We will start with the very very basic overview. Most of this should be known, but it is important to cover the fundamentals first. That is my disclaimer. ;)
The biggest downside of any material possession is always the cost of ownership. In terms of your car, it is gasoline, maintenance, and cleaning melted M&M's off the backseat from last weekends kiddie carpool. When it comes to your clothes, it is washing, pressing, folding, and hanging. In more of a facility maintenance sense, a HVAC unit needs its filters changed, coils cleaned, bearings lubricated, and a long list of other things. This is a responsibility we accept when we obtain a material possession.
Why do we take care of these responsibilities? The question is simple enough. We want to maintain the best possible condition of our belongings so they don't become damaged, broken, worn, and in the long run cost us more money and unneeded hardships. This act of maintaining is often called preventative maintenance. It is a largely accepted term that basically means protecting your investments now to reduce long term higher costs of ownership later.
EXAMPLE:
Look at this air conditioning unit:
"So what Greg? Why all the common sense explanation?"
Well, there is another piece to this. While ripped clothes only effects us personally, many things have a ripple effect on everyone around us. Everyone can be affected by our inabilities to take responsibility.
Let's look at a company. A business grows based on increased revenues from an expanding customer base. Would you eat in a restaurant on a 110 degree day without an A/C unit? How many guests do you lose? If a piece of exposed wiring that costs $20 to fix causes a fire and destroys your companies credibility, how much money do you lose?
Preventative maintenance, to me, has main components of which I will list a few:
1. It always costs less to maintain a new piece of equipment than it does to replace it. This is true in a majority of all things. It is cheaper to wash your clothes than replace your clothes. It is cheaper to put oil in your car...you get the point. Plus, properly maintained equipment keeps everything and everyone running smoothly. It is all about maintaining the business plan and profitability as well as consumer confidence.
2. Preventative maintenance has it's eventual limitations! I would like to say that preventative maintenance can be done forever, but eventually, it will be cheaper to replace than repair. It may not be for 20 years, but eventually, you will have to replace your equipment. The key is knowing when it is time to stop dumping the money in, and start saving up for replacement.
3. Preventative maintenance is only as good as the person performing the preventative maintenance. As much as you are mechanically inclined, would you say there are better options available? My point is, if you hired an untrained technician to perform work for you, preventative maintenance isn't going to be as preventative as if you hired a professional. KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE!
SIDE NOTE: These are just basic concepts and principals. Please don't go home an try to maintain your toothbrush. Just buy a new one.
OK! I think that is enough on PM (preventative maintenance). There are millions of companies out there that can provide PM programs for millions of assets that could explain this all better than I have, in much more detailed research papers, with better jokes. I am pretty sure we all know about cost of ownership and the responsibility we have to ourselves and those around us. Let's talk about the exciting world of grease containment service!
As you can probably gather, every single type of grease containment system on the market today needs maintenance. Until someone figures out how to make these FOG's (Fats, Oils, and Greases), and chemicals just disappear when they are done, it is an enviable reality. Even toxic waste is just buried....it doesn't go away. To me, the main problem is lack of concern, and lack of education. Either you know about the problem and just don't care, or you are blissfully unaware of any issue at all. That could be said for almost everything in life couldn't it?
I get phone calls everyday from a restaurant owner who has a leaking roof because grease has damaged their roofing system. In most cases, they were unaware that grease even had the ability to get to the roof in the first place, and then, cause damage. It really is quite an amazing thing. I mean, come on, if I walked up to you with the sales pitch that grease is destroying your roof you would write me off as another crack pot insurance salesman. The good news is, the sales pitch is a reality and these restaurant owners have been pointed in the right direction. Getting a good grease containment system in place is a wise move. Especially if you want to dodge the $5000 roofing repair bill. I think most people can understand that spending $1000 on a containment system that prevents $5000 repairs is fiscally sound. Truthfully, most people, when hearing how it works, do make that investment. Even better, it works!
As time progresses however, the maintenance side of having a grease containment system can become neglected or forgotten about. There are tons of reasons for this to happen including everything from changed tenants and staff, to "out of sight out of mind". Bottom line is, eventually the filter media inside of these systems fills up and needs to be replaced. It is, in some cases, the biggest downside of a proper grease containment system. To make it even more difficult, it needs to be maintained quarterly or in some cases even monthly depending on how much grease you are putting onto the rooftop. If you take your eyes off it for even a day too long, you have a wasted investment. That is usually when I get an angry phone call:
Yeah, that is how it goes, and that is the face that I am sure they are making. As you can imagine, my first question is "when was the last time you maintained the unit?" to which the reply is some form of the word never. Other companies will even go as far as using this lack of maintenance as a sales pitch to promote their solution which needs just as much maintenance. Look at this video I found on YouTube:
This is a classic containment system that has not been properly maintained. As the manufacturer of this particular product, we try to sell service with every single unit we put out the door. We have a national self performing service team that can do the work, we teach exhaust cleaners and HVAC companies on proper maintenance procedures, we write blogs, we do everything we can to prevent a containment system from going beyond its capabilities. I can say that most grease containment companies do the same exact thing. Unfortunately, we cannot force preventative maintenance on anyone as much as it is vital. It is for that exact reason I am writing this post. You need to be educated on the maintenance of grease containment.
I know, I know, in today's economy there just isn't any money left over at the end of the month to take care of everything. Let me give you this piece of advice. If you cannot afford containment, then uninstall it at the very least. Grease in a containment system is a fuel tank. Get the fuel tank off of your roof. Then plan on going on that rooftop weekly and washing it off. If you don't, you will regret it sooner or later. ALSO, please don't try to implement your own invention. I won't delve into it, but please, get a real containment system that is proven to work.
SO, how exactly do you maintain a grease containment system? Here are some questions to ponder when implementing a grease containment program into your system:
1. How much grease am I producing at a rooftop level? A alot? a little? How much containment do I need?
2. Where is the grease coming from? Exhaust fans? All of them? Is grease coming out of all four sides?
3. How often do I get my kitchen exhaust cleaning done? Should I increase the frequency?
4. Is my exhaust cleaner making my rooftop grease problem better or worse? Are the blasting grease particles all over my roof with their equipment? Should I change exhaust cleaners?
5. Who is going to install the containment systems? New construction team? Exhaust Cleaner? Manufacturer?
6. Who is going to maintain the containment system over the life cycle? Kitchen exhaust cleaner? HVAC contractor? Manufacturer?
Asking just these simple six questions can eliminate a lot of issues later down the road. Being aware of the whole process before implementing is vital. Just buying the system is only half of having it.
Everyone who will be involved or effected by the containment system should be aware of it as well. Your kitchen exhaust cleaner will need to cover the containment system or protect it during cleanings so they need to know the proper procedure for that.
A roofing company will need to know to reinstall the units with new filters after completing roof repairs on a grease containment system that wasn't properly maintained.
You get the picture.
Luckily, most containment companies will provide you with nice efficient methods of implementing these systems (or should). It is important to arm yourself with the knowledge as well though so you aren't left wondering when a hole appears on the rooftop and the blame game begins.
Here are a few good pieces of advice for a proper grease containment system straight from me:
1. Tell your KEC (Kitchen Exhaust Cleaning) provider to call your grease containment company and mandate they follow proper due care procedures for all containment systems.
2. When doing roof work, make sure grease containment is included in the plans (it is easily forgotten).
3. Make sure you have installation and maintenance on your grease containment systems by knowledgeable, manufacturer approved teams.
4. Make sure your containment maintenance frequency is set to at least quarterly, especially for the first year. In the first year, you will not know how often you need service so changing frequency is not recommended.
5. Make sure you have the proper containment system for your needs. Their are different products with different approaches and some may or may not work for you. Talk to your grease containment Account Executive.
Final point, GET MAINTENANCE ON YOUR GREASE CONTAINMENT IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT OR UNINSTALL THE SYSTEM! Talk to a professional with your questions.
To close this up, I want to show you pictures of containment systems that haven't been maintained. These are always serious issues, but seeing is believing. I will update these as well. This will also show you alternate containment systems that are not effective at all, like the pickle bucket...
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