Counter Top Icemaker

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Vic Willman

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I just bought one of those counter-top icemakers where you pour a gallon of water into it and plug it in. Works like a champ! There are three "size" settings for the ice. To get anything useful out of it, it needs to be set on the largest setting. But it makes 12 "pellets" every 10 minutes. I really like it. Picked it up last week at BJ's Club for $129.00. They normally sell for anywhere between $275 and $400. I thought it was a terrific deal! If your boat primarily lives at the dock and rarely goes out, it is something to consider. Whole lot cheaper than a built-in unit. And when it breaks down, throw it away and buy another one - it's that cheap!
 
How big is it? the one I have seen is about 18" square. pretty big for a countertop.
 
but they dont' store the ice, do they ? i think that's the catch with these cheaper portables... that migh work up north, but here after a short time it would all be melted.
 
Hello All,

We have one of these units for the boat as well.. they are not small, but they are portable.
They are nice and work well while at the dock. You are correct in that they do not store ice. But it makes it quick... and if you don't use it, it melts and remakes it within a few minutes.

It's nice if you've got a cooler to put it in, so as to keep it running.

I'll admit it's not quite as good as a built in icemaker, but worth it at a fraction of the cost for those of us with older boats...

We normally keep it in the cockpit, but when it gets real hot, we move it to the air conditioned cabin, in which case, it works much easier and don't melt as fast either.

I hope this helps assist..
 
Can someone give me a brand name to look for? That might be a good solution for me!
 
Hi Flutterby,

We got ours at Home Depot last year.. it was around $150.00. Might be less this year as the price seems to be coming down on them. Ours is a Magic Chef. We've seen the same icemaker with different names on it.. and also in different colors too.

Ours is nice, as it has a metal basket.. and came with a little ice scoop. It's a metalic silver so it reflects the sunlight to some degree.

Here is the link:

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100401841

We got ours on sale around the 4th of July last year.. plus they offered a $30.00 mail in rebate. The sale price was in the store only and didn't show up on line.

I hope this helps assist.
Regards,
 
DogDaze.....What do you use when on the hook to power it? I"m assuming you have a Generator but I"m wondering how much it takes to run one of those. My Generator may not be big enough.
 
Tanqueray,

Unfortunately, we don't have a genny.. so we don't power it while away from the dock.. though, we have friends who have one and it works fine off their genny.. I don't recall the power draw, but I'd wager a guess, it's only a few amps. It's not noticeable compared to our Marine Air A/C unit.
 
IIRC, the only thing that kept a friend from replacing the one on his Carver with the Home Depot version of the same was the depth. For $1000+ I'd be one framing SOB. The one I looked at is meant for a patio/deck and has storage capacity. Lots of folks at the marina have the smaller ones. they are great for a weekend.
 
It's fairly big - it's about a 17" cube. The top lifts up - a flap sort of thing, about 8" deep. If you have 18" clearance between your countertop and any upper cabinet, it'll fit - but you may not have the depth on the countertop on a boat. As I mentioned, I have it in my house, rather than on a boat. The "ice bucket" is slotted, so any melting goes directly into the water storage area beneath it. And as was mentioned, yes it will thaw, but it drains into the water reservoir and re-makes more ice. The advertised power draw on mine is 230 watts at 120 volts - almost exactly the same as for a built-in unit. As I said, it isn't magic and won't be suitable for everyone, but for the price...

This is the one I have:

http://www.haieramerica.com/en/product/HPIM35W
(actual dimensions of it are a little smaller than I had thought)

Haier also makes a really neat little refrigerated wine storage cooler, just a tad smaller than a trash compactor. I'm thinking of getting one for a good friend, as a housewarming gift:

http://www.haieramerica.com/en/product/HVW12ABB

BJ's also had them for $129.00 last week. It's a thermo-electric unit though, rather than having a sealed refrigeration system.
 
The one VIC describes looks like it DOES store a certain amount.
Key Features
Produces 35 lbs. Of Ice Per Day
Enjoy a Batch of Ice in as Little as 6 Minutes
Make Ice Cubes in 3 Different Sizes
Stores up to 2.5 lbs. Of Ice at a Time
One Gallon Water Reservoir
No Drain Required
Electronic Controls
Removable Ice Basket and Plastic Ice Scoop Included
 
Here is one from an RV site: http://www.campingworld.com/browse/skus/index.cfm?skunum=33384&src="SRQB
 
OK Admiral bought one, Magic chef brand. First ice in 10 mins but that was small "cubes' and didnt last long since the bucket was warm. The cubes are neat little cups as there are twelve rods that dip into the water and freeze ice on their bottoms. Every 10 minutes or so got 12 more "cubes" 2 hours to fill a 12X6X6 bucket so with a little advance prep it can be party time quickly. A little noisey with a fan running most of the time, ice dump and water fill can be heard easily but probably not a big deal to most folks. Darn thing is too big 17” high and about a cube and heavy too, 40#+. To drain you open a small valve at the very bottom so it needs to be near an OK place to drain unless you plan on 24X7X365 partying, OK a good excuse. It seems idiot proof so extended partying should not cause any operator malfunctions.

My conclusion is that it works well is too big and noisy but for the ice deprived folks it is a much better deal than those $1000 marine models if you can find a place to put it and deal with the weight. It isn’t portable. With an extension on the drain and mounted on the aft deck or cockpit it may be satisfactory.
 
I looked over the weekend, ours is rated at 3.5A. It's not exactly light.. as noted, it's about ~40lbs or so.

Our friends have one they run pretty much 24x7 in the summer time. The only caution would be since the fan runs most of the time, is the cottenwoods that float in the air plugged the air intake. They've had to take it apart several times to clean it out, and/or replace some of the parts that quit working on theirs... so far, we've had no problems with ours, but we use it much less than they do.

I hope this helps.
 
Flutter, I'm sure you can con some big strapping dock boy to carry the unit onto your boat... Maybe for 10 bucks and a cold beer! [:-angel] [}}:-|>>] [}}:-|>>] [:-angel]

You can get a couple of gallons of bottled water from the grocery store, plug it in, fill up the reservoir tank, and in half an hour be mixing cocktails! [:-drunk] [:-drunk]
 
Vic, now that sounds like a good plan! Especially the cocktail comment.
 
icemaker could be overflowing before LiZ is done with the dock boy. :D
 
Bruce, let's be nice, now...!!!

[:-jump] [:-jump] [:-jump2] [:-jump2]

Have a great 4th everyone !!!
 
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