Soda machine nozzles

[Mike Blakesley]

Is there any kind of goop that can be put on soda machine diffuser nozzles that makes them easier to remove? We have a Cornelius machine (around 20 years old) and it's like pulling teeth out of an elephant to get those damn things off. They are removed twice a week for cleaning and my concession people are constantly saying they're near impossible to pull off. I can't disagree...it's a major pain in the butt to separate them from the machine.

Any thoughts?

[Tony Bandiera Jr]

There is a food grade silicone grease that is used on other machines that would work well. You'd just need a light smear on the nozzles o-rings and they'll quit sticking. We had it when I worked at the Laemmle Grande decades ago, and I used it on my soda machine at home. I don;t recall a brand but I'm sure a web search or talking to your concessions suppler will source some.

[Barry Floyd]

There is a food grade silicone grease

Petrol Gel. It's a clear, Vaseline looking stuff that comes in a tube. We use it for the O-rings on the slushy machine.

We clean our nozzles on both machines every night. They'll get funky and gooey if you don't. Never thought of using it on the fountain machine nozzles, but it makes since.

[Frank Angel]

I silicone grease on my modified SodaStream at home on the connectors. I found a guy who makes and adaptor for the SodaStream unit that allows a standard 5lb C02 tank to be used with the unit instead of their wimpy 6L tank that they've outfitted with their proprietary connectors, forcing you to only use their tank at an exorbitant markup for each C02 refill. This adaptor attached to any standard tank saves a ton of money on refills. And to keep the connectors easy to unscrew, I use just a light schmear of CRC Food Grade Silicone Lubricant, 10 Oz -- $25 bucks at Amazon. But then I found that the Chinese company Temu sells their High-Performance Lubricant: Waterproof, Food Grade, 8.5Cm/3 tubes for $1.84 the pack -- gives you some idea of how much Amazon markets up the stuff the get from China, yet they'll make their line worker pee in a bottle to avoid breaks, or so I've heard (and they've got to bring their own bottle to boot)!

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Most of the theaters I've serviced over the last 40 years always removed the nozzles at night, and soak them in something. Never asked what that something is.