Counter top ice maker

tawoo · 07-23-2015, 08:15 AM

We go through tons of ice for our cooler. I am thinking of a counter top ice maker to do that job. I will be running off my solar powered inverter so the 150 watts it draws may or may not be a problem.
Anyone have one of these?

Ottawasteve · 07-23-2015, 08:22 AM

My parents have one and it works great, you just have to make sure and pull the ice cubes out and put them in the cooler right away as the ice maker does not keep the cubes frozen very well as the cubes come out the same place where the water is (a basket catches the ice cubes right above where the water is for the next batch of cubes) and the water has to stay above freezing until drawn into the compartment where the ice is made. The cubes are not as hard and do not last as long as a store bought bag of ice though. If you were able to through the bag of cubes into your camper freezer to really solidify, might work better for your cooler. Not sure how many amps the draw would be for solar setup though.

tawoo · 07-23-2015, 08:59 AM

Ottawasteve,
Thanks for the info. If the ice is not hard as you say I may pass on buying one then. I don't have any room to store fresh made ice in my freezer and that's the reason I was thinking of buying an ice make.

maromeo · 07-23-2015, 09:08 AM

We have one but I agree with Ottawasteve. The ice is not hard frozen. We premake our ice, hard freeze it and use it in our cooler and keep a gallon size bag of ice in our freezer for drinks.

Dagwood · 07-23-2015, 09:56 AM

Good to know guys, I was thinking of gettting an Ice Maker for just that purpose, fill a cooler but if it's more work than just paying for two bags of ice every three days I'll pass.

SouthCo · 07-23-2015, 10:44 AM

My sister in law's husband bought one and had it the last time we group camped. I can't comment on how good it worked as they pulled it out but never used it. They bought ice instead lol... I didn't ask why...

Chrislorl · 07-23-2015, 11:06 AM

Hi
We have one and it works well for a few drinks at a time, but it would take forever to fill a cooler.
The cubes are hollow, basically the shape of a bullet. You can set the size and they come out about every 10 -15 mins. As they melt in the basket they drip back into the water reserve.
For us for adult beverages it works just fine and we like it, to pack fish not so much

3'senough · 07-23-2015, 11:19 AM

It will not keep up with your demand for a cooler in 85+ degree temps. It works great on making drink ice though. What I did before having and ODK with fridge was make 2 blocks to add to the cooler each day then put 2 baskets of cubes in from the ice maker.

Now I use the ice maker just for drink ice which I buy filtered water for. What I like is having my freezer space rather than a 10# bag of block ice from the refreeze.

Mine is the Magic Chef 27# per day unit. I can fill 3, 1 gallon bags with large cubes in about 12 hrs with it.

tawoo · 07-23-2015, 11:23 AM

Ok, this is not going to work for me then. Thank you all for the excellent advice. I almost bought one.
Now, I'll have to ask in another thread what is the best cooler. Mine is a brand name and seriously does not keep ice more then a day.

3'senough · 07-23-2015, 11:37 AM

Yeti. Expensive, but the best you can get.

Coleman makes a 120/12V combo which works well too. My SIL has it to keep things cool, not like ice, but cool to cold. Great supplement fridge that is light weight. Coleman outlet have them sometimes for $50 if your lucky enough.

tawoo · 07-23-2015, 12:02 PM

Thank you 3'senough I'll have to check them out. I thought of a 12v refrigerator but having something sucking power all day was not an option when we boondock. I was hoping to use the ice maker just enough to make ice and then shut it off and let the cooler do it's thing.

mike837go · 07-23-2015, 02:07 PM

What worked for us when boondocking with a cooler full of beer and soda:
- Pre-chill the beverages at home
- Fill coolers with ice made at home
- reserve room in gas fridge for 2 ice cube trays
- Gas fridge could produce 4-6 trays of ice per day to keep the coolers replenished.
- Excess water was bailed out every few days.

Derek700 · 07-23-2015, 06:06 PM

We have an igloo ice maker and works good for drinks and is perfect for our margaritaville margarita maker, one basket = one pitcher. To refill a cooler it will melt too fast. I think they draw a lot of power as well to use with solar power. The longer it runs the faster it makes ice. I find after about an hour or so it really churns out the ice .

Jayson 197 · 07-23-2015, 11:18 PM

We have the Igloo ice maker. It's great for cocktails, but I can't imagine trying to fill a cooler with the small cubes.

Bucko06 · 07-24-2015, 02:04 AM

I use one of the "extreme" series coolers. I think Coleman. I fill it with store bought bagged ice. I can keep ice for 4+ days if I keep it out of direct sun and don't open the lid constantly. Then, I just bring in smaller quantities to the rv freezer for regular use.

tawoo · 07-24-2015, 03:04 AM

The Colman Extreme cooler is what we have too and for us ice melts in a day. I wish someone made a sun reflector tent for the cooler. Maybe that would help

cppeekskill · 07-24-2015, 05:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tawoo

The Colman Extreme cooler is what we have too and for us ice melts in a day. I wish someone made a sun reflector tent for the cooler. Maybe that would help

Tawoo, PopUPGizmos makes cooler covers out of the same material that they use to make the Gizmos. It isn't insulated, but it is supposed to help extend the time it takes for the ice to melt in your cooler.
PopupGizmos

tawoo · 07-24-2015, 06:10 AM

cppeekskill,
That is EXACALLY what I was looking for. Thank you for the tip.

**JFlightRisk** · 07-24-2015, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tawoo

The Colman Extreme cooler is what we have too and for us ice melts in a day. I wish someone made a sun reflector tent for the cooler. Maybe that would help

We also have the Coleman Extreme, and found if you can get block ice, it lasts longer. Our way, it's getting harder to find, but one block, and a couple of bags of cubes lasts several days, in the shade.

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