We have custard machine model CC303A. Every night we have to clean custard out of the back of the machine because it leaks in there from either the hoppers or barrels. I can’t seem to find which part I need to replace. Any ideas?

[ectofix]

The CC-303A is made by Stoelting.  I guess Vollrath owns them.

 

Is this your machine?

http://stoeltingfoodservice.com/Stoelting-CC303-1978.htm

 

Here’s a link for some CC-303A manuals:

http://stoelting.us/CC303.html

 

There’s an o-ring inside of the auger’s rear support bushing that might have failed.  The bushing might be compromised as well.  The manuals I linked you to are a bit sketchy regarding the names of what’s what…and I’m not there for a “hands on” to see what they look like.

 

To identify the correct parts that you’ll need to stop that leak, I suggest that you call Stoelting directly at 800-558-5807.

[fixbear]

check the beater shaft for a wear groove.  If no groove you only need to replace the shaft seals in the back.  Make sure to clean out the drain holes.  Make sure to lubricate the seals and shaft with Petrol-gel on assembly. Also check that the rear bearing is not loose allowing the shaft to go out of center.  Also inspect the shaft hole for cleanliness and that there is no wear.  Remember that you need 2 lubricants on the shaft rear.  Petro-gel for the seal and a anti seize for the hex.  Now inspect the frount housing and bushing for any axial wear. It has to keep the agitator to the rear to have a good seal.

[ectofix]

That’s very technical, fixbear.  Maybe they should have a technician look at it? 🙂

[fixbear]

Considered normal daily maintenance for the operator.  They also can’t mix the augers and scrapers from side to side when cleaning, as they will wear differently, wear quicker, and require replacement.  Probably what has happened here.

[guest]

Yeah, what he said!

[fixbear]

Anyone that has serviced soft machines,  Knows that they have to disassemble them every 1 to 4 days and fully clean, sanitize, lubricate, and dump any left over product. I have had to teach dozens of locations on how to do it right.  Most ignore the manual and cause problems of there own making.  When they don’t keep the scrapers and auger or pump gears , housings together on the correct side they have leaks and excessive wear.  Sometimes to the cylinder.  Causing a need to replace the whole machine due to a worn out cylinder that leaks refrigerant.  Only $30,000 today or more for a Carpagina..(old Cold-e-lite). 

 

They also seem to forget parts or part placement on reassembly.  Anyone that has had one for a few years will have extra seal, “O” rings, sanilube and sometimes blades in stock for the reassembly process. It’s not uncommon for them to have $500 in spares on hand.  And you wonder why that custard cone cost so much today.  Let alone that the good mixes are at least 12% to 16% butterfat. and cost $20 per gallon or  more.

[ectofix]

I’d never dealt with soft-serve machines much when I was in the field.  Only enough to learn their basic concepts of operation (the auger motor amp draw rules it all).

 

Where I’m working NOW, we have two venues that use such machines.  An old Electro-freeze in our hamburger joint… and (thankfully) some Taylors in our “you-make-your own yogurt” place.  Those Taylors replaced some worn-out Spaceman units.

 

I had to get smartened up when the yogurt place kept calling us with incessant problems with those Spaceman units.  The Spacemans were wearing out, they were pressurized air systems…and their parts support SUCKED.  Not only that, I found myself having to educate the venue’s managers and operators on things that they weren’t doing correctly…such as how each product’s overall ingredients dictated some specific tailoring of their machine’s settings…and how important that user-level regular maintenance is.  I got them to start keeping a well-supplied kit of spare O-rings, lube and other stuff to use during their regular cleanings.

 

Anyway, since those Spacemans were replaced with the Taylors, all has been well (so far).

 

During MY education, I made a copy of an article I’d found which was written by http://softservemachine.com/.  As of NOW, they unfortunately appear to be a defunct domain on the internet.  Nevertheless, I’ll take the risk of plagiarizing a pretty good article they’d written.  Here’s MY copy of it:  Machine Basics

[fixbear]

Being in a vacation area of upstate NY,  (ADK) soft serve machines are a big draw card.  I’ve worked on many over the year’s, and the best are the old Cold-a-lite machines that today are owned by Carpagino of Italy.  They have the best holding temp system (separate compressor), Torque monitoring system,  And mix metering/pump system. There specialized timing relay is priority and expensive, but the best machine and reliable.  Next I would say a Electro freeze bottom supply machine with a pump system. Rugged, reliable and always constant. Tends to overmix if not used enough.  Taylor’s-  let’s not go there.  Expensive parts, prone to break down and lack of consistancy.  Common to develop leaks in the cylinder.  The one thing they have going for them is the Flavor-burst system.  Only a $29,000 addition. There mix metering system sucks. 

 

Then we are down to several small machines that are inexpensive and all over the place on product delivery.  They just don’t have the controls and mix quality of the primary 3.  And definately a problem if you are trying to convert to Dole-Whip or Gelato.

 

BTW, for premium mouth feel and max profit I have found over the years that 12% butter fat and 65% overrun at 17 degrees is the optimum.  Higher butterfat cost to much, lower requires less overun for the mouth feel. This is the optimum for customer appeal and sales.  Most everyone in this area use Bordens.Mix. (Carnation) (you know, Daisy the Gurnsey cow)  And it is available from 8% to 20%

 

All the quality machines have one thing in common,  They use torque sensing, not temp control for the mix cylinders. Temp control is only used for standby and holding temperatures.  Carpagina has a timer that cycles the augers and compressors every 10 minuets if not used for a draw. and max 2 min run unless a valve is opened.

[isitfridayyet]

We have a lot of Taylor machines, & our  most common issues are operator errors ,usually not priming the mix, or loosing parts after cleaning….etc… They are not bad machines, but if you think Spaceman was hard to get tech support…. wait till you try Taylor. They are extremely proprietary & you will have to beg, borrow, & steal to get any info. For a facility that does their own maintenance (I’m in the same boat), you probably want to see if you can get certified by them, or switch to a manufacturer that’s not as proprietary. We have several brands now in our facilities……& they all make ice cream. But gimme someone who supports their product anytime over the guy that’s going to make you spend hours getting information.

[fixbear]

We have a short season here.  Memorial day to Labor day is the only time you can get custard style ice cream.  So the machines set all winter and have to work like mad all summer. I had one customer that had 5 Carpigino 880’s and 3 shake machines.  Lines sometimes 50 to 100 long But they have a excellent crew and work quick.  Never seen the line take more than 10 min.