“Marine” SS Ice maker or convenience store ice maker?

[fullsail]

I have 36 Heritage East Sun deck trawler in San Diego. It had an ice maker when I bought the boat, but it was trashed and I pulled it out. We’ve been going through 20lbs bags of ice for 7 years now and I think it’s high time I get an ice maker. So, do I get a typical west marine built in or an under the counter restaurant style machine at 1/2 the price? What do you think? Thanks
Dave

 

[mvweebles]

I think when the dust settles, size will be your determining factor. You will need to pay what you need to pay.

That said, not sure why icemakers are so dang expensive. Limited production compared to fridges? But when the anchor is down and it's time for a rum & coke......

Peter

 

[rslifkin]

I've got an older Raritan unit. Second one on the boat in 36 years, so they hold up well. My only complaint is that at least for my older one, the startup surge is massive, so when on inverter power the compressor has a slight stutter at startup (and every light on the boat flickers a hair). It could be a bit better insulated for lower power consumption, but it otherwise works great.

If the unit won't be exposed to weather, a non-marine one should be fine. But pay attention to power use if you want to run it on inverter power. The ones that make ice, let it melt and keep recycling are much more power hungry than the units (like the marine ones) that are basically just the ice maker from a house freezer stuck into a dedicated tiny freezer.


Vitrifrigo makes a 12v unit as well as all of the 120v marine units out there. It doesn't make ice as fast and I've never seen one in person, but it's an option.

 

[angus99]

We use a countertop ice maker which we find adequate for everything but large get-togethers. It takes up minimal space, pulls about 20 DC amps when inverter-powered and makes enough ice in an hour for four to six drinks. We tend to run it while on shore power or under way and bag the ice, minimizing run times at anchor. It does not keep ice frozen, so you’d need freezer space. Paid $120 for it, which is probably the price of a door latch for our built-in, chronically broken down U-line.