Covid19, glasswashers and saving money
Posted by Sean Coffey on 8th Jan 2021
Does My Glasswasher kill Covid19?
Please feel free to advance to the summary if you wish.
Most likely it does not and here's why. There are a few ways to kill this virus.
1 have a sanitiser pumped into the wash water of the machine, this method is very common in USA but has not been used in Australia for over 20 years as it relies on a chemical product to carry out the sanitation. To sanitise in Australia, hot water is used in the final rinse.
2 wash the glasses in 77C heated water but most old machines do not even have a wash component to the cycle but the models that do have wash water temperature set to 65C max. They rarely still heat and the cycle will work regardless. The Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) recommend to have a wash water below 60C ideally between 54-60C to prevent resilual food getting baked on to plates etc. so now most models will not even try to achieve this standard.
3 ANZFA give an alternative to soak in a sink of 77C water for over 30 seconds, the sink should have a heating element to maintain this temperature which again is a sytem no longer used in Australia.
4 and this is the main standard aspired to in Australia - a rinse for approx 15 seconds at 82C or more which is what nearly every glass washer sold in Australia try to achieve.
So in reality every glass washer try to use method 4 to achieve Sanatistion but why does your glass washer not achieve this?
Most older machines that are still installed all over Australia are just a rinse type machine only. This type of machine is loved everywhere because they just work. You press the start button and it starts and for 30 seconds you hear the water pump and a rinse on the glasses. You take out the rack then put in the next rack and again it just works. These machines use approx 10 litres of water that is sprayed using a pump from a single rinse tank and ends up down the drain. The water may well have been heated to 82c for the first cycle only to wasted down the drain, then in seconds a second cycle for the next rack is put in and again it goes through the cycle but of course this cycle is just spraying cold water over the glasses.
All glass washer machines use a basic 15 amp plug in so a little more power that a domestic kettle which takes a fair few minutes to heat one and half litres, so there is no way these glass-washer can get the rinse temperature up to 82C for the next cycle but it works, why you may wonder?
Why? Most of these machines have a test switch somewhere which is always on allowing the cycle to start regardless of the rinse temperature.
Is there a solution?
Yes thankfully there is and it actually saves running costs, labour, water, electricity and your money. The solution is a recirculate style washer designed with the benefits of a commercial dishwasher. It has a wash tank and this is used to wash the glasses usually for a minute, this part of the cycle washes the glasses and in fact a stronger than normal detergent can be used which can help avoid the old weekly glass soak. It then does a rinse of clean fresh water which is already up to 82C which cleans and sanitises the glasses. Because it only uses 2 litres of rinse water it can achieve this temperature pretty quickly.
So If I have a wash type machine is everything is OK?
No! A Lot of machines use an all in one plastic wash and rinse arm. This can give several issues as most of these type of machines use your hot water supply pressure to power the rinse. With all in one arms the hot water pressure may not have enough power to turn the heavy arm resulting in an ineffective rinse and no sanitation also as the wash part of the arm collects dirt etc it even gets harder to achieve rotation.
Another issue with the plastic arms are the rinse jets get clogged or go missing. Most machines I check out have have one of these problems. If the jets get blocked and actual still turns but now it has one less jet to power rotation and that circle of glasses do not get a rinse. A missing jet can be worse as it just divert all the water pressure away from the jets just out that hole so again no rinse.
No rinse is actually a huge concern, now your glasses are washed in dirty water but never rinsed clean. Besides not sanitising and cleaning your glasses it will show in bad beer pours.
Is there any machine that addresses all these problems?
Yes, as a service tech that services all brands and models of glasswashers there is a clear winner in design, functionality, Eco savings and does the job every time
What and Why?
The Washtech GM and here's some of the reasons why
* assured rinse temperature, the cycle will not finish until the rinse temperature reaches 83C
* all stainless wash and rinse arms, no plastic
* separated bottom rinse and wash arms, the rinse is a separate arm and will rotate independently of
the wash arm
* a water miser, uses only 2 litres of water per cycle which is all recycled back into the wash water
* power saving, if the machine is idle for 10 minutes it will stop all heating, when used again it will quickly recover as it washes but unlike other machines that heat all day regardless wasting electricity
* better results, the washtech GM-E clean glasses continually better than other models on the market and does it for years, stainless steel doesn't corrode.
* labour savings, here in Sydney working with Prime Chemicals we have eliminated the need for any of the weekly labour intense soak and rinse regime.
* Robust construction, build by Washtech at their Auckland factory with the GM they did not cut corners in construction.
* Soft start, Washtech have incorporated a soft start system with the wash pump, practically this stops glasses getting knocked over as with other glasswashers there is a big rush of water when the pump starts. The washtech GM uses clever tech to slowly get the wash pump up to full speed and the top and bottom wash arms slowly build up a balanced wash.
* Unique filter system, the GM filtered intake to the wash pump is positioned to take from the cleaner lower layer water.
* So many more, like 2 years warranty on the wash pump, ease of operation, backed up by Moffat service, can take 450mm X 450mm racks with an adaptor to take all glass washer racks, plug and play install it comes with every thing you need to install including 2 high quality water flexible hoses, optional cold rinse setting, detergent and rinse pumps as standard, can be used as alight duty dishwasher and comes with both a cup and plate rack.
As a service tech I would never recommend any equipment lightly as of course if anything isn't up to expectations as I have to back it up. The Washtech GM is a glass washer that I always get great feedback from. 7 years ago I installed a Washtech GM-E at my local pub, you can imagine the problems I would have if it didn't preform. His old system, a rinse style unit was costing him $500 every 2 months in water filters alone. His hot water had some kind of chemical in it that blocked everything so I connected the new GM-E to cold water. The first week he told me the beer was pouring so much better and it actually out performed his old machine time wise despite that was connected to cold water.
Summary
Washtech GM, gives assured rinse at 83C temperature, separate all stainless steel arms, turns off power when not in use, saves money as it uses less heating and less water. It can eliminate the weekly glass soak and clean.