DISHWASHING MACHINES

There is an infinite variety of dishwashing machines that cater

to the foodservice operator's special problems of dish volume,
labor shortage and lack of space. The major machines will be
described briefly. Most machines are designed around the
20-inch dish rack, 22-inch hospital tray and 28-inch banquet
tray.
Single Tank Stationary Rack Door Type
Single tank, stationary rack door type machine consists of a
tank of wash water and detergent at a set temperature which is
circulated by an electric motor-drive pump through spray
nozzles above and below a rack of dishes. It may have a hood,
cover or door through which the rack of dishes is inserted.
Final rinsing is done by fresh hot water introduced by a
separate set of pipes or nozzles. If set in a counter, it may be
known as a "counter-type machine". If rinse water uses the
same nozzles as the wash water and both wash water and rinse
water are dumped after each cycle "single temperature" may
be added to the above title. If chemical sanitizer in the water is
used in place of 180F water for rinsing, the machine title
includes "chemical sanitizing" machines. Doors may be on
one or more sides.
Conveyor-Rack Dish Machine

single-tank, contains one tank of hot wash water with

detergent spray on the dishes top and bottom, driven by a
power pump. A final rinse of fresh 180F-plus water from the
hot water line is used to remove wash water and sanitize. A
new feature is a conveyor that carries the dishes over the
sprays and through the machine at a timed rate of speed. A
variation of this is the two-tank machine where the final rinse
is preceded by a pumped rinse through nozzles above and
below the rack after it his passed over the wash-water tank.
The second tank holds the rinse water at a thermostatically
controlled temperature. This is followed by the usual final
rinse.
To obviate the need for extensive prescraping of the soiled
dishes, some dish machines have a third tank with water
below 120F for prerinsing the gross soil from the dishes
before they go over the washwater tank. The addition of each
tank adds to the length of the machine. Also, there should be
table space at the entrance to the dishwasher to line up two or
three racks of dishes (approximately 40% of the table space)
and space for three to five racks of dishes (approximately 60%
of the table space) at the exit end of the dishwasher to permit
the dishes to air dry before stacking in carriers. Usually some
type of conveyor is desirable for returning the racks from the
clean end to the soiled dish end of the dishwasher to eliminate
excessive walking.

Conveyor-rack dish machine in its simplest form, the

There are two common variations of the rack machine. One
permits the loading of the rack into the side

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of the loading end of the machine rather than through the end.
After washing and rinsing the dishes the machine discharges
the racks through the same side at the exit end of the
dishwasher. This permits placing the machine across the
narrow end of a small room and having the soiled dish table
and clean dish table come down the sides with the operators in
the center aisle.
The other type of rack machine is the carousel dishwasher
where the exterior part of the rack conveyor forms a
continuous loop from exit to entrance end of the dishwasher.
It may form two semi-circles in and out of the machine and
then run parallel to the machine, but it is not limited to that
configuration. Some machines have the racks fixed to the
conveyor; others have the racks removable. While it is not
desirable to have one person handle both soiled and clean
ware 'this machine allows one person to both load and unload
the machine during stack times if he washes his hands
between handling the soiled and the clean dishes. While it is
expensive, the carousel machine obviates the need for a rack
return conveyor from the clean to the soiled end of the
dishwasher. Freshwater and Steckler rate carousel type
dishwashers into three types based on rack capacity per
hour-Type 1, 180 racks; Type 11, 387; and Type 111. 480
racks per hour.
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Flight Dishwasher
The flight dishwasher operates on the same principle as the
conveyor rack machine except that the dishes and trays are
hand-placed between rows of plastic-tipped pegs to make up a
continuous conveyor that travels around through the machine
in a vertical plane. The width of the conveyor and the distance
between the crosswise rows of pegs varies between makes and
models of machines. Racks of glasses, cups and silverware are
placed on top of the pegs. These machines are necessarily
long to allow sufficient space to hand load them and to permit
the ware to dry after rinsing before removal.
There are other types of dishwashing machines. Some are
modifications of those described. Some tank types wash the
dishes either by forceful movement of water or application of
ultrasonics while the dishes are immersed in the water. Then
there are various types of glass-washers and silverware
washers. The most prevalent are flatware washers that tumble
the ware as it washes. Some also perform a sorting function.
Silverplate is burnished by tumbling it in a rotating cylinder of
small steel balls.

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Selection of Proper Capacity Machine

Practically all dishwashers are rated on the basis of the
maximum number of pieces of dishware and flatware that they
will wash per hour. However, most foodservice consultants
discount these figures by using a practical 70 percent of the
rated capacity. A machine rated at 5000 pieces per hour would
wash 3500 pieces per hour.
Thus, if an operator plans to feed 500 customers over a
two-hour period and the average customer will generate 15
soiled pieces of ware, this means 7500 pieces for two hours or
3,750 pieces per hour. However it is usually not economical to
buy equipment capacity for the peak period but rather the
dishes should be scraped and stacked during the peak period
and washed over a two to four hour period. This enables the
use of a smaller, less expensive machine. It is not economical
to run a dishwasher except at full capacity, as energy,
detergent and hot water are wasted.
From their research, Freshwater and Steckler recommend the
door-type machine for handling 1,400 pieces per hour and
either the carousel-Type I or two-tank conveyor rack types for
3000--5,200 pieces per hour. For 7,000-9,000 pieces per hour,
they recommend the carousel Type 11 or Type 111, the
three-tank conveyor-rack type or the flight type machine. For
cafeterias, they recommended the door type for 1,100 pieces
per hour, carousel Type I or two-tank conveyor-rack for
capacity between 3,000 and 4,100 pieces per hour and the
carousel Type [I or Type III, the three-tank conveyor or the
flight type for 6,000 and 8,100 per hour.

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A formula sometimes used for flight type machine's usable

capacity determination is
C = 120WV- X .70 (percentage of rated capacity)
D
C = usable capacity
W = conveyor width in inches
V = conveyor speed in feet per minute
D = distance between rows of pegs in inches
Capacities of flight type machines of two widths are given in
Table 13-5.
TABLE 13-5
Capacity of Flight Type Dishwashers
Belt Width of 22.5 Inches
Belt Speed
No. Dishes
No. Dishes
Per Min.
Per Hour
5 ft. per min.
130
7,800
8 ft. per min.
180
10,800
12 ft. per min.
270
16,200
Belt Width of 28.5 Inches
5 ft. per min.
143
8,580
8 ft. per min.
228
13,680
12 ft. per min.
342
20,520
Other Dishroom Equipment
Dishes can arrive in the dishroom by hand, on trays, in bus
pans, on bus carts or by conveyor.

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Dishroom Environment
Generallv, dishrooms are quite warm and humid. To make
them better places in which to work and for dishes to dry,
hoods and steam removal ducts should be placed over the
entrance and exit ends of the dishwasher. In addition, there
should be a forced air inlet to the room to bring in cool, dry
air.
The floor should be free of hard-to-get-at crevices and made
of easy-to-clean terrazzo or quarry tile with a coating of a
small or moderate amount of abrasive material to prevent
slipping. It should be pitched one-fourth inch to the foot

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toward several floor drains so that the floor can be washed

down by a hose.
Walls may be of glazed or other easy-to-clean tile or cement
up to five to six feet from the floor as specified in some health
codes. Due to the noisy nature of dishrooms, the walls above
the tile to the ceiling and the ceiling itself are best done in an
easy-to-clean acoustic tile if the health authorities allow. The
under side of dish tables should be coated with a special
mastic to reduce the clatter of dishes and racks.

Lighting is particularly important as 30-50 foot candles of

light are needed overall with 70-100 foot candles required at
the clean end of the dishwasher to make transparent films
visible.

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10. Use one weight of china since a heavy piece sitting on a

light one will shatter it if they are set down vigorously.

Reducing Dish Breakage

Dish breakage accounts for approximately 14 percent of the
dishwashing cost. There are a number of things that can be
done to reduce this breakage:

11. Handle and transport china in the same rack in which it is

washed, if possible.

1. Keep flatware separated from the dishes. It chips the dish

rims, and if a dish is set down heavily with a small mass of
flatware on it, the dish can be broken.

12. Train, train and train and then supervise workers in the
proper ways of doing their jobs and reacting to various
situations.

2. Place heavy dishes in the center of tray. It gives carrying

stability.

13. Consider use of rubber-backed carpets for dishrooms and

kitchens if health codes permit. Where used, they have paid
for themselves in one year of reduced dish breakage.

3. Make dishroom personnel cost conscious. Place the price of

the most frequently broken pieces of china as well as the
number of pieces broken and total cost on a wallboard in the
dishroom.
4. Keep records on breakage and give incentives for lowered
breakage. Keep a chart posted to show progress in breakage
reduction.
5. Set up a definite pattern of traffic lanes to be followed by
those heavily laden with soiled dishes.
6. Do not permit dishes to be dumped out of bus pans.
7. Use easily cleaned protective rubber or plastic mats or
covering on dish tables racks, dishwasher pegs or other
locations where individual dishes strike.

Evaluating a Dishwashing System

1. Is the best tableware system being used for the type of
operation? Heavy ware or paper ware for fast food?
2. Are there any customer complaints about dirty ware?
3. What does it cost to wash a dish? Is it under 1 1/4 cents per
dish? Aim for 3/4 cents per dish!
4. Is dishroom properly located for good dish-and worker
flow'
5. Is the mechanical dishwasher the proper type and capacity
for the operation?
6. Are the detergent and rinse aids effective and economical?

8. Place guards on sides of flight-type dishwashers where the

loader is apt to overshoot the edges.
9. Place china pieces together rather than slide them together
in a fashion that may remove the glaze.

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7. Is the dishroom properly staffed and supervised?

8. Are the workers carefully selected, trained and motivated?

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