Frequently Asked Questions

Starting with REALice® you have to adjust your brine temperature up (warmer) right away. As you lower the temperature of the resurfacing water you go up (warmer) with the brine temperature. Observe the snow produced on the ice. Best ice produces powdery snow. Start using the wash water with every ice clean. The wash water will fill the gouges. Operators using REALice end up resetting their brine temperature 3-5°F warmer.

Yes, just ensure ALL water is treated through the REALice system. However, we strongly recommend that you make/rebuild ice using the REALice handheld with the misting adaptor – you will be surprised at how quickly you are able to build your surface up. 

If using ice paint, mix the ice paint using REALice- treated water at full water pressure through either the wall unit or the handheld device. Apply as per the manufacturer’s directions.

That’s up to you as to when you begin resurfacing the ice using the resurfacing machine, but since the REALice system delivers stronger ice, you will be able to use your ice resurfacing machine to build up ice faster than what you did in the past. You will not, in most cases, get spider cracks from the weight of the machine once you put it on. Important Note: If the ice resurfacer has studded tires, make sure the studs are shorter than the depth of the ice you have before you put it on the ice. 

With the REALice® technology cold water can be used to flood and resurface the ice. Depending on the conditions some ambient temperature water needs to be mixed in. This could be after heavy user groups or if the temperature inside the facility drops significantly and there is a chance that the water would freeze from the top. The temperature of the water although should never exceed 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius).

In that case, the wash water cannot get all the snow out of the gauges, therefore when you have a heavy user group on the ice add a little warm water into the wash water max 68°F (18-20°C). Important: Use all water through the REALice® system.

If your ice resurfacing machine doesn’t have wash water capabilities, then add a little bit of warm water, max 68°F (18-20°C) – to your resurfacing water, when dealing with heavy user groups.

Snow build up on an ice sheet is created if the temperature is either too high (creates more snow, slash/wet snow), too low (creates more snow, chippy/dry snow) or the humidity in the rink is not correct. Ideal humidity in the rink lies at 53% – 57%.

To find the optimal temperature you can perform the snowball test.

NO, what happens is, when you drive too fast with the machine, the snow in the gauges will jump up and give a rough surface. If the driver follows standard ice rink resurfacing instructions for how long they need to resurface the ice, (NHL size 8-10 min) there will be no problem. REALice® creates fewer gouges and even without wash water, there will be no problem getting a great sheet of ice.

• Older machines, no wash water installed
• Yes can be mounted after, sled needed to be changed and tank need to be mounted
• Wash water tank, +/- 100L
• Purpose of wash water, to clean gauges
• As REALice® creates fewer gauges, less wash water will be needed
• We recommend using wash water
• Wash water needs to have some temperature, approx. 20 degrees Celsius

Allow at least 8 minutes to resurface the ice and 3-5 minutes to let the ice dry. Drive the ice resurfacer machine slowly, especially in the corners.

Read more about our best practices for making ice.

That’ll happen if you turn the water on and don’t turn the pump on quick enough or if you turn the pump on first and don’t turn on the water fast enough.  There will be excess water under the sled, which mixes with the snow and causes the freezing on the way up. And the snow that’s “Hard and Clumpy.”

If your ice looks wavy your blade might not be sharp enough. Another reason could be that your ice is too hard. This means it’s running too cold and needs to be set warmer.

If you see streaks on your ice, check your towel. Your towel can’t be dirty.

The better the incoming water is, the better the ice REALice will provide. If the water softener is there to avoid scaling only, REALice can replace it as REALice will crystallize the lime particles and they will no longer cling to each other – or to metal surfaces (and clog up the nozzles on your ice resurfacing machines).

No. Regular water cannot be mixed with REALice® treated water even as little as washing the ice rag. Mixing the water would immediately aerate the treated water again. Once on REALice® water, it has to be exclusive.

Yes, the temperature can be raised during the night or when the ice is not occupied. How much it can be raised depends on the insulation of the arena and if there are open doors.

As the ice freezes, the impurities find their way to the surface. Dry shaving as part of your arena ice maintenance takes those away and gets rid of many of the scars in the ice.” … In addition to removing the scars and impurities, they’re removing the little layer of frost on the surface of the ice that forms while it was resting overnight.

The R10X needs a minimum static water pressure of 45 psi. The R12X needs 55 psi. The pressure drop through the system is about 7 psi. The pipe after the REALice should be the same size as the pipe going in, not reduced. If you are unsure about your pressure, measure it at the fill station and contact us before ordering.

In untreated water, limescale appears in the form of calcite, which has an angular shape on the limescale crystal. This means that it easily attaches to other limescale crystals, pipes and nozzles, forming limescale deposits.

These limescale deposits obstruct the water supply and routinely have to be removed. In water treated using the REALice® System, calcite is transformed into aragonite, which has a more rounded shape and consequently does not attach itself to other limescale crystals, pipes or nozzles. Learn more about the effects on hard water.

 

“In Williams Lake we have very hard and mineralized water and we have found that the ice is as good as before the Real Ice installation if not better. We have also noticed our ice stays much clearer than before. We flood with 57-60 degree F water and have not had any problems at all since the system was installed. The cost savings on our utilities is also quite noticeably better and this is a big positive when you deal with your politicians or directors.” Garry Breck, Facility Maintenance Manager, Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex.

Adding mechanical rink de-aerator or air separator to a hot water system helps remove micro air bubbles and increase heat transfer. In a pilot program by FortisBC testing the REALice technology, indoor ice rinks could use lower water temperatures for ice resurfacing, saving energy and creating a harder, smoother ice surface that requires less maintenance.

Various independent 3rd parties have evaluated the REALice technology:

The Polymer Technology Group Eindhoven BV (PTG/e) of the University of Eindhoven, measured the decrease in viscosity due to the removal of microbubbles between 3 and 17 percent, depending on water quality and temperature.

Southern California Edison tested ice hardness with a Schmidt hammer and found REALice-treated ice harder and more uniform across the sheet than ice made with hot water.

Lulea University in Sweden performed an ice crystal comparison showing that the REALice treated crystal are formed stronger

FortisBC ran a large scale pilot in 2014 evaluating 10 arenas across British Columbia, showing an average of natural gas reduction of 330 GJ.

Summary: 

• 90% of the pilot participants successfully adapted their operations to REALice® technology.

• The achieved ice quality was evaluated from acceptable to excellent.

• Fortis quantified the average savings across the participating pilot arenas at 330 GJ in Natural Gas per year

• Across the pilot arenas, an increase of the slab temperature was required at all sites and an average increase of  3°F was observed. A reduction in the ice slab thickness on average by 0.25 – 0.5 inch was noted also.
• Electricity savings from the warmer slab temperature and the thinner ice come on top of the gas savings in the FortisBC report; sub-metered rinks have measured 29–45% less refrigeration energy.

In addition, 15+ electric utilities across North America have vetted the system for multiple sites for energy incentives.

See all measured results

FortisBC completed a pilot project investigating into vortex mechanical de-aerator technology during 2014 ice season. 10 arenas in British Columbia were chosen to evaluate REALice® in their arenas.

See Study Results from the FortisBC pilot program

Besides removing the micro air bubbles from the water, the vortex generator has a big influence on other aspects of the water, such as increased heat transfer capacity, lowered viscosity, increase in electrical conductivity.

The pressure reduction in the water fill line through the vortex process is 7 PSI.  

The fill time of the ice resurfacer will be increased by 10% – 15%. This is due to the pressure reduction in the water fill line through the vortex process. The reduction is 7 PSI. 

The compressors run less. With no hot-flood heat to remove and a brine setpoint 3–5°F warmer, the plant cycles less often and for shorter periods; Chilliwack reported about 9,000 fewer compressor hours in a season, and Uxbridge measured 29% less refrigeration energy. Less runtime means less wear, though how much longer a plant lasts depends on its age and maintenance.

Yes, using cold water to flood the ice eliminates the need to operate with hot water 60ºC/140ºF to 71ºC/160ºF takes away the risk of burn injuries for anyone involved in the ice-making process.

The REALice technology brings a paradigm shift, removing extremely hot water from traditional ice making. Change can be hard, especially when operators have been trained to resurface their ice rink using hot water for decades. Many operators also have tried cold water to resurface the ice with bad results to ice quality, due to the number of air bubbles in the ice.

REALice simulates hot water by mechanically removing the micro air bubbles through pressure instead of heat. Seeing is believing and operators starting to use the REALice system soon witness the results and do not look back on their old practices See our success stories.

We require our best practices to be followed, but they are reminders of best practices in arena ice maintenance for any ice maker. There are no major operational changes except for the higher brine temperature reset.

“REALice works and making great ice comes from good ice maintenance. There’s nothing else out there that we could put in so easily and save the money we’re saving.” Fred Kilner, Fuller Lake Arena, Chemainus, BC.

The REALice® system is a complete solution, developed, applied and tested to the highest standards of engineering, executed (3D printing) and quality controlled in Sweden. The system is priced on an ROI of  2 – 3 years on a single sheet of ice (depending on the arena and prices paid for gas and electricity) and enables you to fundamentally change the operation of your arena by using cold instead of hot water to resurface the ice. Besides creating excellent ice, reducing cost & energy consumption, these are the additional benefits:

• less humidity in the arena – less draw on de-humidifiers,
• less draw on compressors and therefore extended life,
• reduced load on hot water boilers,
• reduced limescale build-up,
• less ice cleans and less water used

Yes, it is. Studies have shown that the overall uniformity of ice strength is much better after the installation of the REALice® system. This means that the ice was more consistent in hardness across the entire rink.