The water curtain on a Manitowoc Ice Machine is the white plastic cover that rests over the front of the evaporator.  This ice maker part can become problematic in a number of ways, but most commonly it simply breaks.  Over years of use the plastic will become brittle and usually crack or break at the top corners where the pins hold the water curtain in place.

Most Manitowoc ice makers have water curtains and they serve 2 main functions.  The first thing they do is keep water from splashing out of the ice making zone and help keep the water channeled back into the trough.  This cuts down on meltage in the bin and keeps the ice maker efficient by not wasting water.  The second function involves the harvest cycle.

A water curtain will have either enclosed or mounted to the outside a small magnet.  This magnet is what makes a proximity switch known as a magnetic bin switch.  When the water curtain swings closed and remains closed it tells the ice maker that the bin is still empty and to continue making ice.  However, once the bin fills up, the water curtain is held out, thus telling the control board that the bin is full and to stop making ice.  The slab of ice falling off the evaporator will physically hold this swinging water curtain open, breaking the proximity switch.

Sometimes it's possible that the magnet will either crack or fall out.  When this happens there is nothing to make the bin switch, thus the ice maker thinks that it's constantly full.  This will lead to a no ice complaint with the ice machine, replacement of the water curtain is highly recommended.

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