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Each one is different, due to water conditions and environment, I have some that look immaculate after a few months of service and some that look terrible after a month of service. You have to judge it and act accordingly, I am in agreement of every 6 months minimum.

As others have said, water quality, filter changes, and nearby conditions / food prep are hugely important in how an ice machine performs and needs to be serviced.

Check the manuf. spec on cleaning, many have "clean" cycles, which will allow the descaling agent you introduce to continually circulate through the system until you change the cycle. While the descaling agent is running, blow out the condenser coil, clean fan, check covers, drainage, etc... Make sure bin is empty and sanitized, usually flexible bristle brush both drains, or combo drain with sanitizer and after purge, let the flush carry out. Rinse thoroughly. Always discard first two harvests of ice after cleaning. The newer bins with 'AgION' or equivalent are showing very good resistance and have been super easy to clean.

does anyone have a good link or pdf instructions to cleaning? I have the pdf instruction manuel for the ones I am going to be working on but looking for some more info. Also Do you clean the drain tubes with a brush ?
Thanks

Agree with what others are saying, depends on enviroment, water, amout of ice used and what system has for slim, mold prevention. Yeast will turn a machine into slim in no time at all. Some machines use auto additve devices to help with this. Manitowacs Aucs is an example of this. I will not use ice when getting a beverage from a certain sub sandwitch shop, I have seen there ice maker:-)

Had a call for a Scotsman machine in the back room of a restaurant. It was filthy! Asked the woman in charge when the last cleaning was performed. Her answer was every couple of months they cleaned it. Startup date was 1997. Asked her who didi the cleaning, and she said she did it. When I asked her how she cleaned she said she turned the control board from freeze to clean and let it run for a half hour, then turned it back to freeze. Hmmm.

I serviced an ice machine last week that was installed by me in 2004 and it had never been cleaned, not even by the staff at the cinema where it is installed. Looked pretty good, just minor scale in a few places. The inlet valve was bad. Switched it out and cleaned out the float boot (Hoshi) and left. Owner didn't want it cleaned. It really didn't need it.

We have another account, a doughnut making factory, where the Scotsman they have needs to be cleaned every 6 weeks and it looks like it hasn't been cleaned in 10 years from one visit to the next.

I have noticed that having well-fitting panels around the evap, and SEALING THE EVAP AREA AGAINST AIR FLOW FROM CONDENSER make a huge difference in places where there is yeast in the air.

One specific one is a monthly job, though more commonally every couple months.

I work on some ice machines years ago from a pizza place the flower dust was so hard you would have to scrape and beet to get it out

at least once per year. I'm sure there's alot of ice machines out there that don't ever get cleaned. I always ask for no ice now after i started fixing them.

if the machine is in a subway or bakery ( yeast), it will need regular cleaning , and 3/ 4 month intervals at least . can become a science project if left to long

Alot of it depends on the area the machine is in. Food areas attract alot of mold and slime.

how bad is the water in the area? I would say every 3-6months also changeing out the water filters every three.

depends on your water and air quality. Get one that's easy to clean, which rules out two major brands right away, if you have a choice. Avid Scotsman prodigys like the plague, and I would also avoid Hoshizaki. Ice-O-Matic is cheap, but its lack of computerized controls means that it lacks all but the most rudimentary operational safeties. Manitowoc Indigos are at the other extreme, tending to lock out if you look at them funny.

The more often it is cleaned the less time and work to clean it. I have seen some that were so bad that they could not be cleaned with out complete disasembly.

Quality of water has alot to do with it as well as location of machine. A machine in the back room will not grow mold as fast as one in the prep area. Minimum is 2x a year and more often than not on service calls

A day before they call for service would work for me

A minimum of 2x a year. Thats absolute minimum. I had machines that needed cleaning every 2 months.

cleaning ice mkr

How often should an ice machine be cleaned?