portable ice makers

[camp4]

Good day all! Just wanted to sing the praises of our newly purchased counter top ice maker and see if anyone else has one of these for camping??? We actually got it online through Walmart a few weeks ago and took it to Lake Manatee S.P. over Memorial Day weekend. It was SO NICE not having to ration ice cubes! We even had folks from the site next to us ask for some because it was so hot they ran out! We have a MH that has a freezer but a purchased bag of ice only lasts so long and we don't always have a car with us to zip out to the store to buy more.
Sorry to ramble but...simple things for simple minds you know lol

 

[drafthorsecrazy]

We absolutely love our portable ice maker! We spent 4 months in Florida last winter in our RV and this little baby was a life saver. We prefer our beverages to be on ice and it was great to keep our cooler full. We just set it up outside under the awning and we never had to listen to the racket that ice machines can make. Two pitchers of water added daily made all the ice we needed.
http://www.target.com/s/180-8264082...&searchNodeID=1038576|1287991011&searchPage=1

 

[krhewitt]

Totally worth the price! We bought one at Home Depot for 129. We saw the ones in the Camping world catalog for almost $300, then my father in-law found the one at Home Depot. They get scooped up around here fast and we had to keep checking back until they finally got one in but it is so convenient. Ice is so expensive for such a small bag! We put ours outside under the awning too. It comes in handy in the Texas heat!!!

 

[queenofcruise]

We love ours ! It is manufactured by Edgestar and we purchased it on line from Compact Appliance...it was a great investment !
Cathi

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Don't have one,,but sounds real good to me.

 

[Tigger in Naples]

Sounds like a good idea. We are at the Ft. now and would like to make iced tea but with freezer full I have nowhere to put the left over ice. Oh the pain of it all

 

[BradyBz12]

Almost the first thing DH wanted to do when we got to the Fort last year was go to Camping World and buy a portable ice maker.

Being there for almost 3 weeks, we were able to keep our margaritas nice and cold without breaking the bank on Disney ice @ $2/bag!

 

[tcmsu]

Would definitely recommend this item....We've had ours for 2 summers now and its been great. Fills a cooler with enough ice to chill down a case of your favorite beverage in about 4 hours.
After that everything else that it makes is just extra for beverages or blenders. We use ours with a Coleman Extreme cooler. When camping for a weekend we usually have more than enough
ice for the whole weekend by early Saturday if we just let it run and keep dumping it into the cooler.

Every $2 I don't have to spend on ice at the Fort is just $2 more I can spend on BEER!!!

 

[ElementCamper]

I got mine from Compact Appliance too when the icemaker in the refrigerator broke. Makes enough ice in half a day to completely fill the icemaker bin. Just got back from Bonnaroo, too bad had no generator, would have used it the entire festival, ice was $3.50 for 7 pounds.

 

[ChateauFive]

This sounds great, how much Ice does it make per day? and how long does it take to make the ice?

 

[ElementCamper]

I think mine is rated between 20-26 pounds per day. Keep in mind though, it only holds 2-3 pounds at a time. If you plan on having cooler ice at the end of a long day at the parks in any quantity it isn't going to happen. You have to be there to dump it out regularly. That being said if you were hanging out at the campsite all day you'd make plenty.

The way mine works, the water reservoir is in the bottom, water is pumped up to a trough that has metal 'fingers' sticking down in it. The trough fills up, the fingers get freezing cold and makes these hollow ice nuggets. Depending on how you have it set when the nuggets get to the size you selected the fingers heat up. The trough moves out of the way as they heat up, dumping excess water back down in the bottom, then the nuggets fall off where the trough was and a paddle comes across and sweeps them into the holding basket. The holding area is not really chilled that I can tell, it just depends on the coldness of the ice to keep it from melting too fast. If it does melt any, the water drops through the basket back into the reservoir and the circle of live continues! I was kinda fascinated the first time I saw it make ice and after the first couple of cycles it starts getting really fast. It will cycle an average of every 10-12 minutes making about the equivalent of a regular ice tray at a time. It will stop making if it runs out of water or gets full, if you are away and it melts as soon as the sensor is not touching ice it just starts back up again.

When I have electric it always goes with me camping. I also use a Brita pitcher to fill it to make better tasting ice.

 

[camp4]

Wow ElementCamper that description of the ice maker was DEAD ON! I never thought of the Brita; we have a filter on the outside of the camper on the incoming water line but if DW complains about the taste of the cubes i will definitely give that a try! We will be taking ours to Daytona beach after the 4th of July and then to the Fort at the end of July....ours is a Magic Chef and is super quiet. It's one of those seemingly small things that ends up being a BIG convenience!

 

[3girlsfun]

My parents are what I call "camping rich." They have all kinds of gadgets, and seem to always be upgrading everything. My Dad is just this way.

They have a portable ice maker......I lust after it everytime I see it! So awesome! The one they have makes the ice cubes with little holes in them. The kids love to put them on a straw and lick and them like they are Popsicles. One of these days I will have one! I must upgrade my camper first, we so need a bigger camper!!!!!!!!!! UGH!!!!

 

[krhewitt]

We use jug water to fill ours because we found if you use tap water that is chlorinated the ice has a funny taste. Guess the chlorine reacts with the metal "fingers" that make the ice. I like the Brita pitcher idea!

 

[keylime359]

Would definitely recommend this item....We've had ours for 2 summers now and its been great. Fills a cooler with enough ice to chill down a case of your favorite beverage in about 4 hours.
After that everything else that it makes is just extra for beverages or blenders. We use ours with a Coleman Extreme cooler. When camping for a weekend we usually have more than enough
ice for the whole weekend by early Saturday if we just let it run and keep dumping it into the cooler.

Every $2 I don't have to spend on ice at the Fort is just $2 more I can spend on BEER!!!

Is your cooler the green one or the blue one? I am researching and that came up as the top choices. TIA

 

[tcmsu]

Our cooler is actually tan (or it might be silver) colored. I will say that because these have more insulation around the outside that they are a little bit smaller on the inside that a similar sized "regular" cooler.
They still hold a lot, but just something to be aware of....But it did work great last summer at the fort in keeping things cold when it was 95 in June and holding ice longer than a regular cooler
(although I'm still not sure of the "Keep Ice for 5 days" in 90 degree weather claim)...

 

[keylime359]

Hey, I would be thrilled if it kept cool for more than one day! Our portable ice maker can't keep up! I just ordered online and I hope to test it out soon! Thanks for your help!

 

[ChateauFive]

OK...thats for the details wow!!! your good!!!! now then does it cycle every 10 -12 minutes or does it take longer to make a batch of ice? Just wondering if I can make about 10 pounds in the time we get back from the parks to bed time???? wondering if it will be worth it? We will be there Dec. 18th-26th so I'm not expecting 90 degree heat, but you never know right..haha