HVAC Ice Machine Tour

[local614bro]

I would love to do this type video on a medium size AAON , but im thinking it might take a couple of days cause i dont have your skills

[DrZarkloff]

@local614bro Thanks. It just takes a little practice.

[DrZarkloff]

@local614bro Thanks. It just takes a little practice.

[ccraig2008]

so many wires... post more videos on ice machines

[arnoldcustom]

notice the flag termanal with the built in heat shrink on them, that is what I was talking about in your other vidio on flag termanals

[arnoldcustom]

replace the screw with stainless one, witch we have

[keyz5300]

i love this one and how you showed it on the diagram and in real life,very nice!

[DrZarkloff]

@keyz5300 Thanks for watching.

[youngbeechnut78]

Excellent demonstration Dr. Z. ! Do you think that maybe in the future we can see you making a repair,or show us a video on the steps involved cleaning such a machine ? Thanks again for your wonderful insight, and God bless!

[DrZarkloff]

@youngbeechnut78 Thanks for watching.

[savagegolfer]

Troubleshooting Ice Makers. 1. Is it clean. The proper way! You can have a host of problems from a dirty Ice Maker. For me thats 90% of the problem. Only 1 time have I ever had to hook up a set of gauges. I use a nickle based cleaner for them and it works great. Down side is you have to do about 4 dump cycles to be sure its safe to serve the ice. Also look at where its sitting. I have seen boxes piled on top and on the sides. For air cooled thats bad. Water is a bit different.

[DrZarkloff]

@savagegolfer I totally agree.

[cyberlight22]

good video!

[MrBeau0417]

dr z !!! you need an iphone and the hvac buddy and the hvac pro apps!!!! they are unbeliveable and have made my life so much easier!!! cheers from canada!!

[DrZarkloff]

@MrBeau0417 Thanks. I've been told that the iphone is the HVAC tech friend.

[ducklandwikeno]

Hello Dr z I have not posted in you videos in a while . I was wondering are you on Facebook .

[DrZarkloff]

@ducklandwikeno Yes. My Name is James Allen Starkloff

[V8Jagnut]

good vid. was there a problem with that unit or just time for clean?

[DrZarkloff]

@V8Jagnut I wasn't cleaning it. Baker Distributing just let me show it in a video.

[V8Jagnut]

@DrZarkloff col. yer it looked new.

[DrZarkloff]

@spelunkerd Thanks

[savagegolfer]

Just did an air cooled unit at the Hustler club in Detroit. It was going off on high head pressure. It was tucked between two walls in the kitchen. So I removed the ceiling tile to allow the hot air to escape. When to home to lowes and bought vented tiles. Not much else I can do. They dont want to move the Ice maker.

[DrZarkloff]

@savagegolfer Good job. I once installed an exhaust fan above an ice machine to keep the air around the machine cool. It worked.

[487livespot]

idk if North Caronlina has a Bakers. but ill find out. awesome vid by the way!. Dr. Z one question have you seen any compressor run with different refrigerent for a long running time?(134a compressor, pumping 22 reg,)?

[DrZarkloff]

@487livespot Thanks for watching. Running R22 in a compressor that is rated for R134a isn't the problem. It's a matter of running well.

[towrecker]

baker closed up here :(

[DrZarkloff]

@towrecker Sorry to hear that.

[DrZarkloff]

@CindyBradyTooh They're really not all that bad to work on after you've had some experience with them.

[THEtechknight]

I have the under-counter version of these, the old school ones. It is a whirlpool i think, it has the chill plate thats flat instead of cubed, and it gets the ice cubes by harvesting into the cutting grid which is hot wire.

Seen these?

The thermostat went bad so it was stuck in harvest and kept burning up the water valves. I built a custom control board to run the machine without using the thermostat and its been running for years.

[THEtechknight]

@THEtechknight Also the water pump went bad on it once, and i didnt want to pay 200 bucks for it from whirlpool, so i got a 20 dollar submersible aquarium pump with the right size barb, it also has a flow control. It worked, and has been working for years with it. 

[DrZarkloff]

@THEtechknight I'll have to keep in mind the aquarium pump trick for when one of our old relics needs one.

[DrZarkloff]

@THEtechknight Good job. A tech has to do what a tech has to do sometimes.

[ristin59]

The ice machines I deal with most of the time are smaller units similar to the Scotsman units. Seems the most of the problems are with the harvester wire grid. It uses a electric heat wire grid to cut the ice. Usually dirty and a couple had a break in the electrical circuit and needed to be soldered again.

[DrZarkloff]

@ristin59 It sounds like an old Scotsman. The new Scotsman units use hot gas to harvest the ice.

[mazzmari]

How do you like troubleshooting those things, Dr. Z? Looks like a pain in the ass!

[darkwinter76]

@mazzmari its easy

[DrZarkloff]

@mazzmari They're not so bad after you've had some experience with them.