Thursday, June 4, 2015

Buy Koolaire KY0250A Commercial Ice Machine

Our friends over at Ice Maker Parts Shop have announced that they will start selling commercial ice machines, not just ice machine parts. They offer free shipping on everything they sell, so this adds tremendous value to any order you place with them and now that extends to equipment.
The current offering is only for a package, being a KY0250A ice machine and K570 ice storage bin, but according to IMPS, that line will be growing and added to regularly.
If you are looking to buy an ice machine, I recommend going through Ice Maker Parts Shop. They have great reviews on eBay and on their ecommerce website.

Friday, January 23, 2015

Does A Manitowoc Ice Machine Have A Defrost Cycle?

Manitowoc ice machines, like most commercial ice makers, have what is called a harvest cycle.  This takes the place of a defrost cycle, that is most commonly found in other pieces of refrigeration.  Instead of defrosting a coil or condenser, the ice machine defrosts(harvests) the evaporator.

The harvest cycle allows the evaporator, where the ice forms, to heat up and allow the ice to melt and fall off.  This is considered the harvest cycle and will terminate once the ice drops.  Typically, once the ice breaks the contact of the bin switch, through the water curtain, the ice machine will go back into freeze mode.  The freeze, then harvest cycle will continue until the storage bin fills up and the machine shuts down.

There is also a warm water rinse on newer Manitowoc ice machines.  This typically takes place once every 500 cycles.  During the warm water rinse, all lights on the clean light and harvest light will be illuminated on the control board.  Water will cascade over the evaporator, but will not freeze.

The warm water rinse allows any ice formation behind the evaporator to melt off.  This will reduce maintenance costs and prolong the life of the evaporator and ice machine.  To cancel the warm water rinse, simply turn the switch from ICE to OFF, then back to the ICE position.  Otherwise, allow this cycle to continue and it'll go back to making ice once completed.

If you are looking for more tips on troubleshooting a Manitowoc ice machine, be sure to view the Service section on Ice Maker Parts Shop.