and walk-in units — grease buildup here is the single biggest preventable cause of a unit running constantly or failing outright.
- Quarterly: check door gasket seal quality on all units and replace any that are cracking or no longer sealing tightly.
- Twice yearly (minimum): schedule a full preventive maintenance visit on ice machines specifically — scale buildup from hard water (see our hard water guide) affects commercial ice machines faster than almost any other equipment given their water throughput.
What a down unit actually costs
We won't quote a specific dollar figure without real data for your business, but the practical cost of a down walk-in or ice machine during service isn't just the repair — it's lost inventory, rescheduled deliveries, and in some cases a forced menu change for the shift. That's the real argument for preventive maintenance over reactive repair: the maintenance visit is predictable and scheduled on your terms; the breakdown isn't.
