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  • Truck Stock for Hot Commercial Kitchen Equipment

    Posted by ryanlayne on December 19, 2019 at 11:23 pm

    Good day gentlemen. I have been on the cold side of Light Commercial Refrigeration for 12 years. 

      I opened my company up last April and have been doing pretty good. Naturally, working in kitchens and with facility management, the question of do we service the hot side comes up.

      I have decided to go for it. I’m decently familiar with cooking equipment, most common sense rules apply. But as a owner, it’s important for me that the job is done the first time. 

       I have about $2500 to spend on each truck for stuck, and wanted to get some info on typical parts you see fail often so I can set my truck stock accordingly. 

       Thank you.

    ihateyeremy replied 4 years, 1 month ago 11 Members · 20 Replies
  • 20 Replies
  • techtownmayor

    Member
    December 20, 2019 at 11:02 am

    This is a really interesting topic – I’m sure some of our members will be able to chime in, and I’ll also try and do some research. 

    Thanks for being part of techtown!

  • fixbear

    Member
    December 20, 2019 at 11:42 am

    A lot of things you carry for the cold side are also used on the hot side. Mostly electrical like crimp connectors and fittings.   But you will want to expand on some wrenches and socket sets.  Stainless screws and nuts come in handy.  High temp wire is a must. As well as high temp connectors and a suitable crimper with proper dies.  Most repair parts are priority and have to be ordered for the unit your working on.  Gas pilot’s commonly get plugged orifices and need cleaning, So torch cleaners work to some degree, but one has to be very careful to not distort or damage the orifice.  Range burners tend to get boil overs in them that carbons up and have to be drilled out so a complete set of drill bits, both letter and number let alone fractional should be available.   1/4, 5/16, and 3/8 aluminum tubing and related compression fitting are helpful when you find a burner line that has been mishandled.  I also carried a box of Molnex plug’s and terminals of 3 sizes and up to 12 position. You will also need terminal pin release tools for the Molnex plug’s.   You may have to upgrade your DVOM’s to be able to read micro-amps on gas control flame sensors.  Last a good manometer for gas pressure and  related fittings.  Often the test port plugs are allen head and difficult to get loose.  So a good set or two of Allen wrenches are  necessary.

    Good luck with this and have fun.  Observation time in a kitchen is a must to know what the real problem is.  You’ll find that what is relayed to you verbally doesn’t always match what you see happening.

  • fixbear

    Member
    December 20, 2019 at 12:27 pm

    I should add that I started in the Hot side the same way.  I was at a service club kitchen when a chemical installer installed his system on a Moyer Dieble dish machine. I was working on their ice make.  The chemical guy finished and left before me.  When the kitchen manager tried to run the machine it wouldn’t run.  So I of course was asked to at least take a look.  Fortunately all equipment has to have a wiring diagram The chemical installer had removed the previous system and installed a reed switch on the main motor to trigger his system, but forgot or didn’t know he had to place a jumper where he removed the old hard  wired trigger.  Nothing to it. Made the jumper and installed it. Then washed a couple of loads of dishes for them.  “Hey, have you time to take a quick look at a convection oven”   Always trying to keep a customer a customer happy I said “Sure” .  He tells me it won’t run and that $500 dollar Manny (a nickname they had given him cause every bill was)  had worked on it and said to replace it. With a Vulcan Snorkel, If you accidentally wire it wrong it will not run. Traced out the wires, swapped 2 on there terminals, and away it goes.  They were happy and I was happy to find that I could find a problem quickly and efficiently even though I hadn’t done any work in the field.  Come to find out that many of the service company’s in this area have a lot of recalls.  And charge a ridiculous amount of money to cover those recalls.   From that point on I started doing hot side work. The local service companies tend to want to pay minimum wage and have one good tech that tries to talk their field techs through a job.

  • ryanlayne

    Member
    December 20, 2019 at 11:50 pm

        Thanks man. I appreciate the in depth explanation. 

       One thing I have noticed (atleast in Arizona) is the lack of local parts suppliers.

       With Refrigeration, a defrost clock, compressor, ice thickness probe or Termination switch are only a few miles away in each direction. 

       It appears, most Hot side parts are to be ordered and shipped next day. 

       

  • fixbear

    Member
    December 21, 2019 at 8:25 am

    Ryan, look around for service company’s that service the brands you see in your area.  Often they will provide parts with a discount to service tech’s in the field.  Every area has strong sales personnel with a certain brand that owns the local market. The other brand rep’s. tend to be trying ,  but not making sales.  So watch what you see in the local kitchens and you can easily check with the manufacturers on line for their representative. Then when you get time, visit them and talk to the owner.  Build a relationship before you need parts or support.  They are often flooded with demanding work for State and educational entities and are more than willing to support someone doing the smaller accounts.

  • olivero

    Member
    December 27, 2019 at 10:51 am

    For hot side, It’s difficult unless you know what the customer has. I use Parts Town and I can overnight for like $30.00 so for me, it’s a no brainer and I just overnigth most of the time.

    I have certain equipment across multiple buildings and they use similar parts so we keep those on hand, igniters, potentiometers, high limits, pilots, you know, common stuff. 

    Pilots are sold universal so those are good, some common gas valves would be good, otherwise it’s tricky unless you’ve been there already and know what they have,

  • leroy88

    Member
    January 16, 2020 at 10:25 pm

    Hatco makes infinite switches for 120, 208 and 240 volt. All three a must and it doesn’t have to be used on just Hatco products either, Wells hot wells, etc.

    Thermocouples come in a wide variety of lengths, we do 18, 24, 36 and 48 and thats good. Ovens, grills, hot water heaters, etc.

    Thermopiles are a must as well, The stainless braided ones are the best.

  • beef

    Member
    January 17, 2020 at 6:21 am

    Load of spdt, dpdt etc…. it very common I’m replacing a switch. High temp solderless terminals. Heat resistant wire. 

    Surface probe thermometer, orifice bit kit, manometer(digital)

    List can really keep going. 

    • beef

      Member
      January 17, 2020 at 7:11 am

      Suggest an oven probe thermometer, has metal sheath, the normal probes melt and damage easily in the heat. 

      Hot Shot if you’ll be doing any cleaning.

      Gas regulators, I like LP and Natural separate, rather than the interchangeable. (And tech tip, always check valves, QDs and regulator vent plugs)

      Dormant 1/2” and 3/4” hose kits, comes with QD, ball valve, elbow, 48” hose, and restraint cable for rolling equipment.  

      Bundle of range pilots, aluminum tubing and brass compression fittings, flex tubing. 

      Couple different brand gas conversion kits. 

      Cooling fans, 120-230v

      Universal; thermocouple and thermopile(two types, coax/dual lead) Pilot assembly, hot surface igniter, spark igniter, and flame sensor. All of this is good to get by till OEM comes in. 

      Hotwell thermostats, inf switches, and I’ve used jb weld to get a leaky well to hold till replaced. Most are designed to be dry fired also. I keep an assortment of sharkbites for drain repairs, or isolating leaking wells. 

  • empire

    Member
    February 6, 2020 at 4:48 am

    This one might sound silly but, keep a stock of open top gas valve knobs on the trucks. 

    The savage wrath of a chef can always be soothed by replacing the missing knob on one of his burners that he is always grabbing a pair of pliers in the middle of service to use.  

    At least if he has to wait for a part for a day or two for one of his pieces of equipment, this little trick will serve as a little bit of a pressure relief every time he uses the burner and doesn’t have to grab his pliers

    • fixbear

      Member
      February 6, 2020 at 8:22 am

      I agree whole hardily with this one.  A unsolicited offer to replace a knob is one of the best tricks there is to soften even the most difficult of Chef’s

  • nafets47

    Member
    February 6, 2020 at 1:26 pm

    If you don’t have them, I would get gauges for gas. When working with gas powered items checking to ensure you are getting the right amount of gas out of a valve is important.

    Also, if I were you I would get a list of equipment you will be servicing. Look up the manuals for them and see in the trouble shooting section the recommended repairs per their trouble shooting and get those parts as that is what the company finds to be the most common issues with the machines. Obviously the more expensive parts I would skip over with your budget, but the seals, switches, etc. I would pick up.

    PartsTown likely will have all the manuals for the equipment and like olivero was saying you could get them overnight shipped.

    I have most of the items covered in the trouble shooting section of my manuals and I rarely need to pick up parts to resolve issues, unless I forget to reorder those items or they are pricey and not something I would keep on hand (*cough* rational PCB *cough*).

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