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A combi oven and a convection oven side by side on a restaurant line.

Gas or electric, repair or replace, lease or buy

Choosing and comparing
guides.

Gas or electric on the line, a combi or a convection oven, a door-type or a conveyor dish machine, leasing or buying, and when an aging commercial unit earns a repair and when it belongs on the replacement budget.

(844) 571-4566

Mon–Sat, 8am–8pm

  • Three guides
  • Read before you book
  • Says where to stop

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Choosing and comparing,
guide by guide.

This section is for the owner, general manager or kitchen manager who has to sign off on money: a repair estimate on an aging unit, a quote for a new oven, or an offer of a yearly service agreement. Each guide sets two options side by side and follows both forward into the years of running, cleaning and repairing that come after the purchase order.

All 18 guides
A working restaurant back of house with an older stainless reach-in cabinet standing open and half emptied, its lower front grille removed and leaning against the wall, a new stainless reach-in cabinet still on its shipping pallet beside it, a technician seen only from behind kneeling at the older unit, nothing outdoors.
5-minute read

Repair or Replace Commercial Equipment: The Failed Part, the Hours Lost and What a New Unit Asks

Which failures are routine and which point to a new unit, how to weigh downtime and lead times, the EPA limits on cooling gas in new cold storage, utility savings and the paperwork to check first.

A restaurant kitchen line after lunch service with a bank of stainless gas fryers and a combi oven, one fryer's lower door open, a service technician seen only from behind and shoulders down holding a clipboard checklist beside the fryers, a gas shutoff valve on the pipe below the fryers, nothing outdoors.
4-minute read

A Service Contract or Call-by-Call Repair: Matching Coverage to the Equipment You Run

What planned and full agreements buy, the yearly inspections fryer and combi makers already ask for, when paying per visit is enough, and the questions to settle in writing before you sign.

A restaurant kitchen line with a stainless combi oven and a stainless convection oven side by side under one stainless hood, the combi oven's door open to show its racks and a hand shower hose coiled at its side, a hotel pan of steamed vegetables on the worktop in front, a cook seen from behind in a white jacket, nothing outdoors.
5-minute read

Combi Oven or Convection Oven: Steam, Water Lines and the Upkeep That Comes With Each

How dry fan heat and controlled steam differ on the menu, the water pressure, quality and drain a combi needs, weekly and yearly upkeep for each, and which operations get their money's worth from steam.

Gas or electric, repair or replace, lease or buy.

The comparisons are between kinds of equipment and ways of looking after it, not between brands. A maker is named only where its own manual or a federal page supplies a figure worth checking, such as a water hardness limit, a descaling interval, a yearly inspection or a limit on the cooling gas in new cold storage, and that source is printed under the section that uses it.

We write from the service side. That means spending less time on features and more on what a choice asks of the building and the crew: the gas, circuit, water line and drain at the spot, the hood above it, the daily cleaning that keeps it running, and which parts wear first when a busy kitchen or laundry leans on it every day.

Your own operation still decides. Menu, volume, opening hours, the second unit that can carry the load during a repair and the people who will run the closing checklist matter more than any spec sheet, and a walk-through of the space before an order is placed is cheaper than living for ten years with the wrong unit.

Not sure where to start?

The short answerRepair or Replace Commercial Equipment: The Failed Part, the Hours Lost and What a New Unit Asks

Whether to repair or replace commercial equipment depends on which part failed, what the downtime costs per shift, and what a new unit would ask of the building.

The short answerA Service Contract or Call-by-Call Repair: Matching Coverage to the Equipment You Run

A commercial equipment service contract pays off where the makers already call for yearly inspections, where a failure stops service, and where scale, grease or lint build up on a schedule.

The short answerCombi Oven or Convection Oven: Steam, Water Lines and the Upkeep That Comes With Each

Choosing a combi oven or convection oven comes down to whether the menu needs controlled moisture.

When reading
is not enough.

If the checks in these guides did not settle it, the visit picks up from there, stop by stop.

What repairs cost
  1. 01Safety and supply before anything else
  2. 02The cause, and what it costs
  3. 03Parts that ride along
  4. 04Proved under load before we leave

The problems
these answer.

Each has a page of its own, with the causes in the order worth checking.

All 17 problems
A two-door stainless reach-in cabinet in a busy commercial kitchen, one door standing slightly ajar with a torn gray gasket at the hinge edge, shelves inside crowded with food pans pressed to the back, a probe thermometer resting on the top shelf. Problem

Reach-In Cooler Not Holding Temperature Through a Shift

6 causes, cheapest first

 The heavy stainless door of a walk-in cooler standing wide open onto a commercial kitchen, a torn clear strip curtain hanging to one side, shelves inside with covered food pans and crates, a digital thermometer on the wall showing only a warm amber glow. Gas, fire, food at risk or water near power

Walk-In Cooler Warm Above 41°F With Food Inside

6 causes, cheapest first

 A stainless commercial fryer on a kitchen line with its oil sitting still and pale in the vat, two empty wire baskets hanging on the rack above, the burner sight opening at the front dark. Problem

Commercial Fryer Not Heating or Slow to Recover Between Baskets

6 causes, cheapest first

 A stainless door-type dish machine with its hood raised, a rack of clean white plates inside with steam faintly rising, two round analog gauges on its front with their needles resting low, a stack of empty racks on the landing table beside it. Problem

Dish Machine Not Reaching Temperature on the Wash or Final Rinse

6 causes, cheapest first
A restaurant team working a busy commercial kitchen line.
For the heart of your home.

Questions about
choosing and comparing.

Do these guides recommend particular makers?
No. They compare designs, fuels and service arrangements. Makers appear only where their published manuals give a number or a rule you can check against your own unit.
Can a technician look at our current equipment before we decide to buy new?
Yes. A diagnostic visit names the failed part, says whether it is still made and notes anything else wearing out, which is usually what turns a repair-or-buy question into a clear answer.
Do the guides cover leasing?
Not in depth. Rates and terms are for your dealer and accountant. If you lease, read who the agreement makes responsible for repairs and upkeep, since that decides whether the service advice here falls to you or to the lessor.
Is this section useful for a laundromat or an on-premise laundry?
Yes. The repair-or-replace and service agreement guides apply to card and coin laundry machines as much as to a cooking line, and they point out where laundry upkeep differs.

The other
sections.

Split by what you are trying to find out rather than by which part of the appliance it concerns.

All guides
A thermometer on a walk-in cooler shelf reading warm, seen close.
What the box, the vat and the drum are telling you

Common problems

A finger on the controller keypad of a reach-in cabinet, the display dark.
Safe checks with the unit off

Troubleshooting

A soft brush and a shop vacuum at the condenser grille of a reach-in cabinet, the unit off.
A maintenance plan that keeps the line running

Maintenance and prevention

A Class K extinguisher mounted beside a fryer line under a hood.
Gas, fryer fires, safe holding and the health inspector

Gas, fire and food safety

A gas quick-disconnect hose and a restraining cable behind a commercial fryer.
Clearances, utilities, drains and airflow

Installation and setup

Not sure which section?

Start from your question

The four questions most visits start with, each with the guide that answers it.

18 guidesWhere to start Where to start

Back to your everyday

Let’s get your commercial appliance working again.

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