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Soft Serve and Frozen Beverage Machine Winterization Guide

Soft Serve and Frozen Beverage Machine Winterization and Extended Storage Guide

Often, customers will elect to winterize their soft serve or frozen beverage machine, especially in areas that are heavily seasonal and the machines are only utilized in the summer or warm months.  This article explains the proper steps to take to winterize your Spaceman Soft Serve or Frozen Beverage machine with the best success for use in future years.  


Extended Storage / Winterization Steps
  1. Follow the operator instructions to fully disassemble, clean, and rinse all of the parts of your Spaceman machine.  Use a mild detergent and rinse the parts in clean water.   Ensure all parts are clean of all lubrication and allow to dry completely.

Warning:  Do NOT allow sanitizer or any cleaning solution to sit in the machine hopper, cylinder, or on any machine parts for extended periods of time.  This can cause damage to your machine.

  1. Wipe the cylinders, rear shell bearing, hoppers, and exterior of the machine down well, using a mild detergent if necessary.  Allow to dry completely.
  2. If your shutdown is only for a brief extended period (several days to several weeks), you can re-assemble the machine following the operator instructions, ensuring components are properly lubricated.  Once assembled, open the prime plug on the dispensing door to ensure no moisture gets trapped inside the door.

If your shutdown will be for several months, place your wearable plastic parts, gaskets, and o-rings in a plastic bag to avoid having them dry out.  Place all parts in a plastic storage bin and keep with the machine during the shut down.

Note:  Spaceman recommends replacing your wearable parts at the start of each new season.  We sell wearable parts in Soft Serve Tune Up Kits or Frozen Beverage Tune Up Kits and Scraper Blades are sold separately.  Replacing these parts after a long period of non-use is best for optimal machine performance.

  1. Unlpug the machine from building power, and secure in a dry place that will remain above freezing temperatures.
Taking machine out of Extended Storage
  1. Before starting your machine up, Spaceman highly recommends contacting your local authorized service agent to perform the following preventative maintenance steps prior to starting up your Spaceman machine after a period of extended storage.   This should be performed 1-2 weeks before intended use to ensure adequate time to resolve any issues.
    1. Clean condenser coils
    2. Inspect drive belts and hopper agitator belts for condition and tension.  Replace as necessary
    3. Clean interior of machine of food product, spillage, dust and debris.
    4. Inspect exterior of machine and all indicators, buttons, and switches and replace as necessary.
    5. Perform a Soft Serve: Functionality Check (spacemanusa.com) or FB: Troubleshooting Controls (spacemanusa.com) to ensure proper machine performance.

  2. Inspect all parts that touch food product.  Wearable parts such as Tune Up Kits and Scraper Blades should be replaced at the start of each season to ensure the best machine performance.  It is recommended to use fresh lubrication and sanitizer each year.  

  4. Spaceman stocks all other parts such as dispensing doors, draw valves, handles, hopper lids, etc.  These parts should be replaced when damaged or worn out.  All parts can be purchased at PartsTown.

  6. Assemble your machine according to the operator manual, using adequate lubrication and paying special attention to proper part orientation as these things can be easily forgotten after an extended time away from the machine.

  8. Refer to the Spaceman USA Technical Service | Training Knowledge Base for any questions or issues.