Emerson Ice Maker

Bought this two times ago when on Woot. Was very pleased with it’s performance on our bar to have drink ice always on hand. It did however break shortly afterward. As I have done many times in the past, I went searching on YouTube for a fix. and I found this serious of 3 videos that show you have to easily fix this unit if the tray breaks. 1 How to fix a portable ice machine part 1 of 3 - YouTube

My husband and I were able to follow this video easiy and fix our machine. It’s been working like a champ ever since. I’m guessing it’s the number one fail point and why some of these are refurbed and/or don’t work when received. But if you happen to still have your non-working unit, please give this a try. It worked great for us.

I don’t…20 minutes just to get off the mountain…

I also purchased this about 6 months ago. It is great at making ice, a little noisy. Be aware that this item is known to have an issue with the water flow sensor. I had to bypass mine to continue using it. Just do a Google search on “add water lite is on.”

My experience has been hit or miss. I had two (same machine, different name) purchased through Walmart that had to be returned due to the constant red light error. To be honest though, it could have been how the units were shipped. No padding, thrown around every which way. They’re little freezers so they need to be handled as such.

The one we have now is an Emerson I got on sale at Target. We’re on season two and it’s making ice at this very moment.

I, too, got tired of buying ice and because I don’t have the freezer space for a big store bought bag, I can make ice as I need it. Like others, I make it and bag it in gallon Ziploc bags.

The pros, it’s handy and you have ice when you want it . Unlike ice cube trays, the ice fits in reusable water bottles (like for running) easily. You can leave the unit running overnight and it will automatically shut off when it’s full or out of water.

The cons, my experience has been it takes a loooong time to get measurable ice (several hours to fill the freezer ice bin) and the small and medium sized cubes are useless. The unit is large and takes up a lot of counter space in my small kitchen. Otherwise I’d probably have it running around the clock in the summer.

All in all, I like the icemaker and think it was a good purchase – and that after paying twice as much for mine. The Walmart machines that crapped out did so well before 90 days, so for most, the warranty might be enough. I might be tempted to spring for the extended warranty though.

May be right. I noticed electronics from Walmart seem to be bad more often than other stores. I realized why on a late night Walmart run and I saw the crew stocking shelves…they were throwing the boxes around with no care at all. Pretty harsh handling.

A bit counter-inuitive, items at the warehouse stores seem to be better than average. Maybe because those items ride around the bldg on pallet trucks and see minimal hands on from employes.

Back to this ice machine: I am disappointed in the negative reports because I’ve been thinking about getting one. The “wet ice” You Tube was a big turn-off.

Woot must have spies in my home. I am on my SECOND one of these in 2 years. One from target, one ffom woot. I went down this morning to make a coke and NO ICE. Jacked with it for an hour and its dead. And then I check woot and guess what is for sale. I thought these (ice makers) would be better than buying bag ice. They are HUGE if you have a shortage of counter space, noisy, slow (takes a few hours for about 4 pounds of ice), and since they aren’t constantly refrigerated (the holding bin is just a bin over the water storage and the ice constantly melts - so you go to get ice and you get soft 90% melted cubes) the ice can be useless.

I am skipping buying a new one. I figure it is cheaper to buy bag ice. Between the cost of the machine, electricity, and constantly filling this thing it is just not worth it.

If you have a huge counter (near water), and need ice once a day, then this might work. But, if you need any quantity over a few cups every few hours, along with filling the tank all the time, can handle the noise (VERY NOISY), then get one.

My $.02.

Bought a refurb from woot in January. Works great. Zero troubles so far.

Beware! These do NOT work well and don’t last for very long. Mine lasted for three weeks (no guarantee)so it went to the landfill. They are big, loud and don’t make ice nearly as fast as advertised. If you MUST buy one of these, at least stay away from the refurbished crap.

we are on our third one… but only because we give them a hard workout, not because we had any issues. All summer long, we keep it running so we can keep our coolers filled with ice. We run them around the clock. We take them infield camping at NASCAR and avoid that 10 bucks a bag for ice. I wouldn’t think twice on buying this

You’re right but I have 3 fridges, 2 inside the home and 1in one of the garages that all make a lot of ice. If there’s an electric problem, most of us have generators but if not, a 7-11 or Quickie mart.

One thing I will say by experience. Me and my wife NEVER purchase Emerson. In earlier years of marriage had problems with every single Emerson item, TV’s, stereos, you name it and we bought it. There was an Emerson outlet near us, NOT refrbs, last years models or scratch and dent. We decked out our 2nd home with dam Emerson
Every item broke right before the warantey was up. We replaced each w/ Sony, we still have CRT style Sony TV’s, the largest has a gorgeous picture b/c its HD. The 32 in. and three 27’s are being picked up for an unwed mothers home as part of our donations. They’re coming our way on Monday and the young women already called and wrote to thank us based no the photos we sent of furnishings and the TV’s. I love Sony, I HATE Emerson!

Glad you warned, Emerson is garbage!

We try not to knock W©©T items but I’m just warning about Emerson.

Me. And sometimes, when I need more ice, I ought not be driving. :wink:

I was really excited about getting one of these last year, as I planned to use the hell out of it. Sadly, someone else had already done that, as mine was essentially DOA (made only less than about a half-cup of ice in 2 hrs), and I had to return it.

I don’t usually shy away from refurbz, but as much as I’d like to try again, think I’ll pass on this. Might try a new one if that’s ever offered.

I feel ya. Don’t live on a mountain myself, but my sister’s family is in your boat. I just live in a remote rural area (on purpose–LOVE the privacy), and have to drive about 10 miles to get to civilization.

Glad yours worked! :slight_smile:

I can’t search it out atm, but I’m pretty sure there was a discussion/explanation of why it’s not good to use distilled water in these. I would have thought it would be better, but there was a reason given which seemed logical once it was explained. You might want to look through comments on previous sales. I’m thinking it was when I bought mine, which would have been this past July/August.

You are exactly right. My nephew-in-law works at a WM distribution center. They are under heavy pressure to get a quota of merchandise moved in short times. As a result, he admits that they have to literally THROW boxes…even electronics. He said to NEVER buy a TV, etc. from WM.

All you need is a good igloo to put the ice in after it is made

Igloo cooler, my 30 quart keeps 20 lbs of ice for 48 hours

If I was in the market for a new refrigerator, a separate ice maker would be a very attractive purchase for me. Do you realize how much freezer space an ice maker sucks up? I have a 26 cu. ft. refrigerator and more than one third of the freezer space is used by the ice maker. It’s a lot less expensive to buy a free standing ice maker than to buy a separate freezer as I did.

I have found that the 5-day coolers really DO keep ice for 5 days, even outside.

Know what would be helpful, woot? If you actually packaged this thing to protect it during shipping. They literally shipped this thing in the box that it came it with only 4 flimsy pieces of styrofoam holding it in place. I followed the directions, placed water in it and oh look - it leaked all over my counter because the drain plug punched through the thin cardboard box it came in and snapped off in transit.

So, now I have to bring it to FedEx to send it back, try and get my health plan to replace the medications it soaked on the counter and be out the month’s interest I had to pay my CC on this thing (a tiny amount, but it’s the point) and woot’s only reply is “Whoopsie!”