Back in Novemeber Star’s weekly member question on Facebook had to do with edging tight radius corners. I was quick to reply to the question as it is one piece of ice maintenance that is commonly overlooked or done incorrectly. It is not uncommon to have your corners grow especially if your facility has tight radius corners. The best practice to help keep your corners in check is edge every night and finish using your Ice Resurfacer while doing a “Edging Pattern”. Once a week you may need to “feather” the corner down using a edger.
The “feathering” technique allows you to bring your corner down gradually and smoothly. Now before you run out and start, make sure to circle check your edger, ice resurfacer, check your kick plate for protruding screws and wear the proper PPE. Going out onto your ice surface, look at your corners. Follow your kick plate and look for the rise and fall of the corner. In this case the rise would be to the left of the Tim Hortons add and fall at the left of the SW add. Mark the rise and fall on the ice using a marker. Take the edger on to the ice surface and start roughly 1ft behind the rise line tight to the boards. Start the edger and slowly lower the cutting tips till they are just barely cutting the ice surface. Start to edge while slowly moving away from the boards roughly 1 edger width from the boards in the centre of the corner. Once you have past the centre of the corning slowly move back into the boards and finish roughly 1ft past your fall mark. This cut will be very light but trust me its enough. Shut down your edger and wheel it back to rise point of the corner. DO NOT ADJUST THE CUTTING HEIGHT AND DO NOT OPERATE YOUR EDGER BACKWARDS!! On your second pass start 1ft back from where you started last. Follow the previous cut until it moves away from the boards. At this point you want to line up your front left wheel against the cut edge in the ice. You will only be moving the edger over a few inches. Follow the cut line till its tight against the boards again and finish 1ft past your last end spot. Shut down your edger and wheel it back to rise point of the corner. DO NOT ADJUST THE CUTTING HEIGHT AND DO NOT OPERATE YOUR EDGER BACKWARDS!! Same as second pass, start back another 1ft, follow it away from the boards lining up your front left wheel against the cut line and finish 1ft past your last end point. Repeat this until you are tight against the boards through the whole corner. Depending how deep your first cut is and how far out you go from the boards will determine how much you remove with your last cut. If you get aggressive on the first cut I can guarantee you will see floor before you get to the boards!! Through out this technique you will notice with each pass the edger is cutting more and more. This technique takes practice and when done properly your corner should be feathered down to the boards smooth with no ridges. Once you have completed feathering your corner down with the edger you now need to bring out your Ice Resurfacer and complete a “Edging Pattern”. Bringing your resurfacer onto the ice sheet set your blade so you are cutting 1/32in or a 3in feathered edge. Do one lap tight to the boards. If you hear the horizontal auger hitting the ice, slow down and let the augers cut through the ice. On your second lap, overlap the first lap by half a conditioner width. On the third lap overlap the second lap, half a conditioner width and the forth lap back tight to boards. This will help bring down your corners efficiently and wont put as much wear and tear on the equipment as some of the other techniques out there. Written by Don Schlupp Jr
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With the season already well underway for most facilities, its time to start thinking about those regular consumables that will give us a great product for the customer. Its time to start thinking about our Ice Resurfacers blades! Do we have an adequate number of blades? Do we have regular sharpening scheduled? Is the sharpener aware of the difference between the angles and lengths and procedures for the different IR blades? Do we have a regular blade change day with SOP’s in place? These are all things that should be taken care during the off season however are often overlooked and leave managers scrambling at the last minute.
So lets start at the beginning, the blade its self and where to get them. We have all gotten those calls with the promise of a great blade at a cheap price, well take out the great part and thats what you have. A cheap blade at a cheap price, that will leave you frustrated and changing it out after one resurface. When it comes to purchasing blades get them from your Authorized Factory Rep. Both major manufactures get their blades from the same place and are high quality. They are comprised of two different metals with different rating of hardness. These blade have a hardened steel inlay (the cutting part), which is fused to a less hard piece of metal. The hardened inlay allows us to get 100+ cuts before the blade becomes to dull to continue using. However keep in mind when steel in hardened it becomes brittle, this is why if not properly used or handled it can cause chips in the cutting edge. Purchasing from the Authorized Factory Rep. also insures your getting the correct length for your machine! Lengths vary from 56”,68”,77”,80”,84” and 96”. Do you know your blade size? Making sure you have enough blades in rotation is also key. Most sharpening companies can pick-up, sharpen and return a blade in a weeks time. Now depending on your geographic location this may vary so make sure you have enough blades to get you through till your sharpened blades return! It’s a good idea to also mark the blades and wooden sheaths to guarantee you’re getting YOUR blades back! This can be done with numbered and lettered punches on the end of the blade. Never mark the top or bottom of the blade! Most manufactures suggest changing the blade weekly or every 100 resurfaces. This will change depending on the ice its self. Finding a reputable sharpener can be difficult! I have seen customers ship their blades as far as 1000km to make sure they are getting a quality product back. Make sure your sharpener follows these key points! Correct angle of sharpening. It is different between brands and if not done to Factory Specifications it will effect the performance of the blade. Do not pull the blade straight! Most blades will have an arch to them. If the sharpener pulls the blade straight to sharpen and then releases it we will not have a straight edge but rather an arched blade. Using a magnetic table they should lay the blade in and clamp it in its relaxed state so it will have a straight edge when taken out of the grinder. Cleanliness, if possible ask to take a tour of their shop. Look at the grinder and see what kind of condition it is in. It should be nice and clean and should be an automatic fed grinder not a hand fed grinder. It is extremely important the grinding speed be consistent or you will end up with a serrated blade. The most important part of the sharpening process is the honing of the blade. These blades MUST be hand honed!! If a power hone is used, that blade is now too dull to cut ice. Insist your sharpener uses a hand hone to finish the blade. When your blades are returned they should be labelled as sharp, well oiled, extremely sharp and in a wooden sheath in good condition. Make sure the sharpener is also cleaning the mounting surface of the blade. A wire brush works best for this, how ever if this surface has been neglected they may need to surface grind it to return it to within operating parameters. No one actually likes doing blade changes its plain and simple. However if well prepared with the right tools and functional PPE, this dreaded task can be reduced in time. Every facility should have a detailed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), for this regular maintenance task. Rushing to get it done is never a good idea and usually results in cuts or improper installation. Smooth is fast. Give employees enough time to set up their work area and tools, change the blade, clean up installation tools and other related items and set the blade. Remember no matter how well your blade is sharpened if your don't follow the proper cleaning, installation and set up procedures it will always effect that perfect sheet of ice we all strive to achieve and maintain. Brand Blade Sharpening Angles Set Up Angle Olympia/IceBear 27deg 8deg Zamboni 24deg 10deg When it comes to training the status quo is just not good enough. Often April rolls around and its time to look at sending employees to regional training programs in the upcoming summer months. In my opinion summer time isn't the right time to send out your employees to other rinks that have year round ice for training. Training should be done in house with the equipment your employees will be operating during the busy season. Every piece of equipment is different, every back room is different and every set of boards is different. For years I trained employees on equipment that wasn't their own and was expected to grade them on their competency. It wasn't fair to them or their employer for the funds they put forth for top tier training.
Many Canadian rinks remove their ice for the summer, meaning 3-5 months where rink employees trade in the ice resurfacer for tractors and lawn mowers. You wouldn't train your employee on lawn maintenance in December, why train them on Ice Maintenance going into the off season. Give them time to practice the new techniques right off the hop to retain what they were taught. Even with CIT’s practical based training it is a lot of information in a short period time. The training needs to be put into practice as soon as possible in order for your employees to retain the training you paid good money for. Choosing the right training is key! Most often it includes sitting in a classroom environment for days viewing slide after slide with some discussion as the slides roll on by. All to often I have seen the participants with glazed eyes trying to stay focused. Classroom learning isn't for everyone. Find a course that will get them up and moving and engaged in conversation with proper explanation. Don't have someone just tell them to do something one way, find someone that will show them and explain the reasoning behind it. How large is the class? Will your more timid or new employees be lost? Smaller class sizes work best. It allows for discussion and gets ALL participants asking questions that they may not want to ask in front of 30 of their peers. Course material, is it geared towards operators or management? Is it to the point and going to explained and shown in a matter that will be understood and retained. Instructors, are they current with new technology and techniques? Are they able to convey the information for the participants to understand and create a question rich environment? All of these things should be taken into consideration when choosing training. After many of us received our Certified Ice Technician credentials, that was it. We had taken the courses, studied hard and listened to the instructors. However, the learning doesn’t stop and the industry hasn’t stopped progressing. Choose training courses that will benefit your employees, your facility and your budget. Thats where CIT’s Programs come full circle. Whether it’s a new employee or a seasoned veteran, a good training program and Instructor will help give the new employee the knowledge and tools to start their career off right and refresh the Veteran with what they hopefully already know and practice and maybe just teach them a few tricks to make life easier. Don Schlupp President of Canadian Ice Training Certified Ice Technician (2012) Wash Water, does it actually wash the ice? Yes, although in saying that it does so much more. Wash Water is a poor choice of name, in hindsight the system should be called, ”Skate cut repair system,” but that just doesn't have the same ring to it. All to often people either neglect to use the system entirely or are afraid of damaging the pump and impellar. Follow us as we go through the system components and the functionality of the system.
Wash Water or W/W is recirculating system of water and slush. The main components of the system are the pump, impellar, squeegee, W/W hoses, W/W valve, W/W tank, strainer basket and COLD water. All of these components need to be in good working condition for the system to do its work. Stated earlier we said the system should be called “Skate cut repair system.” W/W is a system that creates a slush slurry in the conditioner cavity between the blade tip and the squeegee. As the blade passes over the ice surface it will push snow into the cuts created by the user group. The W/W then uses COLD water to flush out that snow. When we mix COLD water with snow we create slush, which we use anyway to repair larger blow outs or damaged ice. This slush slurry then is pushed into the cuts in the ice surface via the squeegee. As the towel passes over with HOT water it then seals in slush and helps “heal” the cut. Now here is the wash part. Inside that same cavity we have our W/W suction pipe. As we are making our slurry of slush we will make then we need. As the cavity fills our pump will return the excess slush and water to the tank, debris such as hair and lint will float to the top and be pumped up to the W/W basket where debris is then filtered out and the excess water is returned to the W/W tank. So we now have idea of how the system works and what we would like it to do for us. We want it to repair those damaged areas on the ice surface for us. It’s not unusual to hear about operators using hot water in the W/W tank. Here is the problem with that. Typically our most damaged areas are in front of the players benches and around the creases. If we use HOT water in our W/W tank two things happen. We aren't creating the slush we need for those first two laps that need the repair and we have just wasted money and energy by using heated water that will be cold anyways after our first two laps of recirculating it onto the ice surface and back into our tank. Doesn't make sense to be spending money only to hinder what the system is trying to do does it ? Hopefully by this point you now have better understanding of the W/W system. Now we briefly touched on the cost of the hot water. Again we are starting to resurgence of devices claiming to save money by using cold water in the flood water tank. Sorry folks it doesn't work. Tune into the next email as we debunk that! Cold water in the flood tank will also hinder your efforts to repair the ice while using W/W. What happens is the cold water we are putting directly onto the flood towel from our flood water tank will start to freeze. This in turn causes the towel to pull out that slush we just put into the cuts and it will build on the underside of the towel creating a layer of ice on the towel itself. With no hot water to keep the towel at a good temperature the ice on the bottom side continues to build and pull out the slush and will leave a streaking effect behind the machine. We need the hot water to seal in that slush and create a better bond as we maintain our ice surface. When should we use W/W? EVERYFLOOD! The system should be used regardless of the user group that just came off the ice. Smaller cuts will be repaired first while the deeper heavier cuts may take a few resurfaces to completely repair. So even though we just had tykes on the ice we will use the W/W to repair the damage from the JrB team that skated before them. Wether your putting sheet to bed dirty or not, the best thing to do to get your sheet ready for a heavy day of use is a double flood. What I mean, is to go out and do a nice cut while just using the W/W and not flood water. This will allow the slush to set up better. When we use both W/W and flood water we will loose some of the slush from the temperature of the flood water. Doing the first resurface with just the W/W will allow the slush to set up better. Then directly after the W/W flood proceed to do a full resurface with a cut while using both W/W and flood water. This will repair 90% of the cuts in the surface and allow you start the day fresh. How should we use W/W? Once you have set your blade and are ready to get against the boards you should open you W/W valve. Wait 5-8 seconds or the distance between the blue lines before you turn on the pump. This will make sure there is water and slush in the cavity ready to be returned to the tank. To shut the system off, on your last lap when your going away from the Ice Resurfacer door turn the water off at the first blue line. Wait 5-8 seconds or when your conditioner passes over the next blue line turn off the pump. Any excess water and slush will be used up by the time you make your final turn and head to the IR door. If you are leaving a big puddle at the door you aren't turning the system off soon enough. While doing your start of shift circle check, check the following items to ensure the W/W is in good working order.
As always we hope this article made your day a little bit easier and left you with a better understanding of the W/W System! Don Schlupp President of Canadian Ice Training Certified Ice Technician (2012) Every year there are a handful of incidents at ice rinks in North America and around the world where people become sick due to elevated levels of Carbon Monoxide (CO) and/or Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2). These incidents have been commonly linked to the following factors:
Ice resurfacing and ice maintenance equipment are not the only potential contributors to poor indoor air quality in ice rinks. Any equipment that burns fossil fuel (gasoline, diesel, propane, natural gas) such as infrared bleacher heaters, hot water heaters and boilers, furnaces, dehumidifiers, forklifts, scissor or boom lifts, generators and idling vehicles outside the rink can all contribute to unacceptable levels of Carbon Monoxide and/or Nitrogen Dioxide. What is Carbon Monoxide and Nitrogen Dioxide? What are their effects? Carbon Monoxide (CO) ‐ Carbon monoxide is a colourless, odourless, tasteless gas. It is a product of incomplete fuel combustion, and is produced in larger quantities by gasoline, propane and natural gas engines. Carbon monoxide reduces the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood. At very high levels (1200 ppm) Carbon Monoxide is considered to be Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health (IDLH). Current Ministry of Labour (MOL) occupational exposure limits for Carbon Monoxide are set at 25 ppm for a normal 8‐hour working day. The Short Term (15 minute) Exposure Value for Carbon Monoxide is 100 ppm. Maintaining exposures below these levels will prevent adverse health effects for nearly all workers but may not be low enough to protect the young, aged or sensitive members of the public. Health and Welfare Canada suggests that office levels for Carbon Monoxide should be below 5 ppm. With the use of gasoline powered equipment such as an ice resurfacer, levels below 5 ppm may not be attainable for some facilities. The guiding principle should be As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) and (at the very least) in compliance with the MOL 25 ppm CO occupational exposure limits. What can your rink do to maintain acceptable indoor air quality?
Levels of Exposure ‐ These are set and maintained under the OHSA. Further, there is a US organization called the American Conference of Occupational and Environmental Health that published workplace annual exposure guidelines. http://www.acgih.org/About/ The following recommended maximum levels of exposure to carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide have been established based on a review of similar policies and legislation for recreational facilities in Canada and are offered as a minimum operational awareness guideline. 1. At no times should the airborne concentration of any contaminant be allowed to exceed the exposure limits for Ontario workers. a. Levels need to be maintained below 25 ppm of carbon monoxide as a time weighted average concentration. Short term exposures must not exceed 100 ppm. b. Levels of nitrogen dioxide must be below 3 ppm as a time weighted average and below 5 ppm as a Short Term Exposure Limit (STEL). The Short Term Exposure Limit standard is used to supplement the average exposure level. The Short Term Exposure Limit is the maximum that an individual may be exposed to in any 15‐minute period. Any time this level is reached there must be at least 60 minutes between further exposures at this range and no more than four of these excursions in an 8 hour period. 2. Meeting criteria 1 above will not protect all arena patrons: the above limit is for healthy 18 to 65 year old workers. (Criteria 1 outlines the bare legal minimum requirement for facility workers.) Facilities will be attended by both the very young as well as the aged. Typically these groups are less tolerant to chemical exposures and may experience health effects at lower concentrations. Facilities should operate with exposure levels that are As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA), while targeting to achieve Heath Canada`s outdoor air maximum concentrations. The Canadian Environmental Protection Act cites: - 5 ppm as the maximum desirable level for Carbon Monoxide in an 8 hour period, and - 0.032 ppm as the maximum desirable level for Nitrogen Dioxide on an annual basis. Seasonal ice rinks are very common throughout many parts of North America. The summer season shut down offers an excellent opportunity to carry out much needed maintenance procedures. It is important that these procedures are carried out early and not let slip until the last minute prior to start-up.
The Chiller The chiller is where the heat enters the refrigeration cycle. There is generally not a lot of maintenance required on the chiller. Due to operating at temperatures below freezing, any breaches in the insulation will attract airborne moisture and freeze. During the summer shutdown is a great time to repair and replace any damaged insulation. Any rusted metal should be cleaned and primed. On ammonia systems, oil will be deposited in the chiller. Oil will displace refrigerant and reduce system capacity. The best time to drain oil is at the end of the summer shut down, when the oil has had a prolonged period to separate. The Condenser The condenser is where heat is rejected from the refrigeration system and it is essential that it is properly maintained to ensure the efficient and reliable operation of your refrigeration system. On evaporative condensers, it is very common to have mineral deposits from hard water build on the heat transfer coil. During the off season, the deposits can be physically removed using narrow strips of flat plate steel to knock off scale build up between the condenser tubes. Chemical scale removal will also work, but check with the condenser manufacturer to ensure that it is compatible with the metal in the condenser. The condenser sump tank should also be thoroughly cleaned and belts should be checked and replaced if necessary. When checking the bearings, shaft bearings should be greased and motor bearings should be greased if applicable. Make sure to trim and foliage around the base of the condenser prior to starting it. On air-cooled condensers, the coils should be cleaned and pressure washed if they are dirty. Be careful not to damage the fins. The Compressor The compressor is the heart of the system that circulates the primary refrigerant. If it is not functioning properly, the suction pressure will not be low enough to provide suitable brine temperatures in the chiller and the discharge pressure will not elevate high enough to properly reject the heat at the condenser. During the off season, the compressor oil should be changed and filters replaced if applicable. Make sure that the oil sight glass is cleaned on the compressor crankcase and compressor belts should be inspected and replaced if necessary. The head and oil cooling system should also be inspected to ensure that it is clean. It is always advisable to install a closed-circuit cooling system, which will eliminate a lot of headaches in areas with hard water. At start up, make sure all the safety controls are set properly and an inspection tag with the date is put on the controls. On ammonia systems, it is a good idea to use a separate pail of oil for each compressor. Write the date and the compressor hours on the new pail. This will give you a method to verify exactly how much oil each compressor is consuming, which will give you an early warning sign of problems. Summertime is when any major compressor maintenance should be done, such as valve or seal replacement or complete overhauls. Plan for this well in advance of the summer shutdown, so it does not get missed in the busy summer construction season. The Safety System Relief valves should be inspected to ensure that they are not more than 5 years old. Check for leaks in the relief line as these leaks are easy to miss. All the safety and operation controls should be tested and labeled with a date at startup. Be sure to check your refrigerant detector to ensure that it functions at the correct level and check your exhaust fans to ensure that they are all functioning. Electrical During the off season, have a qualified technician tighten all the electrical connections in the MCC panel and on all safety controls. Also inspect the contacts on all magnetic contactors and look for any indication of wires getting hot. It is a good idea to do a thermal imaging scan of the MCC panel and motors just prior to shutdown to help pinpoint any hotspots that can be repaired during the off season. Replace any burnt out MCC panel bulbs Pumps The offseason is the right time to carry out major pump maintenance. Check with the manufacturer when the bearings and seal replacement interval is recommended. Check pump drive couplings and replace if necessary. Insulating the pump body makes for nicer plant room appearance, prevents rust, and reduces energy transfer into the refrigeration system. Secondary Coolant Maintenance It is very important to have a laboratory sample taken of your glycol or brine and to follow their recommendation for treatment and filtration. A high PH in your brine can be an indication of an ammonia leak in the chiller. Always make sure that your brine system stays full, especially in the summer when there is not a regular operator on duty. If a calcium chloride system is allowed to go empty, it will result in a failed chiller. It is a good idea to install a level alarm in your balance tank that is connected to your DDC system as an early warning for dropping brine levels. Spare Parts Before you start the plant for the fall, make sure that you have a good inventory of spare parts, such as a complete set of fuses for high voltage and control voltage, a spare set of condenser belts, extra compressor oil, chemical for your water treatment system, and a splice kit for the brine line. General Maintenance Summer is the time to do some housekeeping. Clean up any rusted metal and prime and paint surfaces, clean up any oil spills, and clean all oil off refrigeration piping so you can determine if there are any leaks developing. Paint your floor with anti-slip paint and replace any burnt out light bulbs. Check your fire extinguisher expiry dates to ensure that they are current. Finally, make sure that your compressor room doors are functioning properly and self-closing. To assist facility managers and facility operators to become more familiar with the proper operation and normal parameters of the refrigeration system, Accent Refrigeration Systems has developed a dynamic equipment survey and reference guidebook. The equipment survey includes a narrative that explains each component and how it should operate. Your operators are required to fill in all present operating conditions, which documents the baseline of how your system operates. By going through this process, the operators will learn the function of every piece of equipment, how it operates, understand the efficiency of the component and will recognize problems when they develop. As the log book is worked through, your maintenance supervisor signs off each page and each step of the process. This provides your facility with a record that you have trained your employees properly. This log book will become an ongoing training and safety resource for your facility. This article was composed for CIT by Art Sutherland the President of Accent Refrigeration Systems of Victoria BC. Art graduated from the Nova Scotia Technical College with the highest marks in the province and an honors diploma in refrigeration technology in 1976. Art has developed and advanced many of the technologies that are commonly used throughout the recreational ice industry today with a primary focus on technologies that reduce and share energy. Art’s mechanical designs can be found on private, public, professional and Olympic Venues. Art is an operations instructor for numerous ice facility associations in Canada, The USA, Japan and South Africa and recently wrote the course curriculum and is the instructor for the Ice Facility Energy Efficiency Program held at the University of Wisconsin, Faculty of Engineering. He has published six recreational ice facility operator-training manuals that have been distributed worldwide. Recipient of the following awards Nova Scotia Technical College Refrigeration Award BC Exporter of the year in Environmental Technologies RFABC Associates Award Frank J Zamboni Engineering Award Chamber of Commerce Large Company of the Year VIATEC Sustainability Award ASHRAE Refrigeration Award ASHRAE International Design Award for Building Efficiency Art Sutherland www.accent-refrigeration.com art@accent-refrigeration.com With the summer months upon us its time to get our equipment inspected and serviced. This can be costly and a nuisance if you don't take the correct steps. As always, have a plan of attack. Will the service be done in house or taken to a shop? Who will transport it? Are the technicians factory trained and authorized? What is my budget? Year after year we see regular customers trying to save costs and neglect their Ice Maintenance equipment. This initial savings of ignoring a problem will cost you more on a Saturday of a tournament weekend when you need a service call.
Scheduling!! Please do not wait until a week before you put your ice in, or that big summer tournament to request your machine to be serviced. The factory will not be able to accommodate this request, so pre-plan your service!! Call and arrange pick up a month before. Prepare a list of items you wish to have looked at and a list of spare seasonal parts to be delivered with the IR’s return and specify a return date and with all of your contact information. When you receive your quote, get it approved as soon as possible. The longer it take to return the quote, will delay your IR’s return. Being on top of this will guarantee your IR will be fully serviced and returned in time for your start up. So the big question is, do I have my local repair shop do the service and save a freight charge. Yes trucking the Ice Resurfacer is expensive, however it opens up space in your facility and allows technicians to go over the Ice resurfacer thoroughly. Nothing is worse for a technician then working in a small Olympia room, except a small Olympia room with grated pits! Being able to remove the conditioner and put the IR on a hoist for a thorough inspect is the way to go. Don't get me wrong most certified mechanics can do this job as well, but remember the conditioner is key to a great sheet of ice. If the local garage hasn't had any training on conditioner repair this can exasperate an already existing problem. If you're transporting we highly recommend using the factory to transport your IR. The factory will have a dedicated driver and a truck and trailer specifically designed to load and unload IR’s and are fully insured. There is nothing wrong with using a towing company but keep in mind they are expensive and don't have the experience of loading and securing an IR. Another common problem I have encountered with on site service is parts. When a technician arrives for a service he will try to best trouble shoot the equipment over phone, email and text. Usually we get a pretty good sense of the problem. It never seems to fail as soon as we walk in that back door and we get, “So did you bring “part A” to fix “Problem B”. If we don't know we cannot prepare. This intern creates more mileage charges, longer service times and a frustrated technician. Having the IR at the factory means parts on demand. If the tech needs it, it’s only a few steps away. Factory Trained and Authorized, these two go hand in hand. Factory training is key!! Every IR has its differences. Factory training allows the technician to be proficient and efficient. Over the years there have been many companies pop up that offer IR repair, I can tell you now they aren't factory trained or authorized. Both major manufactures are very hesitant to hand out this designation to anyone. Using a company that isn't recognized by the manufacturers may also void your warranty in some cases. Factory trained techs are mechanics yes, but they are also trained in hydraulics, fabrication, diagnostics and how certain ice conditions can pin point an issue with the IR. They also have genuine OEM parts available to them which is key to a proper service. What should an annual service cost? Well thats tough to say there are plenty of variables. A yearly service could be as little as $2000 or as high $10,000. This all depends on how the IR is cared for during the operational months. If you don't do anything but operate the IR all season long, there is a good chance it will be an expensive repair. Little things like regularly greasing and thorough circle checks will help with the longevity of the IR. Wash and wax your IR! Its not a cheap piece of equipment and the appearance of the machines reflects back on the facility. Once a week, give it nice wash and wax. This will also help you come trade in time. If you simply don't have the budget for the repairs call the technician and see what can skate by for this season. This practice is not recommended but sometimes there are no other avenues. For those that remove their ice with the IR, keep this in mind. One “ICEOUT” with the IR is equivalent to one full years of regular operational wear and tear on the equipment. Below is a list of suggested spare parts to keep on hand to help prevent a break down and down time.
Don Schlupp Jr has been a factory technician for Resurfice Corp for over 15 years. He is also their factory trainer for all technicians on battery powered ice resurfacers, is an IMEO instructor and C.I.T. Certified with the STAR/ORFA Alliance. |
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