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Water spreading across a tiled floor from under an undercounter ice machine.

Start with the symptom

Ice machine
problems,
symptom first.

Every symptom we are called out for, traced to the causes that actually explain it — cheapest first. Start from what you are seeing rather than from what you think is broken.

(844) 410-9163

Mon–Sat, 8am–8pm

  • 17 symptoms
  • 4 need a visit now
  • Causes in cost order

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Needs a visit now

Four situations outrank every other page here, because what they put at risk is the staff, the guests and the family near the machine, not the ice. A hiss or a smell of gas at a machine that runs on R-290, which is propane: flip no light switch, pull no plug, strike no flame, open the doors and windows, get everyone out of the room, switch the breaker off only if its panel is somewhere else, and call 911 if the smell is strong. Water running from the machine, the bin or the drain line across a floor people walk on, or toward an outlet: rope off the wet patch so nobody walks through it, reach the breaker only across a floor that is dry, and turn the small valve on the machine's water line to closed. Hot plastic or scorched insulation in the air: that circuit is switched off at the panel, and nobody switches it back on to test. If the breaker drops every time the compressor tries to start, leave the handle down; each fresh reset makes a hot winding hotter. In every one of these cases the panels stay on and the sealed system stays shut until a technician arrives.

Book a visit
Clear the area first

Ice Machine Leaking Water Across the Floor or Under the Bin

An ice machine leaking water leaves a wet patch spreading from under the storage bin behind a bar, a dark stain creeping out beneath an undercounter unit, or a steady run down the side of a head sitting on its bin in a back room.

Causes, cheapest first

  1. Meltwater from a bin that was overfilled or propped openno repair
  2. A drain hose off its fitting or kinked behind the unitlowest
  3. A drain pump that no longer liftslow to moderate
All 6 causes and what to check
Clear the area first

Burning or Hot Electrical Smell From an Ice Machine

An ice machine burning smell may be sharp hot plastic near the control box, a scorched-dust smell from the condenser grille on a hot afternoon, or a smell like a hot wire from the cord and its plug behind the bin.

Causes, cheapest first

  1. Dust or grease burning off a condenser or fanno repair
  2. A worn or loose plug, cord or outletlowest
  3. An overheating condenser fan motorlow to moderate
All 6 causes and what to check
Clear the area first

Ice Machine Tripping the Breaker or Blowing a Fuse

An ice machine tripping breaker problem can look like a bar that goes quiet at the start of every freeze, a GFCI outlet behind the bin that snaps off after a cleaning, or a fuse that goes on the hottest afternoons of the year.

Causes, cheapest first

  1. Another appliance sharing the circuitno repair
  2. Water in the control box or around a connectionlow
  3. A drain pump overflowing onto its own wiringlow to moderate
All 6 causes and what to check
Clear the area first

Hissing or a Gas Smell Near an Ice Machine on R-290

An ice machine hissing or gas smell shows up as a thin, steady hiss from behind the grille that does not stop when the cycle changes, a faint gas odor in a small bar storeroom, or an oily smudge by the tubing under the head.

Causes, cheapest first

  1. The normal hiss of filling water or a harvestno repair
  2. A worn Schrader core or access valvemoderate
  3. A tube rubbing through against the framemoderate to highest
All 6 causes and what to check

Everything else we are called out for

Nothing on these pages endangers anyone. The cubes may come out thin, cloudy or stuck together, the bin may fill slower than the shift needs, a clean light may stay on, or the water may run to the drain longer than it used to, and a regular appointment covers every one of them. Each page lists what can be checked from the front of the machine, with its switch, its bin door and its air filter, before anyone drives out.

The repairs behind them

Ice Machine Running but Not Making Ice

An ice machine not making ice can mean an empty bin at opening time with the machine humming, a head that lights up but stays silent, or an evaporator plate that is bare and dry behind the curtain while the fan keeps running. 6 causes

Ice Machine Making Too Little Ice for the Rush

An ice machine making little ice shows up as a bin that never fills by opening time, a machine that kept up last winter but runs out on summer weekends, or harvests that come far apart with thin slabs. 6 causes

Ice Machine Cubes Coming Out Thin, Small or Hollow

Ice machine cubes small or hollow can look like half-formed cubes with a dimple in the face, thin slabs that break into shards, or a mix of full cubes on one side of the plate and hollow shells on the other. 6 causes

Cloudy, Soft or Wet Ice From an Ice Machine

Ice machine cloudy ice looks milky white instead of glass-clear, with white flakes floating in a drink, soft cubes that crush in the scoop, or wet ice that clumps into a block in the bin. 6 causes

Ice From the Ice Machine Tastes Stale, Chemical or Musty

When ice machine ice tastes bad, drinks pick up a musty note, a hint of chlorine or cleaner, a flat stale taste, or the smell of whatever sits near the bin, and customers or staff notice before anyone looks inside the machine. 6 causes

Slime or Mold Growing in the Ice Machine Bin

Slime in ice machine bins and heads shows up as a pink or orange film on the bin walls, black specks on the water curtain, jelly-like streaks in the sump, or a gray coating on the drain fitting that comes back weeks after a wipe-down. 6 causes

Ice Machine Not Harvesting: Ice Stays Stuck on the Plate

An ice machine not harvesting leaves a thick slab frozen to the evaporator, ice bridging across the plate and over the curtain, or a machine that clicks into harvest and back without anything dropping into the bin. 6 causes

Ice Machine Water Running Nonstop to the Drain

Ice machine water running constantly sounds like a steady trickle into the floor drain all night, a hiss from the inlet valve that never stops, or a water-cooled unit pouring warm water down the drain whether it makes ice or not. 6 causes

Ice Machine Drain Backing Up Into the Bin

An ice machine drain backing up leaves water standing under the ice in the bin, a gurgle from the floor drain at every harvest, or ice melting in a shallow pool that never empties. 6 causes

Ice Machine Loud: Grinding, Rattling or Banging

An ice machine loud noise can be a grinding from the condenser fan, a rattle from the water pump, a bang as each slab drops, or a buzz that the staff behind the bar now hear over the music. 6 causes

Ice Bin Full but the Ice Machine Keeps Making Ice

An ice machine overfilling the bin keeps dropping ice onto a heap that already reaches the head, jams the curtain with cubes, or spills ice over the bin door onto the floor. 6 causes

Ice Dispenser Not Dispensing Ice or Water

An ice dispenser not dispensing leaves a cup under the chute with nothing coming out, a motor that hums without ice falling, a water spout that only drips, or ice that jams in a solid plug in the chute. 6 causes

Ice Machine Error Code or Flashing Light: What It Is Telling You

An ice machine error code may show as a number on a small display, a pattern of blinking lights on the control board, a colored light on the front, or a machine that stops with one indicator flashing. 7 causes

Not every ice machine
breaks the same way.

A modular head makes ice on top of a separate bin or dispenser and can be air-, water- or remote-cooled, an undercounter machine freezes and stores its ice in one cabinet under the bar, a nugget machine presses soft chewable pellets out of an auger, and an ice and water dispenser pours both from a lever on the counter. Which one is yours?

All ice machine types
A stainless modular ice machine head sitting on top of a wide stainless ice bin in a restaurant back-of-house, the ice bin door lifted to show a heap of clear square ice cubes and a plain white scoop, the ice machine standing against a white tiled wall with a floor drain below it.

Modular ice machine

An ice-making head set on top of a separate storage bin or drink dispenser, cooled by air, water or a condenser on the roof, turning out hundreds of pounds of cubes a day.

 A stainless undercounter ice machine built in under a dark stone bar top in a hotel bar, the ice machine door swung open to show a bin full of clear square ice cubes with a plain stainless scoop resting in them, clean glassware on the counter above, soft warm light.

Undercounter ice machine

A self-contained ice machine that makes and stores its own ice under a bar, a service counter or a kitchen island, from commercial units to clear-ice models in large homes.

 A stainless nugget ice machine head sitting on a stainless bin in a clean hospital nutrition room, the bin door open to show a mound of small soft pellets of nugget ice and a plain white scoop, a clear glass of nugget ice on the counter beside the ice machine, bright even light.

Nugget ice machine

An ice machine that freezes a thin layer inside a chilled cylinder and pushes it out with an auger as soft, chewable nuggets, for clinics, offices, hotels and large homes.

 A stainless countertop ice and water dispenser standing on a pale stone counter in a hotel hallway ice alcove, a clear plastic cup under the ice machine's spout with small clear ice falling into it, a drip tray grate below the ice dispenser.

Ice and water dispenser

A countertop or floor-standing unit in a hotel hallway, an office or a clinic that makes and stores ice and hands it out with water at the touch of a lever, a button or a sensor.

 Every kind we service

All ice machines, side by side

The archive puts the 4 types against each other: how to tell which you own, what fails on each, and which manufacturers build them.

How to tell yoursWhat fails on eachWho makes them Open the type archive

Familiar brands. Expert care.

For the brands
in your kitchen, bar or back room.

Independent repair service. Not affiliated with, authorized or endorsed by any manufacturer. Brand names and model numbers are the property of their respective owners and are used here for identification only, to describe the appliances we service.

All 20 brands

The repairs behind the symptoms

Most people arrive knowing what they are seeing, not what is wrong. These are the jobs a visit usually turns out to be.

All 10 repairs
diagnostic

Ice machine diagnostic visit

A visit that watches a freeze and a harvest, checks water, drain and condenser, reads stored codes, and names the part holding the ice back.
lowest

Ice machine cleaning and sanitizing

Scale off the evaporator and distribution tube, slime out of the bin, curtain and drain, with the maker's cleaner and sanitizer on its schedule.
low to moderate

Ice machine water valve and filter repair

The inlet valve, filter, sump float or level probe and supply line, tested and replaced when water arrives short, dirty or nonstop.
low to moderate

Ice machine harvest repair

The hot gas valve, harvest assist, curtain switch and thickness probe that decide when a sheet of cubes is done and make it drop.
highest

Ice machine compressor and sealed system repair

The compressor, its start parts and the sealed system, including machines on flammable R-290, tested for pressure and leaks and repaired by the maker's procedure.
low to moderate

Ice machine condenser and fan repair

Air-cooled coils, fan motors and filters, water-cooled regulating valves and rooftop remote condensers, cleaned or repaired so the ice machine can shed its heat.
moderate to highest

Ice machine control board repair

The controller, its display, the sensors it reads and their wiring, tested when a code, a blinking light or a dead machine points there.
low to moderate

Ice machine drain and pump repair

Gravity drains, air gaps, drain pumps and their lines, cleared or replaced when meltwater backs up into the bin or reaches the floor.
low

Ice machine bin control repair

The thermostat bulb, paddle, curtain switch or electronic eye that senses a full bin, adjusted or replaced so the machine stops and restarts on time.
low to moderate

Ice dispenser mechanism repair

The agitator, chute gate, lever, button or touchless sensor and drip tray that hand out ice and water, repaired when a dispenser stalls or drips.
A family filling glasses with nugget ice from an ice machine in a large home kitchen.
For the heart of your home.

Questions about
the problems.

My ice machine problem is not on this list. Can I still book?
Yes. The list follows the complaints bar managers and homeowners bring us most, and an unlisted one is just as welcome. Describe what you hear, taste or see in the notes box and the technician starts from your words.
The cubes are thin and the bin fills slowly. Which page comes first?
Begin with whatever you spotted first. A water filter that is clogged or a plate lined with scale often gives thin, uneven cubes for weeks before the bin runs short, and the earliest sign usually sits nearest the part that is failing. Troubles that often travel with it are linked at the bottom.
Which ice machine problems should not wait for a regular slot?
Four of them: water spreading from the machine or its drain across a walkway or toward an outlet, a burning or hot electrical smell, a breaker that trips when the machine starts, and a hiss or gas smell at a machine charged with flammable R-290. Every problem page carries a flag if it belongs in that group; thin cubes, a slow harvest or a stubborn clean light can wait for the booked day.
Is the ice safe to serve while we wait for the technician?
It depends on the problem. Small or slow ice from a machine that is otherwise clean is fine to use. Ice that tastes or smells off, cubes with dark specks, or slime or mold in the bin should be emptied and not served until the machine is cleaned and sanitized; after a leak toward power, a burning smell, a tripped breaker or a gas smell, keep the machine off until we have seen it.

Back to your everyday

Let’s get your ice machine working again.

Three short steps online, or one call. Tell us what you are seeing and pick a window that works.

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