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A few small, hollow cubes at the bottom of an ice machine bin.

What the ice is telling you

Common problems
guides.

What an ice machine means when the bin stays low, the cubes come out thin, hollow or cloudy, the ice tastes of something it should not, or a light keeps asking for a cleaning you already did.

(844) 410-9163

Mon–Sat, 8am–8pm

  • Three guides
  • Read before you book
  • Says where to stop

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Common problems,
guide by guide.

Here the starting point is the ice itself, its amount, its shape and its taste, and the route runs backward to whatever changed. It is written for whoever notices first that something has changed: a bar manager whose bin is no longer full at opening, a clinic office manager who hears complaints about the ice at the patient water station, or a homeowner with a clear-ice undercounter unit that has started making cloudy, dimpled cubes.

All 18 guides
A stainless modular ice machine head on a storage bin in a warm restaurant back room, the ice machine pushed close to a tiled wall with its side air filter visibly gray with dust, the bin only a third full of clear cubes.
6-minute read

Why an ice machine makes less ice: room heat, a clogged condenser and a slow fill

Output slides a few pounds a day before anyone notices. How cycle time, clearance, the air filter and supply pressure decide the daily total, and which stops mean a technician.

A close view inside an open undercounter ice machine under a bar, a fresh sheet of cubes from the ice machine lying on a dark tray with some cubes full and some shallow and dimpled, clear ice, stainless interior.
5-minute read

Shallow or hollow ice machine cubes: the trough, scale and the thickness probe

Lay a fresh sheet of cubes on a dark tray and read it. A lopsided sheet, a missing column and chalky edges each point to a different stage of the freeze.

An undercounter ice machine behind a hotel bar with its door open, a stainless scoop resting in a holder beside the ice machine rather than in the ice, a clear glass of water and a few clear cubes on the bar top, soft evening light.
5-minute read

Ice machine ice that tastes musty, chemical or of the room: from the tap to the bin

Taste the tap water beside a melted cube first. Then the filter, biofilm on the curtain, the scoop, the drain and whatever sits near the air intake.

What the ice is telling you.

The causes in each guide are ordered by how frequently we find them on modular heads, self-contained undercounter cubers, nugget machines and ice and water dispensers. Heat around the condenser, water arriving slowly, scale on the evaporator and biofilm in the water path account for most complaints, and each has a check that needs no tools and no panel removed.

The shape of the ice carries more information than most people expect. A sheet of cubes that is full at the bottom and thin at the top, a machine that harvests on time but drops shallow cubes, and ice that tastes of the room it sits in each point to a different stage of the freeze and harvest cycle, and the guides explain how to read them.

Each guide names the moment the answer is no longer outside the cabinet. The thickness probe, the inlet valve, the harvest components and anything on the cooling circuit are for a technician, and on a machine that runs on R-290 the circuit is never a place for anyone else to work.

Not sure where to start?

The short answerWhy an ice machine makes less ice: room heat, a clogged condenser and a slow fill

An ice machine making less ice is usually losing the heat battle or the water battle: hot room air, a clogged air filter or condenser, a partly closed supply valve or a dirty inlet screen.

The short answerShallow or hollow ice machine cubes: the trough, scale and the thickness probe

An ice machine making small or hollow cubes is usually short of water during the freeze or harvesting early: a low trough, a dirty inlet screen, a loaded filter, warm supply water, scale on the plate or a thickness probe out of adjustment.

The short answerIce machine ice that tastes musty, chemical or of the room: from the tap to the bin

When ice machine ice tastes bad, trace it in order: the incoming water and the filter cartridge, slime or scale in the water system, the bin and scoop, the drain, and what is stored or cooked near the machine.

When reading
is not enough.

If the checks in these guides did not settle it, the visit picks up from there, stop by stop.

What repairs cost
  1. 01One cycle, watched closely
  2. 02The cause, then the price
  3. 03Parts that travel with us
  4. 04A harvest before we go

The problems
these answer.

Each has a page of its own, with the causes in the order worth checking.

All 17 problems
A stainless modular ice machine head on a tall storage bin in a busy restaurant back room, the bin door propped open to show only a thin layer of clear cubes scattered across the bottom of the ice machine's bin, a fryer station glowing warm in soft focus nearby. Problem

Ice Machine Making Too Little Ice for the Rush

6 causes, cheapest first

 A stainless undercounter ice machine under a hotel bar with its insulated bin door swung open, the ice machine's bin completely empty and dry except for a white plastic scoop lying in the bottom, the steel counter above holding a row of clean glasses. Problem

Ice Machine Running but Not Making Ice

6 causes, cheapest first

 Close view into the open front of a stainless modular ice machine head, a thick, solid sheet of clear cubes frozen across the whole evaporator plate and bulging over the clear plastic water curtain, frost on the edges of the ice machine's plate, the ice bin below empty. Problem

Ice Machine Not Harvesting: Ice Stays Stuck on the Plate

6 causes, cheapest first

 A low view behind a stainless modular ice machine on its bin in a tiled back room, a clear plastic drain line from the ice machine ending above a round floor drain with a steady stream of water pouring into it, the bin above closed. Problem

Ice Machine Water Running Nonstop to the Drain

6 causes, cheapest first
A family filling glasses with nugget ice from an ice machine in a large home kitchen.
For the heart of your home.

Questions about
common problems.

Which problem should I read about first?
Start with whatever changed first. Less ice, odd-shaped cubes and a bad taste often share one cause, such as scale or a loaded water filter, and the first change usually points to it.
Are these guides for home or commercial ice machines?
Both. The same freeze and harvest cycle runs a bar's modular head and a premium residential undercounter unit, and where the makers give different limits for each, the guides say so.
Do I need the manual to use these guides?
It helps. Cleaning products, dilution and schedules are specific to each maker, and the guides send you to the manual for those rather than guessing.
When is a common problem really an urgent one?
When water is spreading across a floor, a breaker keeps tripping, there is a burning smell, or a hiss or propane-like odor comes from an R-290 unit. Those are safety calls, not quality ones.

The other
sections.

Split by what you are trying to find out rather than by which part of the appliance it concerns.

All guides
A finger pressing a button on the control panel of an ice machine, the lights dark.
Safe checks at the bin and the valve

Troubleshooting

Removed plastic parts of an ice machine soaking in a sink of cleaning solution.
Habits that keep the bin full for years

Maintenance and prevention

A clean ice scoop hanging in its holder beside the bin of an ice machine.
Keeping the ice, the floor and the room safe

Ice hygiene, water and gas

A modular ice machine and a nugget ice machine side by side in one break room.
Cube or nugget, keep or retire

Choosing and comparing

The drain line of an ice machine ending above a floor drain with a clear air gap.
Water, drain, air and power

Installation and setup

Not sure which section?

Start from your question

The four questions most visits start with, each with the guide that answers it.

18 guidesWhere to start Where to start

Back to your everyday

Let’s get your ice machine working again.

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Schedule a repair Call (844) 410-9163
(844) 410-9163 Schedule a repair