It is important to perform maintenance on soft-serve machines. Several of the machines' parts need to be lubricated regularly. Break down and lubricate one machine each day, rotating through the machines in a cycle. This maintenance should be done in the morning before serving will begin. Below are instructiosn on how to break the machine down and perform the daily morning maintenance.

  1. Follow the instructions on the Hopper Cleaning page until step eight.
  2. Remove the face of the machine by loosening the nuts in an X patern, like a tire should be changed.
  3. Remove the beaters and reach into the freezing chambers. Pull out the drive shafts and gaskets (each drive shaft should have a gasket attached to it).
  4. Disassemble the machine face and the drive shaft and gasket units. Remove all three plungers, both primers, the pin, both o-rings and the three levers from the face. Remove the gasket from the drive shaft and turn it inside out. Remove all lubricant from the parts with paper towels.
  5. Wash all pieces well in hot, soapy water. Use the store's bottle brushes to clean out the spouts of the machine face, the holes for the plungers and the primer holes.
  6. Sanitize and dry all pieces.
  7. Re-lubricate the plungers and primers. By hand, spread the lubricant between the two black rings on the primers and plungers.
  8. Replace the plungers, primers, levers, o-rings, and the pin.
    Here are three images of how the re-assembled and lubricated face should look:
    Finished Face 1, Finished Face 2, Finished Face 3
  9. Flip the gaskets right-side out and generously lubricate the drive shafts. Only get lubricant between (but not on) where the gaskets attach and the hexagonal part of the drive shaft. Replace the gaskets.
  10. Replace the drive shaft and gasket assembly, then replace the beaters. Turn both sides of the machine to wash to make sure that the drive shafts and beaters are spinning correctly.
  11. While making sure to keep the o-rings in place, replace the machine face. Secure the face in the same fashion that it was taken off, in an X pattern.
  12. Resume with the hopper cleaning at step nine.