I really want an ice maker akin to these, I just can’t tell if they’re any good or complete junk. Amazon reviews have ~20% 1 star which is a big red flag… but cocktail ice ahhhh. Anyone here have experience thoughts on refurbs that have been posted to woot?
I have one from new. So far had it two years or so . It’s Not the kind of appliance You plug in and fill… and ignore forever.. it requires regular cleaning and maintenance . I just partially dismantled mine to clean the coils water tank etc.. ( low ice production) numerous YouTube’s that gazette the problems. But my wife can’t live without the ice.. and I love her .
My new unit made it 7 months and died. According to their support team, I did all the right things (cleaning, descaling, used filtered water) but it still broke. Took over 3 weeks to get the replacement under warrantee. IMO…I’d not gamble with the 90 day warrantee for this reason.
I bought mine as a scratch/dent/return off eBay for maybe $20 under this price. It was evidently used for a barbeque party and then returned the next day lol.
Anyway, that was 15/16 months ago, and I’ve been using it daily since I got it, it’s been working great. In fact, I’ve only cleaned it twice in that time (once when I first got it, and again maybe 6 months later) and it’s still great. Makes ice quick and it’s quiet.
Just note - I’ve seen a lot of people who say their units stopped working also mentioning that they have been using filtered/purified water, which is obviously better than tap, but is still NOT the right water to fill this with. You are meant to use DISTILLED water. It’s not expensive. Maybe 3 gallons for 5 bucks at the market. Just make sure you use distilled and I’m sure you be fine.
I would highly recommend getting the side tank. You’ll be surprised how quick the water goes, especially with how convenient ice will now feel to you lol
GE support never mentioned using Distilled water when they were reviewing my warranty case. Also… for what it’s worth, here is ChatGPT take on it.
“No, you should not use distilled water in your GE Opal ice maker. GE recommends using filtered, bottled, or tap water instead. Distilled water lacks the minerals needed for the sensor to detect the water level properly, which can result in the machine not making ice.
If you want to improve water quality, using filtered water is a great option. Just make sure it’s not distilled.”
That explanation as why to not use distilled is utter nonsense. It detects low water level when it starts sucking in air instead of water.
But I’m just saying, I’ve always used distilled, and my machine still works perfect. No mold, no scale build up, no cracking, cranking, or grinding noises. It works exactly the way it always did - very well (Knock on wood)