Portable Ice Maker recommendations?

[littlemo]

Not sure where to post this......For those that have them, Pros and Cons on brand?

Thanks

[Cummins12V98]

bsinmich wrote:
I have a U-Line built in that i never use. We used it a couple times the first year but not since. I don't like the strange taste of all the different water that we get in CGs. I would rather buy a bag of ice and know it is tasteless than make my own.

That is why you should filter your incoming water.

U Line is top quality. You can send it yo me!

[bsinmich]

I have a U-Line built in that i never use. We used it a couple times the first year but not since. I don't like the strange taste of all the different water that we get in CGs. I would rather buy a bag of ice and know it is tasteless than make my own.

[Clay_L]

RoyB wrote:
I have thought that would be a good thing to have in our OFF-ROAD POPUP camper. It would have to run low wattage for running from an Inverter or generator for us. Maybe they have a 12VDC version to produce ice cubes...

Having one that made ice within the three hour generator run time window would be nice too but I'm sure that is wishful thinking...

Usually when we are camping off the power grid "NO" Ice is the big complaint I keep hearing.

Roy Ken

I haven't seen a 12 volt dc one that is cheap. Norcold has a private labeled freezer you could make ice cubes in made, by Engel I think but as I recall it costs about $1000. It works on 12 vdc or 120 vac. On dc it draws about 7 amps as I recall. We had one made by Engel that lasted over 20 years but it started making funny noises so we got a 3.2 cubic for residential freezer.
I see some 12 vdc freezers $600 or so.

The portable ice makers make a batch of ice every ten minutes or so
and you could get a fair amount of ice in 2 or 3 hours.
The manual that came with mine said not to run it on a modified sine wave inverter but my friend Bud who had one just like mine ran his on a MSW inverter for a lot of hours each year for 8 years before it finally died and it was the water pump that went not the compressor.

[RoyB]

I have thought that would be a good thing to have in our OFF-ROAD POPUP camper. It would have to run low wattage for running from an Inverter or generator for us. Maybe they have a 12VDC version to produce ice cubes...

Having one that made ice within the three hour generator run time window would be nice too but I'm sure that is wishful thinking...

Usually when we are camping off the power grid "NO" Ice is the big complaint I keep hearing.

Roy Ken

[Go_Dawgs1]

Go to Walmart.com and they have an Emerson on-line for $69. Almost the same one at camping world (doesn't run on 12 volt) that they sell for over $200. It's on my list for next year.

[Cummins12V98]

blantonmr wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Just take it back to Walley World to the return department. They will give you a refund.

My Daughter used to work in returns, they took back used diapers. No joke!

I called walley world and they told me to contact the manufacturer. Said I had it too long and they couldn't do anything about it. 😞

Bummer!

Probably better off just getting another one. Good luck!

[hermy]

We have a Magic Chef- but I agree that the major difference in them is the name stamped on the front. At any rate, we love ours- works way better than we expected.

[trailertraveler]

cm11599ps wrote:
How much ice can I expect a unit to make? We just got in from a water only CG and kept a cooler outside for drinks. 2 bags (10 lbs each) of that crappy hollow ice cost $9.50 Having our own ice maker would be awesome.

So how much ice can I expect? How much water does it hold and how much ice does it hold before needing to be emptied?

We have had the Igloo brand model that Walmart sold on line for abut two years now. I have not measured how much water it holds, but based on the fact that I fill it from a Britta Pitcher, my guess is about one gallon. I also have never measured how much ice it makes before the hopper is full, but my guess is about 4 8oz glasses full. As has been mentioned the ice is not all that hard and melts pretty quickly if it is not placed in a regular freezer. The few times we have used it in a cooler it did not last nearly as long as a commercial bag.

[Clay_L]

JamesBr wrote:
Have the dometic from CW picked up on sale one year. Makes good drinking ice, but not good blending ice. The ice hopper handles melt by allowing the ice to melt back into the water resevoir, so just fill it and let it run. Eventually pick up the ice catch and refil when it complains it wants more water.

We put the ice in a bin in the freezer. The ice gets really cold and hard and lasts longer in the glass. 🙂

[JamesBr]

Have the dometic from CW picked up on sale one year. Makes good drinking ice, but not good blending ice. The ice hopper handles melt by allowing the ice to melt back into the water resevoir, so just fill it and let it run. Eventually pick up the ice catch and refil when it complains it wants more water.

[blantonmr]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Just take it back to Walley World to the return department. They will give you a refund.

My Daughter used to work in returns, they took back used diapers. No joke!

I called walley world and they told me to contact the manufacturer. Said I had it too long and they couldn't do anything about it. 😞

[Cummins12V98]

blantonmr wrote:
I bought mine from Walmart online and it was great until a couple of days ago. It's Igloo brand but really made by Curtis. Model 102C. It is now saying Out of water, and Ice full which neither is true. I called Curtis twice and they are from India and hard to understand! Anyway I am supposed to ship it back. It's gonna cost about $50 shipping so I guess I will try and troubleshoot this thing myself and chunk in the trash if I can't make it work. It was great while it lasted. 😞

Just take it back to Walley World to the return department. They will give you a refund.

My Daughter used to work in returns, they took back used diapers. No joke!

[blantonmr]

I bought mine from Walmart online and it was great until a couple of days ago. It's Igloo brand but really made by Curtis. Model 102C. It is now saying Out of water, and Ice full which neither is true. I called Curtis twice and they are from India and hard to understand! Anyway I am supposed to ship it back. It's gonna cost about $50 shipping so I guess I will try and troubleshoot this thing myself and chunk in the trash if I can't make it work. It was great while it lasted. 😞

[bobrizer2]

Portable Ice Makers

As has already been stated, they are all made by the same Chinese company who will put any name wanted on them if you buy enough of them. When they work they are great, but when they don't there are no parts available for them, nor could I find anyone who would work on them. They all seem to last long enough to be out of warrenty. My advise, as a long term user of portable ice makers, is to buy the cheapest one you can find and consider it to be a disposable item. It will last a year or two then buy another one. But, in that time, it will pump out ice like there is no tomorrow as long as you keep the reservoir full of water. Because the holding bin is not refrigerated, the ice will be soft. Dump it in a container and put it in the frig. These machines will easily make all the ice the average family will need in a day.
Big bob