Standard visit
Monday to Friday, until 6pm
£100
including the first hour of labour
then £25 per 30 minutes
Home›Not heating
Heating faults · Bristol
Commercial Dishwasher & Glasswasher Not Heating in Bristol
Water that never gets properly hot can leave grease on plates and glasses, and means the machine may not be sanitising. I trace heating faults on glasswashers, undercounter dishwashers, passthrough machines and pot washers across Bristol, then tell you what has failed and what it will take to bring the machine back up to temperature.
Or email joshua@
You deal with me, the engineer, directly.
Fully insured (£5m public liability) and DBS checked.
Two heaters
How a commercial machine heats its water
Many commercial warewash machines have two separate heaters. One keeps the wash tank hot; the other, in the rinse boiler, brings the final rinse up to a higher temperature to sanitise. A problem with either shows up differently: a cold wash can leave greasy plates and dull glasses, while a cool rinse can mean items come out wet and not properly sanitised.
Some machines also wait for the rinse boiler to reach temperature before finishing a cycle. If that boiler is struggling, the first sign is often cycles that drag on far longer than usual, rather than water that feels cold.
Safe checks
Before you call
- Read the displayIf the machine shows wash and rinse temperatures, note them down. Those figures tell me a lot.
- Allow time after fillingA freshly filled tank needs a while to heat up from cold. If it never gets there, something is wrong.
- Check the isolatorMake sure the machine’s isolator is fully on. If a breaker or RCD has tripped, leave it off and let me know.
- Check the water supplyAn inlet valve left partly closed can upset filling, and on many machines the heaters won’t run until the level is right.
- Leave the covers onElements, thermostats and safety cut-outs sit behind panels at mains voltage. That part is for an engineer.
Common causes
What can cause it
A common cause is a failed element, often after years of limescale building up on it. Scale acts like insulation, so the element runs hotter to heat the water and can eventually burn out.
Other causes include a thermostat or temperature probe giving false readings, a contactor whose contacts have burnt so power never reaches the element, an over-temperature safety cut-out that has operated, or a level fault that stops the heaters switching on. On three-phase machines, losing one phase can leave a tank warming, but far too slowly.
I test each part of the heating circuit in turn, rather than replacing parts on guesswork. If a safety cut-out has tripped, I also look for the reason, because it rarely operates without one.
Pricing
The price covers coming out to you and the first hour of labour. Any extra time after that is charged in 30-minute blocks.
No VAT to add. The price you see is the price you pay.
Evening & Saturday visit
Weekdays after 6pm, and Saturdays
£150
including the first hour of labour
then £35 per 30 minutes
Sunday & bank holiday visit
All day
£200
including the first hour of labour
then £50 per 30 minutes
Parts are always quoted and agreed before fitting. No hidden extras, so you’ll know the cost before any work goes ahead.
Every job comes with an invoice. Payment is due on visit completion, by bank transfer or cash. Account terms are available for regular customers.
FAQ
Questions customers ask
What temperature should my machine reach?
It depends on the make and model, and the manufacturer gives the figures in the handbook. As a rule, the final rinse runs hotter than the wash, and glasswashers often rinse cooler than dishwashers to protect the glass. I can check both against the manufacturer’s settings.
Is it safe to use a machine that isn’t getting hot?
Items may look clean, but without the correct rinse temperature the machine isn’t sanitising them. In kitchens serving vulnerable people, such as care homes and schools, that matters even more, so wash by hand until it has been checked.
Why are my machine’s cycles taking longer than usual?
Often because the machine is waiting for the rinse water to reach temperature before it will rinse. A weak or scaled rinse element, or a faulty thermostat or probe, is a common reason.
Can limescale stop a machine heating?
Yes. Scale builds up on elements and probes, which shortens element life and can make temperature readings unreliable. Working water softening helps prevent it.
How much does a heating repair cost?
The standard weekday visit is £100 including the first hour of labour, then £25 per 30 minutes. A replacement element or thermostat is quoted and agreed with you before I fit it.
Contact
Machine running cold? Get in touch
Tell me the make and model and the temperatures on the display, and I’ll take it from there.