Ice Machine

[Newtrawlerowner]

I'm thinking of installing a portable ice machine. I have seen these counter top units that run on 120 volts and was wondering what other people here have used. I have a refrigerator that makes ice, but there isn't much room once I load it with frozen food.

 

[Gdavid]

A friend has one aboard his sailboat, he runs it off of an inverter and is very happy with it. I think he uses it primarily for drinks but any extra goes into a cooler/icebox.

 

[Teaghlach]

Use one all summer. Since most of the portable units only make ice and not "keep" ice, the power consumption is minor. I plug mine into my inverter and use the ice to maintain my Yeti and put some in the freezer for docktails. Plug it in while you are cruising and you won't even see the effect on your batteries. Most units can produce a fair amount of ice in a day (10- 20lbs). When you are in remote areas, or the local store wants $5+ a bag, when you hear the ice drop, you will know why we refer to it as "the sound of freedom".

 

[HeadedToTexas]

Love those sounds of freedom!

 

[PhilPB]

We had an edgestar ice maker on board until I removed it and it's now sitting in the garage. I used the space for my new plumbing system manifold and water heater

 

[STB]

I've have one on my current boat and had one on the boat before it. In each case whatever unit the local Walmart or Amazon was offering. They all basically look alike to me.

I've love them. My current unit runs 24x7 anytime I'm on the boat and then some, turning the melted ice back into new ice. I use water from gallon jugs vs Florida's super hard water just to keep it clean inside. I used the unit on my prior boat the same way. During covid I ran my unit for 18 months straight. Fantastic devices.

The unit on my old boat didnt have a window on top. The current model does, I assume so one can see the ice without opening it. I find the window either reduces insulation or sun exposure, making the ice melt a /little/ bit faster. But it makes more, so no concern from me.

I'd wouldn't waste the space on a uline storage unit or similar unless I had a use case that demanded it. The current unit can make ~26lbs/day. So it is the right answer for most drink uses. I think the use case for the uline is fish in coolers, i.e. wanting to automatically make and store a lot of ice to have it all ready for use at the same exact time. My permanent cooler is electric so it doesn't use ice for cold drinks.

 

[kthoennes]

We have a built-in ice maker on the aft deck, one of those relatively common, $1800 ULine 25lb ice makers mentioned above, plumbed into the boat's water supply, 110v. The previous owner never used it and neither do we. I've been thinking of pulling it out and replacing it with a mini-fridge, but haven't found one of comparable size yet. I agree with the other posters, the Walmart or regular retail ice makers for 10% of the price of a ULine is a much better idea.

 

[ksanders]

We have a built-in ice maker on the aft deck, one of those relatively common, $1800 ULine 25lb ice makers mentioned above, plumbed into the boat's water supply, 110v. The previous owner never used it and neither do we. I've been thinking of pulling it out and replacing it with a mini-fridge, but haven't found one of comparable size yet. I agree with the other posters, the Walmart or regular retail ice makers for 10% of the price of a ULine is a much better idea.

I have the same icemaker and use it every day.

"wastin away in margaritaville"

 

[kthoennes]

Ha! Well certainly to each his own, but I've never quite understood the attraction. It's 110v, so we can only run it on shore power or when the genset is running. The fridge (with a freezer) runs 12v or 110v (inverter with an auto switch) and we have ice cube trays instead. I still have to blow out the ice maker (that we never use) when we winterize, have to keep it clean, etc. Would much rather have a mini-fridge in its place because the galley fridge gets a little tight if we're stocking up for a long run or have guests.

 

[Simi 60]

I've had drinks using their ice and it never lasts long in comparison to "real" ice out of a -20c freezer.

Saying that, a bag of ice to have in an Esky if going ashore would be good.

 

[SIBERNUT]

Well, once you pay for the little Uline motor thing that goes bad, you'll go to something else. And NOTHING ELSE works in them , gotta buy theirs

 

[Hippocampus]

We have a separate ice maker from the frig/freezer. In our boat use pattern found it much more important to have extra freezer space. Fortunately was easy to shut off the ice making and use it as a freezer.
Perhaps if your use pattern is mostly day trips with lots of people or you are on a large boat where space and electrical draw at anchor isn’t a concern they are a good addition. But for us and I think many it’s rare you need more than 2 trays of ice cubes in a day. Usually that when we have company and can buy ice or make ice a day before and store it in the Rtic. Find keeping some drinks in the frig, using stone for things like scotch, storing some alcohols in the freezer ( gin, vodka) makes ice needs lower.
For caught fish it’s dressed when caught then shortly eaten or rarely frozen as fillets. Think you never can have too much freezer capacity.

 

[MYTraveler]

The problem with a 25 pound ice maker, at least for people like me, is that it doesn't produce nearly enough ice for things like fishing or even chilling down a tub of beer, but still produces way too much ice for cocktails, etc.

 

[PM]

They do work and are nice. But, they don't last long, you might get a couple years out of one then they are junk.

They are pretty power hungry for an inverter. Work great at the dock or off the genny.

pete

 

[rslifkin]

Until it died (major refrigerant leak) last year we ran our Raritan ice maker off the inverter just fine. Daily power use was slightly lower than the fridge/freezer IIRC. I typically only let it make ice when we had surplus solar or were plugged in and just had it maintain ice the rest of the time. Definitely don't let it make ice underway, movement tends to slosh water around the ice mold and freeze up the whole unit, requiring a defrost before it works again.

We haven't decided what to do about a replacement yet, so for now we're just using ice trays in the freezer. Just having ice on hand all the time was pretty nice though.

 

[SteveK]

I have the original Uline and it produces and keeps ice frozen while powered. Guess I will wait my turn to decide what next.

 

[Dougcole]

We have a separate ice maker from the frig/freezer. In our boat use pattern found it much more important to have extra freezer space. Fortunately was easy to shut off the ice making and use it as a freezer.
Perhaps if your use pattern is mostly day trips with lots of people or you are on a large boat where space and electrical draw at anchor isn’t a concern they are a good addition. But for us and I think many it’s rare you need more than 2 trays of ice cubes in a day. Usually that when we have company and can buy ice or make ice a day before and store it in the Rtic. Find keeping some drinks in the frig, using stone for things like scotch, storing some alcohols in the freezer ( gin, vodka) makes ice needs lower.
For caught fish it’s dressed when caught then shortly eaten or rarely frozen as fillets. Think you never can have too much freezer capacity.

This.

I am having a hard time figuring out how some of y’all are going through 20 to 25 lbs of ice a day, you must be having some banging parties that I’m not invited to.

We have four ice cube trays in our freezer. In a month in the Bahamas with a cocktail or two every day, we never go through more than two of them a day. We just use the blue ice blocks for the fish/beach coolers. Works great.

 

[rslifkin]

This.

I am having a hard time figuring out how some of y’all are going through 20 to 25 lbs of ice a day, you must be having some banging parties that I’m not invited to.

We have four ice cube trays in our freezer. In a month in the Bahamas with a cocktail or two every day, we never go through more than two of them a day. We just use the blue ice blocks for the fish/beach coolers. Works great.

Same here. I doubt we use more than a pound of ice per day on average for drinks, etc. We're not using it to stock coolers. Although having a bunch of ice on hand was nice at times when people were hanging out having drinks on the dock, as we could just supply a bunch of ice for everyone.

 

[ksanders]

This.

I am having a hard time figuring out how some of y’all are going through 20 to 25 lbs of ice a day, you must be having some banging parties that I’m not invited to.

We have four ice cube trays in our freezer. In a month in the Bahamas with a cocktail or two every day, we never go through more than two of them a day. We just use the blue ice blocks for the fish/beach coolers. Works great.

We do not use near the capacity of our ice maker. It is on all the time, and ther ice bucket stasys full.

I like cold water and generally get seversal cups a day.
On days we have margaritas on the boast of course we use more ice.

My opinion I do not need to use the 25 lb a day capacity. The machine runs only when it needs to.

 

[Cold Duck]

Yup, those small $80 counter units (mine is Frigidaire) are perfect for us. 110v will run on small inverter so you don't have to run the genset. Starts making ice in less than 5 minutes. Can't beat the price and ease of ops. Being a retired engineer, I love to see something well thought out and engineered. I have 2, one in boat, one in cabin in Hawaii. Cheaper than trying to replace the ice maker in the fridge.

 

[Turtle Blues]

Read the reviews before you decide which one. Some I've seen make slushy ice that is fine if you can move it to the freezer to firm up for storage.
I know my U-Line is the the highest maintenance item on the boat but it is nice to step on board and have a full bin.

 

[BruceK]

Tip for U-Line owners, keep the air intake filter clean.

When I bought the (now sold)IG with one fitted, removing the front screen exposed what looked like dense carpet but was really dust buildup. Vacuumed away performance was much improved,though it never worked 100%. If I really needed one I`d have bought a bench top portable.

 

[Hippocampus]

When I bought the (now sold)IG with one fitted, removing the front screen exposed what looked like dense carpet but was really dust buildup. Vacuumed away performance was much improved,though it never worked 100%. If I really needed one I`d have bought a bench top portable.

Buy a duster on a stick. Good for frig,freezer and AC units. Also good for screens, tops of fuel tanks and other hard to reach places.

 

[kthoennes]

Buy a duster on a stick. Good for frig,freezer and AC units. Also good for screens, tops of fuel tanks and other hard to reach places.

When we buy our next boat, I want to buy it from somebody who dusts the tops of his fuel tanks.

 

[AlanT]

Based on all the reports here I today ordered a $300 portable icemaker that makes "nugget" or pebble ice (which my wife loves). I am keen to see how it performs.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BPTDN9JB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I had the ubiquitous U-Line icemaker in my last boat (4788). It worked for a while, quit, then I bought a whole new icemaker assembly for it for several hundred $$ and never could get it working again. It also flooded my floor one time when a fitting froze (my fault for not winterizing it). Bottom line I like the simplicity of the portable models, have a place for it where we wont have to listen to it, and I can take it to the dirt home when needed for party ice.
~A

 

[rslifkin]

Interesting that so many have issues with the U line ice makers. The Raritan units seem to be pretty reliable based on others I know as well as my experience. Our boat has had 2 of the Raritans, both lasted 17 - 19 years before suffering a refrigeration system failure (the ice making components never had an issue on either one).

 

[SteveK]

Interesting that so many have issues with the U line ice makers. The Raritan units seem to be pretty reliable based on others I know as well as my experience. Our boat has had 2 of the Raritans, both lasted 17 - 19 years before suffering a refrigeration system failure (the ice making components never had an issue on either one).

I wonder how many Uline ice makers are still running strong. Like with many things TF attracts the reports of problems. I would like to report my 31 year old Uline is still working.

 

[STB]

I wonder how many Uline ice makers are still running strong. Like with many things TF attracts the reports of problems. I would like to report my 31 year old Uline is still working.

When I was looking for boats a few years back, I saw a lot of uline ice makers...and a few cabinets where they had once been. Working uline ice makers were super rare.

 

[AlanT]

I wonder how many Uline ice makers are still running strong. Like with many things TF attracts the reports of problems. I would like to report my 31 year old Uline is still working.

+1 (I don't blame the U-line, it lasted over 30 years which for anything electro-mechanical on a boat that is not made of solid stainless steel is pretty good!)

 

[Turtle Blues]

Probably half of U-Line deaths are screwdriver to the gear to try and move it through the cycle. That instantly kills the control motor.
I see plenty of 20 plus year old non working units, stick on a new $100 head plate and wait, back to life.