The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Right Manitowoc Ice Machine Parts May 09 2023, 0 Comments

Diagnosing A Manitowoc Water Pump January 22 2015, 4 Comments

Every commercial ice machine has a water pump, so Manitowoc ice makers are no different.  The water pump works by taking the water from the water trough, pushing up through the tubing, out and over the evaporator through the distribution tube.  It’s important for the water pump to be strong enough to push an even flow of water, but not too strong to cause the stream of water to miss cascading down the evaporator.  To troubleshoot a Manitowoc water pump, follow this guide for signs you may need a new ice machine part.

Water pumps consist of 2 main components, the motor and the impeller.  The motor turns, spinning the impeller, and sucking water out of the trough.  The force then pushes water to the top of the ice machine, which allows Manitowoc to make ice with a vertical evaporator.

Proper voltage must be supplied to the water pump for it to work efficiently.  If too low of voltage is supplied, the motor will not be strong enough to pump the water.  However, too high of voltage could cause the motor to burn up.  Checking to make sure you have the proper voltage at the ice machine is important for not only the water pump, but all electrical ice maker parts.

Manitowoc S Series Ice Machine Safety Timers January 15 2015, 4 Comments

Manitowoc S Series ice machines are considered the best commercial ice machines produced.  They had just the right mix of new technology and old technology that made a reliable, long lasting piece of equipment.  The longevity of the S Series, like model SY0454A, SD0302A, SY0304A, and SY0604A, is due to the control boards ability to protect expensive components with safety timers.

Safety timers are used to shut off the ice machine, in case an ice making cycle is out of spec.  This provides protection to a compressor, that may be short cycling, or loss of water through inlet valves.  Below are the 3 main safety timers, which are indicated by flashing safety limit lights on the control board.

New Year Ice Machine Maintenance January 12 2015, 0 Comments

Happy New Year!  Now is the time to start taking action and reduce the cost of owning your commercial ice machine.  To do this, plan a maintenance schedule right now, which includes cleaning your Manitowoc or Koolaire ice machine at least once every 6 months.  Depending on your location, you may need to do this more often, ideally once per quarter.

An ice machine has a foodzone, just like your grill, so keeping it clean is important.  There are things to help with keeping the ice machine free of mold and scale, like adding a water filter or Guardian Sachet to reduce slime.  However, nothing beats taking components apart, putting the ice machine into clean mode, and using nickel safe cleaner to scrub that evaporator.

How To Diagnose A Manitowoc Ice Machine August 07 2014, 5 Comments

Commercial ice machines can be intimidating, even to experienced service technicians. They can also take a long time to properly diagnose and isolate the problematic ice machine part. I'll cover some basic techniques you can use to troubleshoot your Manitowoc ice machine, before calling out an expensive service tech.

The first step is to understand how a Manitowoc ice maker works. Experts in commercial refrigeration and ice making equipment recommend following a sequence of events. This sequence of events is a layout of exactly what the ice machine should be doing at an exact time in a cycle. For example, newer modular Manitowoc ice machines will purge the water from the trough before beginning a freeze cycle. This should tell you exactly when the dump valve should be energized. Service literature is available for free from the Manitowoc Ice website, where you can find specific service help for your model ice maker.