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Our ice maker just self destructed. What brand do you swear by? BTW we use pellet ice and the brand is Cornelius. It was great for the last 5 years.

I've had several years of trouble free service from my Manitowoc. My version has a remote condenser (routes all heat out of the building). They also have fully-contained air and water cooled versions.

I've also heard, from a couple of other owners, that Hoshizaki (sp?) is another decent brand.

Love Manitowoc... Mine has a built in self cleaner. I had a hoshizaki (sp) I hated every moment with that thing. I know people like them though. I don't

I have two Scotsman flakers. I personally prefer flaked ice and my customers do, too. The problem with the machines is that about every two years the auger motor goes out and it is a very expensive repair. I might try a Manitowic next time at one location and see what kind of flack (not flakes) I get.

Burney, we have a cornelius flaker and have loved it. we actually get customers who come in for our ice. we use softened water which, I think, has extended the life of the parts for it. I bought it used when we opened and, aside from repairing the "work" that was done to it before I got it, it has been perfect for over five years now. I would get another one in a heartbeat if I needed to.

I'll keep that in mind, next time mine stops. Just paid an $890 repair this week!

Lee, What model do you have. My other Scottsman ice machine just quit working and I have X Men this weekend!

I brought up an old Manitowoc out of the basement, cleaned it up, and hooked it up. It came with my other theatre, but we never used it. It makes half cubes or something. It dumps ice only about twice an hour. It is also quite noisy. Is that normal? I bagged a couple bags just in case we ran out over the weekend. We were pretty busy, but had enough ice without the extra bags.

We took the Scottsman in to a repair shop yesterday. Maybe it won't cost as much taking it in, rather than using the local guy who came out once to see what's wrong and again to repair.

My Scottsman is still in the shop and I haven't heard a word from them. The Manitowoc makes enough ice, but it is extremely noisy. Anyone have any ideas on what causes that?

Guess that depends on what you consider to be excessive noise, Burney.

The Scottsman flakers manufacture ice on a continuous basis. Most of their noise is caused by the motor, though you also might hear when the water reservoir fills. Now that you mention it, the Scottsman is a pretty quiet machine

The manitowoc (and similar models) manufactures ice by the sheet. Walking by it, I can hear the water when it circulates over the grid. When it goes into its harvest mode, the whole sheet drops, breaking into cubes when it hits a metal plate. By its nature, that would probably generate a lot more noise than you're used to. Back in our kitchen, the noise isn't a factor. I hadn't considered that it might be a much bigger deal in some concession areas.

BTW... though I also like(d) the flaked ice more, I was told by Coca Cola that drink carbonation doesn't hold up as well as it does with cubes. Don't know how true that is, but I have found other things that will affect how carbonation holds... like impurities in the water and cup coatings.

I have purchased a new Manitowoc and it is not nearly as noisy as the used one. Guess the used one needs a new condensor. But, compared to the flaker, the new Manitowoc is still a lot louder. After about two months, I am still not used to its noise and I get freaked out sometimes when I am alone in the theatre cleaning and I hear something from the lobby area.

The new Manitowoc dumps ice every 12 minutes, until the bin is full. It works great. Just wish it was quieter.

many ice makers make ice by running water over a metal sheet on a tilted angle. When the ice reaches a thickness the water stops flowing and the plate heats a little bit. The big noise is what you hear ....the sheet of ice sliding down and onto a heated grid of wires that cut the ice into cubes.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icemaker

We use a Scotsman Pelet machine. Just bought a new one first of this year to replace one we had purchased about 12 years ago new. It was around $4000.00 and mounts on top of the same ice bin we used with the older machine. In between we used an old "cube" machine that we keep as backup. Many customers commented during the "cube" period about how disappointed they were that we had switched types of ice. I personally enjoy the ice more than the beverage. Our serviceman has indicated that the pelet machine has many more moving parts and never lasts as well as a cuber. Intial cost is more as well.