Another Ice Machine Adventure
End Users Provide Servicing Challenges
A while ago I took my wife to a bed and breakfast on a lake. It was an older place, but how they (mis-)treated one of the ice machines — which itself appeared to be pretty old — was something else.
It was one of those models that produces 400 pounds of ice per day. But if it ever came close to 400 pounds it would be a miracle. It was shoved into what looked like a small closet in an outdoor locale. There may have been an inch of clearance on either side. The unit was set on a couple of 1x2 pieces of wood resting on a concrete floor. There was a venting area on the backside of the closet, but the filter in the vent area was quite dusty.
Oh, and did I mention that the closet had a door on it? And a sign on the door said, ‘Ice Machine. Please keep door closed.’ I’m not sure if that was a good thing in warm weather given there wasn’t much circulation around the unit.
I am concerned about an ice machine shoved into a cramped space with little clearance and a dirty vent. I suspect the contracting company was doing what the owner wanted. A local service contractor had his sticker on the unit, although who knows if that guy was still doing the service work, given the age and shape of the equipment.
I don’t know if I have a point to this other than to stand amazed at the challenges refrigeration contractors and service techs face when dealing with ice machines when they are eventually called in to do service work.
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