****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
We bought this ice machine, not quite a year ago now. It makes the best ice. For Americans who live in the South, think Sonic Ice. It's Sonic Ice. It's soft, it's chewable, it's amazing. Older people, or those with ice cravings, will love this. Your dentist will appreciate you not ruining your teeth on the harder ice. They're fairly quiet, fit on top of your counter no problem, I'd say it's a little taller & wider than one of those big plastic laundry bottles and probably the same length if that helps you when deciding if this will fit your space.It has a self clean! RUN THE SELF CLEAN! For the love of everything holy, please run the self clean. Mold will build up in any machine like this if you do not. This one alerts you when it needs to be cleaned, but I suggest cleaning it like it says in the book, once every gallon of water, I think it is. It's not hard.Mine did start making a grinding noise about 8 months in. We contacted customer support, and they sent us a new one. It showed up at our door like 2 days later. They were amazing. I'm hoping they are able to address which ever part it is that is wearing down, or give us a way to replace the part. The ice machine is amazing, and it's such a shame to just throw them out for grinding and slow ice.We're going to take apart the old one and see if we can identify the part that is making the noise so that we can try to find a fix. If so, I'll update this so that others can also fix theirs. These really are just the most amazing machines. I tell all my friends about this machine. BEST ICE MACHINE EVER!This is a pretty scary purchase... lots of money for fresh ice. BUT... I love it. I'm not too worried about the speed of its ice making, but I would guess that it produces what it claims over a 24 hour period. I typically start it up Thursday evening (using filtered fridge water) and by Friday at 5pm I've got enough ice for the week.I bought a container that I dump the fresh ice into and store the container in the freezer. I use an ice pick to break it up in the container once it's had some freezer time (5 -15 minutes). It does tend to clump up if I don't do this. When preparing to remove ice from the machine I lift and tip the bucket since there will be some water to drain out. Not doing so will increase the clumping issue. But it is worth it to scoop out high-Q pebble ice from the fridge all week.It is moderately noisy... not too much so, but when it's running you will know it. It does need free space on its sides to all for heat dissipation.And the ice... amazing, chewable, and absolutely necessary for Tiki drinks, soft drinks, water, et al.This is a fantastic ice machine. Our neighbor would stop by and fill her Yeti.... Until she finally bought one of her own. Great ice. The family love it!So.... What is just as important as the product is the support. Unfortunately our machine started making a strange noise. In today's world it is rare to find a 12 month warranty on any appliance. I reached out to support. They were extremely responsive and genuinely concerned. After following some trouble shooting tips they simply shipped me a replacement.A great product. With the peace of mind that the warranty is truly backed by the folks in support. Couldn't be more happy and highly recommend.We purchased this ice maker because it made the “Sonic” style ice even though it was a little more than the kind which made regular style cubed ice.The machine is easy to use and easy to clean. The ice it makes is just like the “Sonic” ice pellets. You can fill the reservoir with water or hook it up to a water source.It makes ice pretty quickly as well so there’s not a lot of waiting time.After 4 months or so of use, I heard a few popping noises and turned to see that the top portion had popped up and the machine started leaking from the side.I reached out to their customer service and they responded very quickly. After I sent them a short video showing them what was going on with the machine, they immediately sent a replacement.The person I worked with was Nicole and she was very courteous, friendly and helpful. So even though the first machine had issues, there were no problems getting the issues addressed.We’ve only had the new machine for a few days but so far so good!This is exactly what I was looking for…mostly. My top reasons for buying this machine:Price. This was less expensive than most that made pellet ice and at the speed of this machine.Good reviews!It has the functions I was looking for. I live in Arizona with my beautiful bride. We drink a lot of ice water. This machine produces plenty and does it quickly!Cons:As noted by another reviewer, no restart after a “full” indicator. I have taken to opening the top any time I walk by the machine to keep it topped off, this is the reason for only 4 stars…Having to fill it with water manually is kind of a pain, but I am installing water line for it.It is extremely quiet and appears well made. It was well packed by the manufacturer, however Amazon packers could use some training. It arrived with no damage, paced in a box twice the size of the shipping box it was already in (!?!?) with a couple of pieces of paper tossed in, doing nothing to prevent shifting. Again, it survived shipping fine, just a shame about the waste of materials.Would I suggest anyone else buy it ? Absolutely, and I would buy another if the need arose.My family loves this ice maker! We use it constantly and it is quiet. So easy to use and clean. Love having the nugget ice at our disposal. Service has been awesome, over the top and very helpful when we have had questions. Quick reply. You won't go wrong with this unit. I researched for several weeks before I settled on this item and have never been sorry.
