Portable ice makers decision

Blueone

Blueone

Well-Known Member
SILVER Sponsor
Jan 24, 2007
12,536
Lake Erie, Ohio
Boat Info
2004 420 Sundancer
Engines
Cummins 6CTA 450's
I am putting in a dry bar in our loft at the house…. No water … no sink…there is a bathroom up there but down the hall….. I started looking at them…. And they are between $100 and $600…the loft is for me to watch shooting killing movies…not life channel ….so will be by myself and want to have a couple of drinks with out having to go down stairs.
So weekend use during the winter…. Can’t be noisy and on the lower end of the cost point.
I see they recycle melted water with filters and stuff…..so can I leave this thing running all week….. or turn it on and wait ?
Here is an example of what I have seen…any of you guys have any experience with these things ?….or is this a waste of money?

A6B3C61D-C877-432C-95F0-C06A2F2B428A.jpeg
 
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

Blueone said:
I am putting in a dry bar in our loft at the house…. No water … no sink…there is a bathroom up there but down the hall….. I started looking at them…. And they are between $100 and $600…the loft is for me to watch shooting killing movies…not life channel ….so will be by myself and want to have a couple of drinks with out having to go down stairs.
So weekend use during the winter…. Can’t be noisy and on the lower end of the cost point.
I see they recycle melted water with filters and stuff…..so can I leave this thing running all week….. or turn it on and wait ?
Here is an example of what I have seen…any of you guys have any experience with these things ?….or is this a waste of money?

View attachment 141887
Click to expand...
 
Chris-380 said:
I have owned some of the less expensive ones, maybe the 199-125 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
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What about the recycling?…how long can it self sustain ? Without adding water
 
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
 
Blueone said:
I am putting in a dry bar in our loft at the house…. No water … no sink…there is a bathroom up there but down the hall….. I started looking at them…. And they are between $100 and $600…the loft is for me to watch shooting killing movies…not life channel ….so will be by myself and want to have a couple of drinks with out having to go down stairs.
So weekend use during the winter…. Can’t be noisy and on the lower end of the cost point.
I see they recycle melted water with filters and stuff…..so can I leave this thing running all week….. or turn it on and wait ?
Here is an example of what I have seen…any of you guys have any experience with these things ?….or is this a waste of money?

View attachment 141887
Click to expand...
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.
 
Blueone said:
What about the recycling?…how long can it self sustain ? Without adding water
Click to expand...
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
 
Chris-380 said:
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
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I just don’t want a loud fan humming in the back ground…. The furnace is up here and it’s frustrating enough….ice dumping is music…that’s fine
 
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
Blueone said:
I just don’t want a loud fan humming in the back ground…. The furnace is up here and it’s frustrating enough….ice dumping is music…that’s fine
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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 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.
 
wyrman said:
I'm curious how it does. I want to get one for our fifth wheel.
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Well ….that was a complete fail. The thing couldn’t make ice at all…it also leaked out the back…. And the fan was too loud even if the thing worked…. So not impressed….going through the return process….oh joy

FD3FFF9C-F335-4ED4-9865-24A8C567B73D.jpeg
 
Mine was about $125, it worked great, but def louder than I would have liked….

Blueone said:
Well ….that was a complete fail. The thing couldn’t make ice at all…it also leaked out the back…. And the fan was too loud even if the thing worked…. So not impressed….going through the return process….oh joy

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@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
 
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