Portable ice makers decision

I have owned some of the less expensive ones, maybe the 100-125 range. They work good. They are fast, I think in 10-15 mins it had ice produced, could make 1 lb and hour iirc…. But they are kinda loud, it may be worth getting the more expensive one. I was completely satisfied with the one I owned

 

We have one looks exactly like the one in your post. It is amazing how quick it produces ice. We have filled it with water and left it on the counter for a day. At the end of the day, dumped the ice and remaining water and started fresh the next day.

Bennett

 

I have this exact model. It’ll work great for your situation. You need to change the water out after a few days but it’s just to keep the ice fresh. We let ours run all weekend in our bar. We use it so we don’t have to constantly run upstairs to the fridge in the kitchen.

 

Since the storage area isn’t refrigerated they do melt and it reuses the melted ice for making more ice. We used to keep a gallon of our fav bottled water for it to make ice from, or even 20 ounce bottles of Dasani…. It made great ice. My only concern would be dealing with the noise of the fan and the ice dumping. It didn’t bother me, but you mentioned noise would be an issue

 

There will def be a fan humming, for $100 it’s a cheap try, or getnin FB marketplace and buy one used for $25-65 and give one of those a try…. I would give you mine (I think it’s in the garage in a shelf), if you were closer

 

I think I would get a small freezer to put there with a bucket to store ice. Then just one trip from regular fridge with a bag of ice, when needed.

 

Had one of those on the 340 - loved it!

 

I bought one for $89 at Costco or Sam’s and keep it on the boat for when I’m there by myself. Works great for a drink or 2, not loud at all.

I replaced the Nevercold with a real freezer so ice is able to to be kept onboard, so not sure how much use it’ll get or if I’ll keep it.

 

I'm curious how it does. I want to get one for our fifth wheel.

 

I'll be curious as to how cold the ice really is, as in is half of it melted two minutes after making a drink?

 

I use one of those on my 400 EC because I like using bottled water to make my ice. Sits on top of our fridge (i put in a half size fridge) and works great. Don't really notice any fan noise and it makes ice pretty quickly. I have left it running for days (forgot to turn it off when leaving the boat) with no ill effect. I love it.

 

Been through 2 of these. Neither had a long life. Lasted a couple of seasons each. Ice was fine, it makes soft ice.
We have discussed getting another one as they do work nice, when they work. Turn it off at bedtime due to ice dumping all night.

 

Mine was about $125, it worked great, but def louder than I would have liked….

 

checked the cabin yesterday - mine's a Magic Chef

 

@Blueone I have an Insignia also. It is for the boat. When I leave the boat, I completely drain the ice maker. Upon return, sometimes it does not want to start making ice right away. My suspicion is that the pump gets air locked a bit. I'll drain a bit of water out and the refill and that gets it running. Once it is running and if you keep water in it, it will run forever cranking out ice every 7-9 minutes.

Jaybeaux