5 Common Commercial Restaurant Equipment Malfunctions and How to Prevent Them

As a restaurant owner, you need to dish out customer orders quickly and repetitively. You don’t have time for equipment breakdowns. But sometimes, it happens. When it does, you need to know how to address the issue. 

Here are some of the most common issues in commercial restaurant kitchens in Springfield, Missouri, and what you can do to solve it. 

1. Dirty HVAC Condenser Coils and Air Filters 

HVACs are running at high capacity in restaurants. Greases, oils, and other cooking debris can and often do collect on air filters and condenser coils. It’s incredibly common across industries and sectors, from homes to commercial businesses. At 

Commercial Restaurant Service, most of the restaurants we service in Springfield, Missouri, experience maintenance issues related to clogged condenser coils and air filters. 

Solution: For the former, you’ll need to call a professional. For the latter, changing an air filter is a DIY occasion. 

2. Poor Kitchen Configuration and Airflow 

When the make-up air unit is damaged or blocked by debris (which happens quite often), new, fresh air from the outdoors cannot come into the kitchen. This creates negative air pressure, as the overhead vent will still suction up as much bad air as it can. 

Solution: Depending on the extent of the problem, you can either manually remove the debris from the makeup-air unit or call a professional HVAC company like 417CRS to fix the problem for you. 

3. Excessive or Under-Maintenance 

You’ve heard of too little maintenance. But too much maintenance can be a bad thing as well. 

Kitchen equipment that sees frequent maintenance (relatively speaking) includes: 

  • Cooker issues
  • Fryer temp irregularities 
  • Warewasher not cleaning 
  • Clogged sink drains 
  • Refrigeration issues 

Solution: Contact a reputable restaurant equipment repair company to diagnose and determine the root causes for your malfunctioning kitchen equipment. 

4. Old, Outdated, or Damaged Equipment 

It’s tempting to save money and refrain from buying new kitchen equipment if some of the parts are causing issues, but the unit as a whole is functioning. In the long-term, it can mean losing out on profitability. 

Solution: Get up-to-date parts and appliances installed. 

5. Employee Inattentiveness 

Host training sessions on how to properly maintain and clean kitchen equipment. Inform them that it’s their job to report any equipment issues to management immediately and to not wait until it gets worse or fails during a rush. 

Make sure restaurant supervisors and managers are available to receive questions about the machinery when necessary. 

Solution: Create internal protocols and procedures to ensure quality use of your kitchen appliances, and schedule routine maintenance to diagnose potential hangups with your equipment. 

Get the Best Commercial Kitchen Equipment Repair in Southwest Missouri 

We’re here to get your kitchen equipment back up and running, so you can keep churning out delicious food for your customers. Whether it’s your deep fryer, walk-in refrigerator, or HVAC system, we can fix it. Contact us today for a quote.