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.
Mon–Sat, 8am–8pm
- 5 checks before you book
- 5 questions that narrow it
- 6 causes, cheapest first
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What it
usually means.
An ice machine is cold, wet and dark, and it pulls in air all day from a bar or kitchen full of yeast, sugar and flour. That is ideal for slime, the pink and orange films made by airborne bacteria and yeasts, and for black mold that settles on the curtain, the splash areas and the bin door gasket. Growth starts where water sits or splashes: the sump, the distribution tube, the curtain and the bin drain. Wiping the bin removes what you can see but not what is inside the head, so the film returns. The cure is the full cleaning and sanitizing procedure in the maker's manual, with the products it names, at the interval it sets, usually every six months and more often in a bakery, a brewery or a bar with a lot of yeast in the air. Some machines add an ozone or UV module to slow the growth, but none of them replace cleaning. A machine that grows slime quickly may also have a slow drain, a hot room, or a missed schedule, and each makes it worse.
The 6 causes, cheapest first
Answer these first
What color is the film: pink, orange, black, or a gray coating?
Where is it: bin walls, curtain, sump, drain, door gasket, or inside the dispenser chute?
When was the last full clean and sanitize of the head, not only the bin?
Is the machine near a bakery, a brewing area, a bar well with syrups, or an open doorway?
Does water stand in the bottom of the bin or the sump between cycles?
Check these
before you book.
Slime in ice machine: 5 checks, and none of them costs anything.
Stop using the ice and empty the bin if you see slime or mold.
Photograph where the film is, including the curtain and the drain, before anyone wipes it.
Check the date of the last full clean and sanitize of the head, not only the bin.
Also worth checking
- Run the maker's cleaning and sanitizing procedure with the products it names and exactly as it directs, or book it; never mix products or change the strength.
- Look for standing water in the bin bottom and at the drain after a harvest.
How soon does it need a visit?
Visible slime or mold means the ice is not served until the machine has been fully cleaned and sanitized. Book the clean promptly; a machine that grows it back in weeks also needs its drain and room checked.
The causes,
cheapest first.
6 things slime or mold growing in the ice machine bin turns out to be, from a cleaning schedule missed or cut short to cracked gaskets or a scratched bin liner.
The cost guide-
01 no repair
A cleaning schedule missed or cut short
Skipping the head and cleaning only the bin leaves growth in the sump, tube and curtain. Following the full procedure at the manual's interval is the fix.
-
02 no repair
Yeast and sugar in the air
Bars, bakeries and breweries put more yeast in the air, and the machine pulls it in. Moving the machine or its intake away, or cleaning more often, slows the growth.
-
03 low to moderate
Growth deep in the head and the tube
Once slime is in the distribution tube and behind the curtain, a technician takes the parts out, cleans and sanitizes them with the maker's products, and checks the gaskets.
-
04 low to moderate
A slow drain keeping water in the bin
Standing water feeds growth. A drain line with a sag, a clogged trap or a pump reservoir full of film is cleared.
-
05 low to moderate
A dispenser chute and agitator never cleaned
On an ice and water dispenser the chute, the agitator and the water nozzle hold film where nobody looks. They come apart for cleaning on a visit.
-
06 low to moderate
Cracked gaskets or a scratched bin liner
Growth lodges in cracks and scratches where no cleaner reaches. A worn door gasket or a damaged liner part is replaced so the surfaces clean fully.
What else
it could be.
Most often confused with ice from the ice machine tastes stale, chemical or musty, then ice machine drain backing up into the bin.
All problemsCodes that come with it
Clean and SanitizeFollett · Mode, not a failureError 7Ice-O-Matic · Water supplyE28Manitowoc · Mode, not a failureCLEANMarvel · Mode, not a failureICE, NO WATER and DRAIN flicker in turnMarvel · Mode, not a failureAdd chemicalMaxx Ice · Mode, not a failure
Also related
The makes
it happens on.
20 makes on this site; slime or mold growing in the ice machine bin can show up on any of them. Each mark opens that make's own page.
All 20 brandsSlime or Mold Growing in the Ice Machine Bin,
where we come out.
9 metros, each with its own page.
All service areasTampa BayFL · 31 areas
Miami / South FloridaFL · 47 areas
New York MetroNY · 75 areas
HoustonTX · 36 areas
ChicagoIL · 50 areas
Los AngelesCA · 95 areas
San DiegoCA · 31 areas
Questions about
slime or mold growing in the ice machine bin.
What is the pink slime in the ice machine?
How often should an ice machine be cleaned and sanitized?
Can bleach be used to clean an ice machine?
Why did the mold come back weeks after cleaning the bin?
Back to your everyday
Still seeing slime or mold growing in the ice machine bin?
Book with what you checked above — 5 answers save the technician the first part of the visit.