U-Line Ice Makers

Thanks all, for the birthday wishes.

Davita, I don't need two penises, just one that works a little better.. :D :D
 
thks Vic ! ipulled it out last night, pulled the rear cover off but dind't see any tray at the bottom.. did't look much, I jsut reached in and unscrewed the motor from the bracket. it's toast... a little stiff but rusted out, one of the lead is broken off the coil...

Uline and Raritan use the same? great ! I'll check on the raritan site to see if i can find a drawing to make sure since mine is old..

years ago, i used a small marine water pump with a 12v power supply to pump water from 5gal spring water bottle into my Subzero ice maker as well as into a stand alone chiller connected to a little faucet on the sink. worked well...
 
Pascal, it isn't actually a pan or tray; it's the metal base plate that the compressor, condenser, etc., all mount onto. Just pull it out, like a drawer, from the rear (after you've removed the 4 feet). Yes, Raritan and U-Line's fan motors are interchangeable.

Oh, BTW, it isn't listed and there's no picture of the motor on Raritan's website, you'll have to trust me that it'll work. I did the original design work on Raritan's version of the U-Line icemaker, so I know for a fact that the Raritan motor will fit the U-Line unit.

And yes, I am a licensed refrigeration technician. I actually have a permit allowing me to buy R12 refrigerant - if I could find it anywhere. It's very scarce (and expensive) these days.
 
thks Vic i already put the unit back in the cabinet but now i kwnow I'll have easy access to re install the new fan once i get if from BF.. i looked at the icerette parts list, yeah, can't really see what it looks like.. i'll take your word for it :-)

i was about to just trow that thing away but this thread made me decide to investigate ! at least, if i a can get it to cool, and it looks like it will, i can make ice in teh galley and store it on deck.. that woudl be nice.
 
Who would have thought that my request for the operation guide would turn into such a wealth of information on these little critters. Happy Belated Birthday Vic and a drink to many more.
 
Thanks Rick, for the kind words! That's what's so wonderful about this Forum, one thing leads to another and a lot of worthwhile information comes out - sometimes even by accident! If this Forum had turned out like a lot of others on the internet, with flaming, profanity and just general smart alecking, I'd have been long gone from it; although I appreciate good humor and a joke as much as anyone else.

But instead, most of the RO's show that they are basically serious-minded, friendships are made (even though many of us have actually never met in person), everyone shares the love of the water and boating, and most are more than willing to help out one another. I attibute it all to the professionalism shown by Les and George in maintaining and overseeing what goes on here, and keeping it within reasonable bounds. Kudos to both of them!
 
quote:
Originally posted by Vic Willman

David, sounds like the cube ejector motor (part # 102) is on the way out. Before replacing the motor, try reducing the water level just a little (horizontal screw that is spring-loaded, at the upper right corner of the metal mounting plate behind the plastic mold cover). Turn it two full turns in the (minus) direction, and see if that doesn't help things. If not, grab your ankles, the motor will have to be replaced before long (estimate for the motor: $75)

EM2, as Gary mentioned, the most common source for leakage is that they've cross-threaded the garden hose conector on the water solenoid valve. Other possible sources are a cracked plastic internal water line, or the water line that feeds the water up the rear of the cabinet has laid on the side of the compressor, and the heat from the compressor has burnt a hole in it.
Take off the lower grille and watch it, especially toward the end of the ejection cycle, when it calls for water to be fed to the ice mold.

Click to expand...

Thanks to Gary and Vic, it looks like the only time it leaks is when it is full, it did look like the garden hose fitting was leaking by the water stain on it, I will fill it back up and watch to see what happens.
 
Davita reporting back....
It poured with rain yesterday so no bikina clad ladies to admire on the dock!
I gingerely removed the mechanism cover over my U-line BI-95BTP Ice Maker using Vic's technique and thankfully it didn't crack or break.
The motor cover and some of the terminals were a little corroded so I cleaned them up. I also noticed the mechanism holding screws were not S/S and the one that attaches the ground wire was completely broken off. After lube-ing all the parts with white lithium grease and refitting back together, the Ice Maker now appears to work..... 'fingers x/d'.
The motor driving spindle and gear did not come from the centre of the motor therefore I concluded that there must be a small gearbox, integral with the motor, which drives the larger plastic gear and cam arrangement. I did notice that the gears pause and delay when attempting to eject the ice. I presume that the motor must drive a clutching or torque mechanism in this sealed gearcase to permit this 'hanging back', until the ice is ready to be removed from the mold.
I wonder if Vic has the time to explain this more fully as I'm intrigued; it might also help explain why my unit hesitates at the 45 deg position, and yet continues its action after the slightest touch.
David
 
isn't infuriating considering the ridiculously outrageous price of a marine ice maker that they use steel screws in there?? same on mine... many rusted screws...
 
Pascal....I agree!
I edited out my profane words and disappointment before posting my previous, but you have managed to say what I was thinking. If these machines were made in China perhaps this could be expected, but then they might be cheap......
U Line are made in Milwaukee!
David
 
This is great information that will need a print our and placed in my ULine manual for future reference, My Uline problem is it ice's up in the box, first thing I did was reduce the size of the cubes, thinking the tray was over filling. It seemed to get a little better but not the solution. Most all the ice is under the ice bucket on bottom inside of unit. I keep forgetting to check for level of machine, my guess this could be part of the problem.
Also Happy B day Vic and David,
2 penis's, too funny- one for each hand . LMAO
 
Navman,
Thanks for the B wishes.
My understanding is that the I/M stops producing ice when the wire is in the UP position. This normally happens when it cannot return to the DOWN position after ejecting the last load.
I know..my explanation sounds kinda lewd......or an advert for Viagra...but that is how it works.
I've been looking at my wire for a couple of days and it took a while to go UP.
It's probable that your wire stays DOWN and the box overflows. This is a common problem caused by OVERUSE! Try using your hand to keep the wire UP and see if anything prematurely ejects and spills over. If it does it could be a failure of the cam inside the box which is designed to prevent this ejaculation.
Just kidding...hope you think this is amusing!
David
 
Guys, the non-stainless fasteners is a large part of the reason that Raritan and U-Line parted ways, back around 1990. I'm not knocking their product, but it's basically a household unit that has been "converted" for marine use - whatever that means. They do make a good machine and it lasts a long time. The BI-95 came out in the mid-80's, so you can see that it's already lasted about 20 years, even without the stainless steel fasteners inside.

The motor has a small gear on it that drives the larger (white) gear that you see staring at you when you remove the front cover. This gear is attached to, and drives a cam that controls the all the switching that goes on, but it also drives the ejection "fingers" that rotate and push the cubes out. The drive motor that does all of this is a synchronous motor, that can stall for extended periods of time without burning out. It presses the ejection "fingers" down on top of the ice cubes, trying to push them out. At the same time, the mold heater comes on, heating the mold to loosen the cubes. Eventually they loosen enough to where the fingers can push them out. Then the motor starts turning again, and causes the fingers to push the cubes out. This is normal operation and the motor is designed to work that way without damage. As the cam is turning, it engages and disengages different switches to turn on (and off) the compressor and fan, to turn on the mold heater, to activate the water valve at the appropriate time, etc.

As all the above is going on, the wire arm swings up, scanning the level of the cubes. As the rotation continues, the arm begins to come back down. If the level of ice is such that it can't come all the way down, it opens a switch that disables the ice-ejecting mechanism so that the ice bucket doesn't overfill and you don't have ice falling out on the floor when you open the door. The machine will still maintain the freezing temperature inside. When the ice is used, and the arm can come all the way down to it's normal parked position, the ejection mechanism is turned back on and will allow the ice level in the ice bucket to be replenished.

If, for some reason you want to disable the icemaking mechanism to use the machine as a freezer only (to freeze bait, etc.), raise the wire arm all the way up, until you feel it "click" into the raised position. It will then stay up, and the machine will not make any ice. To restore the icemaking mechanism, pull the wire arm back down.
 
Vic, you wrote:
"The drive motor that does all of this is a synchronous motor, that can stall for extended periods of time without burning out."

And I'm kicking myself for not thinking of that...synchronous motors are used widely in aircraft applications such as servo's etc..... but my vague recollection is that they are expensive to manufacture. That probably explains costing big bucks for what appears as a small can, with a rusty back, that just drives a gear round and round!

Thanks again for an excellent explanation.
David
 
On the U-Line units, the motor is geared down to 3 RPM (takes 20 seconds to rotate 1 full turn); on the Raritan-built units, it is 1/3 RPM (takes 3 minutes to rotate 1 full turn).
 
I know about the slow rotation Vic, but thanks for the accurate information on the RPM.
After I cleaned and lubed the Ice Maker I spent most of Saturday watching it rotate to see if it would stick again. Reminded me of when clothes dryers with windows were produced....I used to obsessively watch the clothes go round and round ...well, at least I wasn't doing drugs!
Did I say that Saturday rained and not one bikini was seen?
Fortunately a friend called to remind me there was a social event in the dock office where copious glasses of wine was drunk, this helped to extricate me from my slow rotating ice maker stupor.
When I staggered back to my boat the ice bin was full...I believe it must have rotated 20-30 times in my absence, and I missed all that excitement!
David
 
Well, I suppose drinking wine beats sitting there watching the icemaker fingers turn round and round - or watching the rain come down - rumor has it that that's the standard pastime in your neck of the woods - counting the rain drops, eh?
 
My u-line ice makers door seal magnet thing isnt a magnet anymore.. Where can I find one of those?
 
Vic,
Counting raindrops in Vancouver...you are a genius!!
With the Admiral in Indonesia I was contemplating on how to amuse myself this weekend, and you have again given me a project idea.
Alternatively, I could rent a porno DVD and see how long it takes for my wire to go UP....the ice maker wire...then count the RPM required to make it eject....the ice!
or...pump out the holding tank, drain the diesel filters or clean out the shower pump sump.
Boy! having a boat does offer endless retirement fun!
David
 
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