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(More customer reviews)I have mixed feelings about my Windchaser Ice maker. I purchased it new over the Internet and the first one arrived Dead on Arrival. It did not make ice. As Windchaser does not sell to the public, they were less than sympathetic when I called them informing me that the one-year warranty only applies to the original purchaser and instructed me to contact the seller. Thankfully my seller made good on the item.
The second one worked fine making ice as advertised. The ice cubes are hollow and resemble the bottom inch of a test tube if you can picture that. The unit makes 12 ice cubes in about 8 minutes.It's easy to use. Pour water in and turn it on. An LED display allows you to pick small medium or large cubes. I felt the small and medium were too thin but that's my opinion. The instructions tell you to replace any unused water within 24 hours. A small drain is provided.
Now let's get to what I don't like. The unit DOES NOT keep the ice cubes frozen once they are made. It's designed to make ice until the removable tray is filled. In other words once the ice making process fills the tray, the unit does not keep the ice frozen. The ice making process stops until you remove ice or a portion melts.
A sensor at the top of the tray detects the ice level. Once ice is removed or a portion sufficiently melts the ice making process starts up again. The water from the melted ice drips down into the water reservoir below and is reused. The unit is well insulated and well made for that matter so if not used immediately the ice melts similar to ice in a cooler.
To its credit the unit will make a full 2.5 pound tray of good ice in about 2 hours. If not used for several hours the result is a portion of the ice is semi melted, deformed and pitted. I didn't like that part.
I want to be clear in that once the melting ice triggers the sensor, the unit will make more ice and you will have a mixture of well-formed ice and semi melted ice. Not a perfect situation but I can live with it.
I also want to note that as you would expect the unit has a compressor and a cooling fan. While not especially loud it's far from silent during the ice making process. In my case I use the icemaker on my somewhat small houseboat so I hear it every time. Again not real loud but you know it when it starts up to make more ice.
I also want to note the machine does weigh 48 pounds. Not a real problem but you don't want to haul it all over creation. Also, the unit isn't real big however it does eat up some counter space. About the size of a big bread making machine.
My final note: Be careful to not tip the unit over when unpacking from the box. Like any refrigerator it's sensitive to being turned upside down. It's well packed and I found it almost impossible to remove from the box without tipping over. Might be easier if you had two people but I ended up cutting the box to get it out.
In conclusion I do have a nice icemaker that provides me with sufficient ice to offer a couple of friends a proper cocktail aboard my boat. I can live with the noise it makes. I just wished it kept the ice frozen longer.
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WindChaser Portable Ice Cube MakerNo matter what the weather, ice is on the way! This automatic ice maker requires no installation - simply plug in, add water and enjoy fresh ice cubes whenever you want. It's compact, portable and makes three different sized cubes for any occasion. One-year warranty. Model CM15S.
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