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- Buying Used Commercial Refrigeration: The 5-Minute Risk Check
Recall serials, compressor tells, coil history, and real price ranges: the checks that separate a $1,500 bargain from a $1,500 mistake. - What a Commercial Refrigerator Compressor Replacement Really Costs
About $1,000 installed on a common reach-in, up to $2,500 when the sealed system is involved. The parts, the labor, and the break-even against buying refurbished. - Used Undercounter Refrigeration: What to Pay and What to Walk From
Beverage-Air UCR48A used comps run $1,100-$1,599. Delfield 6051XL has no confirmed used price at all. Here is how to buy either one without guessing. - Used Glass-Door Merchandisers: GDM-49 Prices and the Recall Check
The True GDM-49 is named in an active CPSC fire recall. Check the serial first, then use the verified $1,250-$2,539 used band to negotiate. - Used Prep Tables: What Kills Them and What to Pay
Used True TSSU-48-12 comps land at $1,400-$2,160. Nobody publishes a compressor swap price for this line, which is exactly why you inspect before you offer. - True T-49 vs T-23 vs Turbo Air M3R47: Which Used Reach-In to Buy
Three reach-in workhorses compared on used price, failure modes, recall exposure, and what a compressor swap costs on each. - The Energy Cost of a Used Reach-In: What We Can and Cannot Prove
Coil neglect is the documented killer. The kWh penalty is the number nobody has actually measured, including us. - The 20-Minute Used Equipment Inspection, Step by Step
What to check on used commercial kitchen equipment, in order, with the sourced part prices behind each finding. Includes the clicking-compressor tell and the two recall checks that come before everything else. - Scale, Water, and Harvest Failures: Why Used Ice Machines Die Young
Mineral scale is the documented failure path on a used ice machine. Here are the real OEM part prices waiting at the end of it. - Auction "Original Price" Traps: How Not to Read Equipment Listings
We caught the same pricing trap on two different machines at the same auction house. One "original price" was higher than the unit costs new. Here is how the number gets built and what to use instead. - Commercial Refrigerator Compressor Replacement Cost: Documented Bands, Not Guesses
What a commercial reach-in compressor actually costs to replace, from sourced repair bands, and the math for deciding whether the box is even worth it. - The Scotsman Ice Machine Recall: Serials 05-09 and the Fix
CPSC 10-147: 14 Scotsman ice machine models, serials starting 05-09, solenoid arc fire hazard. The full model list read off the primary source, including the one model most summaries drop. - The 41°F Rule: Why a Dying Commercial Fridge Is a Compliance Emergency, Not a Repair Ticket
The FDA Food Code requires cold food held at 41°F or less, and a cooler that can't hold it forces mandatory discard of everything inside. The exact code sections, verbatim, and what they mean when your compressor starts dying. - Which FDA Food Code Does Your State Actually Run?
From FDA's own adoption report: which edition of the Food Code governs your kitchen, state by state. Four states run the 2022 code, South Dakota still runs 1995, and California never adopted any of them. The full table. - The True/Secop Compressor Recall: Every Affected Model and How to Check
CPSC 24-219: 15 True commercial refrigerator models with Secop NLE11MN compressors recalled for fire hazard. The full model list, the two models we checked and cleared, and the free repair. - Used Meat Slicers: Hobart 2812 vs Berkel 827A
Observed used prices, real OEM part costs, and the parts-catalog gap between the Hobart 2812 and the Berkel 827A. One of these machines costs three times more and has a cheaper motor. - Hobart vs Berkel vs Globe: Which Commercial Slicer to Buy Used
The three slicer brands you will actually cross-shop used, compared on what breaks, what the parts cost, and what a used one is worth. Real part prices from Parts Town, not guesses. - Hobart N50 vs HL200 vs D300: Which Used Planetary Mixer Size to Buy
Hobart's three most cross-shopped planetary mixers, by bowl size, what fails on each, and the very different repair-part bills. Real Parts Town prices, not estimates. - Finding Commercial Kitchen Parts Without Getting Burned: Part Numbers, Fitment, and the Popular Models Trap
Half the parts queries we see are people about to buy the wrong part. Here is how fitment actually works on parts sites, why the "Popular Models" line lies by omission, and the checks that take two minutes. - Why You Can’t Use a Home Refrigerator (or Range) in a Commercial Kitchen
A residential fridge is cheaper, but a health inspector can reject it, because the Food Code deems only ANSI/NSF-certified commercial equipment compliant. What that means when you buy used, cited to the FDA Food Code. - The Sinks and Dish Machine Your Health Inspector Requires Before You Open
A dish machine does not replace the three-compartment sink, and the handwashing sink is separate from both. The plumbing and equipment a commercial kitchen must have, and the hidden booster-heater cost, cited to the FDA Food Code. - Type I or Type II Hood? (And Why a Fryer Always Means Type I)
The single biggest hidden cost when you equip a kitchen: a grease-producing appliance forces a full Type I hood, exhaust and fire suppression. A dishwasher or proofer may only need the cheaper Type II. The rule, cited. - What Equipping a Commercial Kitchen Really Costs (It’s Not the Sticker Price)
The purchase price of a fryer or reach-in is the smallest part of what it costs. Energy over its lifetime, the hood and sinks it forces, and the risk of a used lemon all cost more. The total-cost view, with the ENERGY STAR numbers. - Grease Trap / Interceptor Requirements for a Commercial Kitchen
Plumbing code, not the health code, is what forces a grease interceptor: any fixture with grease-laden waste needs one, sized by a 30-minute retention formula. What the code requires, quoted, and why a home kitchen is exempt. - True T-49 vs Turbo Air M3R47-2: Same Failure, One Brand Runs Its Fans Harder
Both two-door reach-in refrigerators die the same way: a dirty condenser overworking the compressor. The documented difference is fin spacing and fan sizing, not the core failure mode. - Used Combi Ovens: The Rational Numbers We Have, and the Ones We Do Not
A $22,656 ceiling price, used comps that are all in euros and pounds, and two repair figures worth more than the guesswork around them. - Used Commercial Dishwashers: Hobart AM15 vs CMA-180
The discontinued Hobart is the cheaper used machine and has the deeper parts catalog. Real comps, 613 line items, and the CPSC search that lies to you. - Used Convection Ovens: Vulcan VC4GD vs Blodgett Zephaire
A 2006 recall that names one brand twice, a fan that fails for a cheap reason, and used comps that are not for the machine you think. - Used Commercial Fryers: Frymaster vs Pitco, and the Thermopile Question
The cheap failure and the expensive one look identical at the burner. Parts catalogs, a documented misdiagnosis, and the price data we could not source. - Used Commercial Gas Ranges: Vulcan vs Southbend vs Garland
One shared recall, one shared failure mode, and three parts catalogs that price it very differently. - Used Griddles: The Star 636TD, and Why Its Comps Are Not Its Own
No 636TD used listing exists to price against, Star is clear of the Robertshaw recall, and a thermostat that clicks is not a thermostat that works. - Used Hobart Mixers: H600 vs A200, and the Price We Could Not Confirm
A widely repeated $16,990 top-end that no listing supports, a $4,500 to $14,500 spread that may be two generations rather than two conditions, and what a teardown actually found. - Used Commercial Ice Machine Buying Guide: Manitowoc, Hoshizaki, Scotsman
One brand has a fire recall with a name-by-name model list. The other two have documented wear paths. Here is what to inspect and when to walk.