Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/408997
44 / NOVEMBER.DECEMBER.2014 RINKMAGAZINE.COM PHOTOS: RINK ASK STAR You have rink questions, STAR has rink answers Send your rink questions to: INFO@STARRINKS.COM I'VE HEARD OF A PROCESS THAT CAN BRIGHTEN UP YOUR LINES AND LOGOS. WHAT IS THIS AND HOW DOES IT WORK? There are a couple of ways to brighten up your lines and logos depending on how much time you have. However, by performing regular ice maintenance and maintaining the proper ice depth, you will reduce the need to do extra work on your lines and logos to brighten them up. Quite often, though, before a special event, tournament or show, the operations department will be requested to brighten up the ice markings and logos. The simplest but most time-consuming method is to simply shave down the ice and rebuild with fresh hot water. If you shave off the top ¼" to ½", it will remove most of the skate marks and most air trapped in the ice surface, which is causing the ice to white out and dull the lines and logos. Take out your ice resurfacer and shave down the sheet. Change up your pattern each time. How much you remove will depend mostly on how much time you have to build the ice back up to normal ice depths. The industry best practice for concrete floors is between 1" and 1 ½" thickness. For sure, no one should be allowed to skate on the ice surface until it is at the minimum 1". So, if you shave off the top ½" of ice, then need to build back that ½" of ice, it will take a significant amount of time. On average, an ice refrigeration system can freeze between 300-500 gallons of water per hour. It takes 5,000 gallons of water to make ½" of ice. This would take anywhere 10-16 hours to freeze enough water to build back the ½" you removed. This does not take into account any outside weather conditions, humidity levels, staff hours and many other conditions that will affect how fast you can build ice in you facility. Building the ice back up with hot water (140–160 degrees Fahrenheit) to avoid trapping any air in the ice. A slightly less effective but quicker process is to "burn" out the lines and logos. Shave down your surface until it is smooth and has no skate marks remaining. Then, take out a hose and spray your lines and logos with very hot water. How long you spray each area will depend on how thick your ice is and how deep your paint is in the ice. The longer you spray, the more ice you will melt and risk washing out your lines and logos. This will melt some of the ice on top of the lines and logos again, removing any of the healed skate marks and air pockets above the lines and logos, therefore brightening them up. Once the melting process is completed, build the ice back up with hot water to the industry best practice levels between 1" and 1 ½". Using this method, you don't have to shave down or build up as much ice, but it is less effective and will not work as well as the method above. J A: Q: , There are a couple methods to brightening up your lines. "THE SIMPLEST BUT MOST TIME- CONSUMING METHOD IS TO SIMPLY SHAVE DOWN THE ICE AND REBUILD WITH FRESH HOT WATER."