Ice Machine Plumbing

[CobraDave]

Here is my situation. My house in Mohave Valley is about done. The water is horrible according to the neighbors so I am looking into a salt system and R/O being installed.

The builder installed a RO line and drain where my ice machine sits next to the washer and dryer in the laundry room. Since the R/O is plumbed to the machine already, can I run it that way with maybe a larger reservoir RO tank, or should I maybe T off the washer water line with an inline filter ? The Manitoc ice machine calls for a regular water line and in-line filter but I’ve heard people just hooking to the RO system and being successful. This machine makes about 190lbs a day and needs about 25 gallons per 100lbs.

I have a quote for a 40 gallon RO tank which hopefully would cover it.

 

[RiverDave]

I’m not a plumber but they do offer different RO membranes that produce varying amounts of water daily. You could just get a higher flow membrane so that the RO system produces more water faster and use the standard smaller tank that comes with it.

 

[DWC]

You could get away with just the RO filter but you’d probably go through a ton of cartridges.
I went with a pre filter and the manufacturer recommended filter following. Seems to work pretty good so far. We don’t use it the ice machine for drinking ice. It’s just for filling coolers.

 

[bonesfab]

You don't want soft water through the ice machine. Ice is softer and makes a mess of the machine. I noticed right away when I moved the new house doesn't have a water softener and the ice machine would constantly drip at the old house. Not so much at the new one.

 

[CobraDave]

You don't want soft water through the ice machine. Ice is softer and makes a mess of the machine. I noticed right away when I moved the new house doesn't have a water softener and the ice machine would constantly drip at the old house. Not so much at the new one.

Won’t the inline filter like pictured above take care of the salt from the soft water? Aren’t the RO systems plumber after the softener?

 

[bonesfab]

Won’t the inline filter like pictured above take care of the salt from the soft water? Aren’t the RO systems plumber after the softener?

Not sure I had a good filter on it. The metal rack rusted real quick also from the soft water.

 

[CobraDave]

I guess what I am getting at is can I get away with it hooked on RO water since it is set up that way already. I didn’t realize different RO filters flow at different rates.

 

[CobraDave]

Also water pressure is important. Machine calls for at least 20 psi but 30-40 is the sweet spot. Anyone have a commercial machine hooked just to RO?

 

[CobraDave]

You could get away with just the RO filter but you’d probably go through a ton of cartridges.
I went with a pre filter and the manufacturer recommended filter following. Seems to work pretty good so far. We don’t use it the ice machine for drinking ice. It’s just for filling coolers.
View attachment 1209836

That seems like the exact way to go. I wish I had a dedicated regular line to it.

 

[Done-it-again]

Not in Mohave so our water is probably better, but ours is hooked up direct with a pre filter at 35psi. we needed to add a new pressure regulator into the building too as it was to high at first. 300lb day machine

Don't think a RO has enough PSI to feed the machine. These machines run water down the freeze plates continuously to build up the ice, then heats up so it drops off, and repeats. You might not get coverage across the freeze plates with the RO.

 

[Gramps]

are you going to be making 190 lbs every day??? if not a smaller RO might work

 

[CobraDave]

are you going to be making 190 lbs every day??? if not a smaller RO might work

Of course not but for what I have into this set up already, I’d like it to have the capability to run. At full capacity.

 

[Bobby V]

Of course not but for what I have into this set up already, I’d like it to have the capability to run. At full capacity.

I have a coffin type freezer where I can store about 20 bags of ice. That way I don't have to run the ice machine every trip and the ice is harder and last longer.

 

[boatpi]

Always Use the filter dedicated for an ice machine factory brand or high quality one. never go without it and they last actually several years for home use I’ve had three commercial machines at my houses. An Ice-o-matic 220lb now , keep in mind that due to the water temperature in the summer and the ambient temperature outside no matter what states for production it will be about 25% less in the desert.
But what you have is the only way to go you’ll never look back.

 

[D19]

If your water pressure is not at least 40psi it will not work correctly and continually drain wastewater. We have that issue up at the river.

I have our under-counter ice maker at home in CA t'd off our RO counter spout. It's a commercial Thor unit. Works great. If you have the pressure, I'd go that route. The inline filters are garbage.

Check the water tank capacity of your icemaker, it should be fine with a normal tank. By the time the ice maker needs more water the RO tank will be full again.

 

[CobraDave]

Always
Use the filter decide for an ice machine off in a factor has one or suggest one. never go without it and they last actually several years for home use I’ve had three commercial machines at my houses. An Ice-o-matic 220lb now , keep in mind that due to the water temperature in the summer and the ambient temperature outside no matter what states for production it will be about 25% less in the desert.
But what you have is the only way to go you’ll never look back.

Scratching my head on the first couple sentences. please repeat

 

[Melloyellovector]

All the ones we do require a gravity feed drain line ( floor level ) keep that in mind, indoor locations typically don’t have a floor drain existing unless one was added during build

 

[boatpi]

As noted above, let me have a gravity the drain others have a small part inside that will pump it up a little bit so you need to know that and where to run usually the clear tubing drain line that drains from the bottom of the bin.
Depending upon location, make sure there’s plenty of airflow for the fan blowing through the coils. The more sophisticated machines will take air in the front under counter and blow it out the front also so that makes it easy. Ice-o-magic is one of these. Also, keep in mind if you locate the machine outside and the ambient temperature falls below 50° it may not function. The defrost cycle will not cycle enough to eject the cubes. Conversely, if you locate it in the garage or outside where the temperature is above 95 or 100°, that’s going to seriously affect the amount of ice it can harvest every 24 hours as much as 40%. Productivity is often based upon outside ambient temperature and incoming water temperature.

 

[MPHSystems]

If you want crystal clear ice, add a DI stage after your RO membrane.

 

[TPC]

Incoming pressure and water flow really affects the performance of the newer machines in many ways.
Ya want lots of both.
Go with the most.

+ a 1/2” water supply line essential.
Buy good water filters - change them all the time.

 

[MPHSystems]

For a RO machine, you can get a booster pump

I know you can get them cheaper. I have owned many many RO/DI systems. After my first spectrpure, I'll never buy anything else

Call them, they will set you up right.

Search: 18 results found for "booster"

SpectraPure, Inc. is an Industry Standard in the Water Purification world. From Drinking Water to Aquarium Systems, you don't just want pure water, you want the PUREST Water! Get it with SpectraPure!

spectrapure.com

 

[Outdrive1]

I have a Hoshizaki hooked to an in inline filter and it works great. My neighbor has a Manitok and just hooked up a new RO system. It’s not making enough water pressure for it, he’s going to try a bigger RO system. I guess you just need to make sure you have adequate pressure

 

[boatpi]

I do not think RO is the way to go, just a premium dedicated filter. Not enough pressure. As to a drain, you could always use a sump pump box to lift up the drain line, they work well. https://www.ebay.com/itm/225407200980?hash=item347b50eed4:g:2XoAAOSwLEdj43pm&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAAwMzChsUI0nqiuHgjh2tmgfbKlQ3S0b+sZRl9kbcMDvJrDpcrhtJ/h4VK81jM7ulTr9MZDzYQrDhxwphUNWwI9ElmLNUcpSpfcqGp+kIC19EyVTUSFh94T+79l6p5MFuChFHdkNEBT8c8EuhoGZELIpoJvNd4IemvXx4+1YcIaSY4tP+QZfUAcq4scXQyzHw2FadtPWMJayb5V28/uHTuinENNzgHGETdiLc6ZrDXY5CocGJClWyKnW0pKycQE03cBA==|tkp:Bk9SR4LruOneYQ

 

[CobraDave]

I really appreaciate the responses thus far. To clarify, I have a Manitowoc air cooled under counter machine. The air does come from the front. I have a floor drain already installed when I built the house. There is an RO line at the wall right behind it. It sits in the laundry room right next to the washer. I’m almost inclined to do the 100 gpd media and 40 gallon tank. Just make it big and see what happends. If it doesn’t work I’ll T off the washer inlet maybe? This is the best pick I got

 

[crzy2bealive]

Just bought this today for 400 bucks. Manitowoc, Model qy0134a.

Running it through its paces before I move it to the river house.

I had the contractor put in a water line at the back of the garage at the river house but it’s connected to the RO system…..so might have to see what system I’m dealing with it and see if it can keep up with this system.

As far as drainage the foundation was poured after I even thought about getting an ice machine so the contractor just shoved a pvc pipe through the wall to the outside…..

So depending on the height of the drain on the ice machine and the height of the pvc pipe I might need to build a pedestal.

I usually keep the garage at 75 degrees so no issue with air temp

Water temp is a different story

I’m thinking of coiling 5ft of the intake hose into a 5 gallon bucket and putting ice in that bucket to hopefully pre cool the water going into the ice machine. Thoughts?

 

[Outdrive1]

View attachment 1210215 Just bought this today for 400 bucks. Manitowoc, Model qy0134a.

Running it through its paces before I move it to the river house.

I had the contractor put in a water line at the back of the garage at the river house but it’s connected to the RO system…..so might have to see what system I’m dealing with it and see if it can keep up with this system.

As far as drainage the foundation was poured after I even thought about getting an ice machine so the contractor just shoved a pvc pipe through the wall to the outside…..

So depending on the height of the drain on the ice machine and the height of the pvc pipe I might need to build a pedestal.

I usually keep the garage at 75 degrees so no issue with air temp

Water temp is a different story

I’m thinking of coiling 5ft of the intake hose into a 5 gallon bucket and putting ice in that bucket to hopefully pre cool the water going into the ice machine. Thoughts?

Just buy a coil and run it through a garage fridge.

 

[Done-it-again]

View attachment 1210215 Just bought this today for 400 bucks. Manitowoc, Model qy0134a.

Running it through its paces before I move it to the river house.

I had the contractor put in a water line at the back of the garage at the river house but it’s connected to the RO system…..so might have to see what system I’m dealing with it and see if it can keep up with this system.

As far as drainage the foundation was poured after I even thought about getting an ice machine so the contractor just shoved a pvc pipe through the wall to the outside…..

So depending on the height of the drain on the ice machine and the height of the pvc pipe I might need to build a pedestal.

I usually keep the garage at 75 degrees so no issue with air temp

Water temp is a different story

I’m thinking of coiling 5ft of the intake hose into a 5 gallon bucket and putting ice in that bucket to hopefully pre cool the water going into the ice machine. Thoughts?

I have one of these that pump water out to a sink drain.

Everbilt 120-Volt Condensate Pump w/ Hose EB-PUMP-T - The Home Depot

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[CobraDave]

Here it is.

 

[SoCalDave]

Key to RO is tank size, bigger is better.
At work we have a 100gpd RO system with a 40 gallon tank and no issues with 80 employees running 24hrs a day.

 

[CobraDave]

Key to RO is tank size, bigger is better.
At work we have a 100gpd RO system with a 40 gallon tank and no issues with 80 employees running 24hrs a day.

See that gives me a lot of hope. I had another water softener / RO company say thenice
Maker should be fine.

 

[DWC]

Key to RO is tank size, bigger is better.
At work we have a 100gpd RO system with a 40 gallon tank and no issues with 80 employees running 24hrs a day.

Was that in So Cal or Havasu? Havasu water is a SOB.

 

[crzy2bealive]

Here it is.

Oh nice just like the one I bought

 

[TPC]

I have a Hoshizaki hooked to an in inline filter and it works great. My neighbor has a Manitok and just hooked up a new RO system. It’s not making enough water pressure for it, he’s going to try a bigger RO system. I guess you just need to make sure you have adequate pressure

Hoshizaki completely revolutionized ice machines.

Did away with the harvesting reversing gas heat valve, the evap plate ”kicker” solenoid gone, no heat wires ever, uses quality metal and ball bearing motors, and figured out it quickly delivering a clear slower-melting cube and super reliable operation.

Also a commercial shaped cube that took up more space in a glass. Less product delivered at the same price.

You’d have to tell bartenders to half fill glasses with ice. Even though the customer got the proper booze pour, less mix or coke and more ice made the drink seem like a short pour.

So good quality they’d be difficult to collect warranty claims, they figuring it was installed wrong.

Their free service / installation seminars were a wealth of knowledge. Plus you learn the mulligans that may happen to the machines. Most issues not the machines fault.

If you ever get a chance to attend one they are fantastic and mid-seminar a caterer rolls out a good feed.

They caused the entire ice machine industry up their quality game.

I could go an hour how amazing Hoshizaki machines are.

 

[CobraDave]

Hoshizaki completely revolutionized ice machines.

Did away with the harvesting reversing gas heat valve, the evap plate ”kicker” solenoid gone, no heat wires ever, uses quality metal and ball bearing motors, and figured out it quickly delivering a clear slower-melting cube and super reliable operation.

Also a commercial shaped cube that took up more space in a glass. Less product delivered at the same price.

You’d have to tell bartenders to half fill glasses with ice. Even though the customer got the proper booze pour, less mix or coke and more ice made the drink seem like a short pour.

So good quality they’d be difficult to collect warranty claims, they figuring it was installed wrong.

Their free service / installation seminars were a wealth of knowledge. Plus you learn the mulligans that may happen to the machines. Most issues not the machines fault.

If you ever get a chance to attend one they are fantastic and mid-seminar a caterer rolls out a good feed.

They caused the entire ice machine industry up their quality game.

I could go an hour how amazing Hoshizaki machines are.

I was trying to buy one based on the reviews here. They just don’t have the supply. Every place I looked said we have had orders for over year and haven’t seen them.

 

[bk2drvr]

I may be getting old but Walmart and Sam’s club have pretty cheap ice. How about get a freezer and keep it stocked with bags? Then you don’t have to worry about leaks or discovering one day the machine isn’t making ice and posting on RDP why that might be. The older I get the more I live by the philosophy of “the fewer things that own me the better”.

Just a thought.

 

[Outdrive1]

I may be getting old but Walmart and Sam’s club have pretty cheap ice. How about get a freezer and keep it stocked with bags? Then you don’t have to worry about leaks or discovering one day the machine isn’t making ice and posting on RDP why that might be. The older I get the more I live by the philosophy of “the fewer things that own me the better”.

Just a thought.

I haven’t bought ice in 20 years.

 

[hawgty55]

That setup will work. Its what we have at our coffee shop. These machines use a lot of water and also have alot of waste but sounds like your setup for it.

 

[boatpi]

Mine is in the outside barbecue area of our Las Vegas home or we have had parties with 50+ people. I have rolling ice chests, one for alcohol and the other one non-alcohol. And 70 pounds left in the ice bin. If I paid for electricity which I don’t it would probably be about $1.50 in electricity to make 200 pounds.

 

[Done-it-again]

I may be getting old but Walmart and Sam’s club have pretty cheap ice. How about get a freezer and keep it stocked with bags? Then you don’t have to worry about leaks or discovering one day the machine isn’t making ice and posting on RDP why that might be. The older I get the more I live by the philosophy of “the fewer things that own me the better”.

Just a thought.

Nothing like having an ice machine. I’m new to the game and can’t believe it took me so long to get one. And I bought bags from Costco/sams for years. Fridge ice suxs.

 

[DUNEFLYER]

My ice machine in my bar took a shit a couple years ago. My wife has been on the Sonic nugget ice kick for a while. I could have saved a fortune and just loaded the garage freezer with bags from Sonic. But we bit the bullet and installed the nugget machine in the bar where the old machine was. This ice is really best for drinks and not loading up ice chests.
I had to install the condensate pump to pump the water to the sink drain next to the machine. Not gonna lie, since installing the machine I am a fan of the nugget (chewable) ice in my cocktails.

 

[bonesfab]

My ice machine in my bar took a shit a couple years ago. My wife has been on the Sonic nugget ice kick for a while. I could have saved a fortune and just loaded the garage freezer with bags from Sonic. But we bit the bullet and installed the nugget machine in the bar where the old machine was. This ice is really best for drinks and not loading up ice chests.
I had to install the condensate pump to pump the water to the sink drain next to the machine. Not gonna lie, since installing the machine I am a fan of the nugget (chewable) ice in my cocktails. View attachment 1210804 View attachment 1210805

My ice machine is the flaked ice. I call it mexican food ice. Problem is if I leave it plugged in all month it costs me around 50.00 on the electric bill.

 

[Racey]

I have a Hoshizaki hooked to an in inline filter and it works great. My neighbor has a Manitok and just hooked up a new RO system. It’s not making enough water pressure for it, he’s going to try a bigger RO system. I guess you just need to make sure you have adequate pressure

Yep, gotta have the pressure

The way RO works is it uses the incoming line pressure to force the water through the membrane, water that doesn't make it through the membrane is rejected down the drain, the lower the pressure delta across the membrane, the worse the membrane works. As you start packing water into your RO product reservoir you are increasing the pressure on the product side lowering the delta across the membrane. (if you have 50psi coming and then have 20psi in your RO tank now the membrane is only getting 30psi.)

The most ideal way for an RO system to work is to boost the incoming pressure to the membrane, then pump the product into an unpressurized tank, and then have a demand pump to pump the water out of the product tank to wherever you need it (like the pumps on an RV's fresh water tank)

You can definitely get away without boosting the incoming pressure to the RO membrane, but they work way better at higher pressure and you lose less water as reject with higher pressures.

Desalination systems on ocean boats are just big high pressure RO units, they usually run at like 800-1000 psi


Also soft water sucks for ice makers because it replaces the alkaline with sodium ions, this means the water is "salty", lowering it's freezing point

 

[SoCalDave]

Was that in So Cal or Havasu? Havasu water is a SOB.

Orange, CA

 

[2Driver]

I have both RO and these 3M single cartridges. In a taste test everyone liked the single cartridge 3M better and they are a ton easier to install and maintain. These are very robust filters.
We opted for the 3M cartridge in Parker because it also filtered to the cyst level. LOL Brooke water warns people with immune issues about drinking their water . They treat for bacteria but not viruses. If your water company is surface water ( ie direct pull for the river vs gound water) you should be more cautious.

I have the 3M filtrete filters to our fridge ice and cold water and to dedicated Uline ice maker. I’ll be replacing the RO at the sink with these soon.

https://www.filtrete.com/3M/en_US/filtrete/products/~/Filtrete-Advanced-Replacement-Water-Filter-3US-PF01-5636401WF-2-Case/?N=4315+3288264460+3294529207&rt=rud

or

https://www.amazon.com/High-Replacement-Cartridge-HF20-MS-5615109/dp/B004UBSYMQ/ref=asc_df_B004UBSYMQ/?tag=&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312284942137&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11053717655701770150&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9030080&hvtargid=pla-569827864968&ref=&adgrpid=61346573519&th=1

 

[TPC]

I was trying to buy one based on the reviews here. They just don’t have the supply. Every place I looked said we have had orders for over year and haven’t seen them.

Where I first discovered them was when visiting friends in Osaka Japan.

We went on a fishing boat for a day trip but the boat was set up for trips up to over a month.

The Hoshizaki machines were standard no modification Restaurant 500 lbs’ers for customers to fill their ice chests and the catch on commercial runs.

Saltwater fed machines producing saltwater ice.
That’s how bad ass they are.
Brutal.