Portable ice makers?

[Chinook]

I recently heard about these portable ice makers, and am wondering if one would be practical on our boat. Anyone out there using one? Are they available with a direct 12 volt plug in, or do you need to go through an inverter? My thought would be to make my own ice for use in the small ice chest for drinks and such. I could probably handle the extra power draw while motoring, or when plugged in at a marina. I'm forever buying ice, and I'm not always in a location where it's available.

[Gazmn]

I bought one years ago, but never had the need to use. Got the idea from Mad Mike on Zeno's Arrow. They're probably more efficient today. I only know of the ac versions. I'd think a 12v would be inefficient - but thats just me - no facts. Maybe if you're plugged in at a marina or gonna run a generator for a couple hrs u could also make ice...

[bobflshmn]

I have had 3 different ones over the years used mainly in an RV. Only seen them in 120 vac. They use a lot of power and are very slow. I bought mine all used or were gifts from family. Would not purchase one again, unless I was to do a live aboard.

[Retcoastie]

If you want cold but not necessarily ice, then one of the 12VDC refrigerators might fit the bill. We have the 43qt Edgestar and it works great. With it, you can do away with the ice chest, making extra room that it will need. The power draw seems to be well within the power available on an X. I have been out as long as ten days with out coming in and never had low power. As much as you motor and stay in marinas, it would not be a worry for you. The Admiral will love reaching in for something and it coming out dry. The only draw back is no ice for mixed drinks.
I know of one other Edgestar user and he had trouble with the 12V cord so he uses an inverter. The plug is the weak link so I changed the 12V feed to trailer side light plugs and have had no problems since.
We also use it ashore for cook outs, picnics, ball games, etc. By putting it outside, it saves a lot of traffic through the house.

Good luck and safe journeys,

Ken

[Sumner]

Sunpentown Portable Ice Maker with LCD makes 12 fresh cubes in less than 10 minutes!

Makes up to 2 lbs of ice an hour, up to 35 lbs. in 24 hrs.! Easy to use and requires no installation. Includes digital controls and 18-hr. timer. Perfect for your bar, office, boat, and more. Stylish platinum design makes an interesting conversation piece.
Freeze:

Stores up to 2.5 lbs of ice at a time
Makes 3 different ice cube sizes
1.2 gallon water reservoir
No drain required
Simple, digital soft touch controls with 18-hr. timer
LCD panel with blue back light
High efficiency CFC-free compressor
Self-clean function
Approx. 17 1/4" l. x 15" w. x 17" h. Weighs approx. 46 lbs.
115V / 60Hz. Power consumption: 300W

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/ ... oCDTPw_wcB

The one above seems fairly typical and at 300 watts you would need probably about 30 amps at 12 volts to an inverter to run it considering the inverter losses. Probably #8 to #10 from the battery to the inverter. How much does the outboard put out when at cruise rpm's?

It says it can make 12 cubes in 10 minutes. If you could do that with it starting after sitting and hot that might not be bad but if it has to be on continuously and cold before it could do that then it might only work for you when you have shore power.

It takes a lot of power to turn water into ice. My fridge can be turned down to well below freezing and once after someone suggested making ice with the fridge and then putting it in an ice chest I wanted to show that this just wouldn't work well. If I remember right I think it took about a day or more to freeze a 1 gallon container of water and that was with the fridge running continuously on 110 AC in the house and I had no where enough solar (200 watts at the time) to run the fridge continuously night and day to freeze water and still think I don't having 560 watts of solar on the boat now.

What is the make and size of the 12 volt fridge you guys have onboard? I have cold drinks all the time but no ice on trips. Worth it since I'm hardly ever anywhere where there is ice available.

The fridge I made for the Endeavour.....





http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... index.html

...... has a freezer section but there again it takes forever to freeze something in it as it is just in the 20's. It works fine if I buy something pre-frozen or in the yard get ice from the hut there and keep it in the freezer section,

Sumner

============================
1300 miles to the Bahamas and back -- 2015

The MacGregor 26-S

The Endeavour 37

Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

[Russ]

It takes a lot of power to turn water into ice.

Indeed.

Living with AC current in our homes, we really take for granted the cheap and ample supply of electricity we have.
Having a boat "off grid" from AC power has taught me much about how much we take electricity for granted.

Anything that makes heat/cold uses lots of electricity. 12v batteries simply don't store much. Inverters temp people to believe that we can magically make the same house power on our boats from a 12v battery. We can make 110v (or 220v outside of N.A.) but the wattage is costly. Folks that have the notion of running a microwave, hotplate or portable heater from 12v get a wakeup call.

Then there is the replenishment. Off-grid you gotta make your power. Our small outboards are lucky to crank out 25 amps which as has been discussed in other threads is not 25 amps full time or 100% going back into the battery. Solar is plentiful, but still produces very little wattage per square foot.

There really is a lot of energy in fossil fuels.

--Russ

[taime1]

If you want cold but not necessarily ice, then one of the 12VDC refrigerators might fit the bill. We have the 43qt Edgestar and it works great. With it, you can do away with the ice chest, making extra room that it will need. The power draw seems to be well within the power available on an X.

What is your setup? I've been thinking of going this route, but not sure of the power requirements.

[Three Gypsies]

This year we ran two Engels on 4 house batteries . The batteries were charged by 200 watts of solar cells .

One Engel was set at refrigerator mode , while the other was set at freezer mode and keeps us in fresh meat .

The system has worked fine thru the summer , but now with the shorter days and the sun arcing thru the south , we could use a little more solar power . I plan to add another 80 watt panel when we get home .

[Retcoastie]

Taime1

We have a 02X with the standard Honda 50. I have no idea what it puts out current wise. I have two 40 W solar panels that are adjustable to keep them toward the sun at about a 90 deg angle. These are wired thru the mast light switch to two huge AGM batteries without a regulator. No idea what size they are but it takes two old farts or one healthy stout young guy to move them. I think the big thing that makes it work so well with little power usage is a homemade insulation blanket. Feel the lid of your ice chest or refrigerator. I found ours were cold so that was escaped cold to me. Better to keep it than replace it so we have been insulating for years. Without the blanket, I would suggest you unplug the unit at night and wait until you have sun or engine power before replugging in the morning. When we use the boat as a dry camper, our tow van has an 80W panel with an MPPT control we plug into to replace what the Honda would do. One of our power panels has a volt meter in it. I check several times a day and it is always up.

Good Luck

Ken

[Sumner]

.... These are wired thru the mast light switch to two huge AGM batteries without a regulator....

Another MPPT controller would put more amps into those batteries than with no controller at all. Since they are so big you might be fine without a controller but if the boat sits and they aren't being used you might still be overcharging them and hurting the life of them. I'd have a controller on them, preferably a MPPT like what you use with your other setup.

This year we ran two Engels on 4 house batteries . The batteries were charged by 200 watts of solar cells....

What size where the Engels? On our one 7+ week journey to Florida 180 watts kept up with our 63 quart Edgestar and other use almost. I still had to run the 12 volt gen-set about 3-4 hours total during those weeks. On the 3 month Bahama trip with 560 watts I never once had to run the gen-set and there was one 3 day stretch with heavy clouds during the trip where I also wasn't running the outboard (It only puts out 6 amps max anyway). The batteries, two 6 volt Trojans and two 12 volt Dekas, never went below 50% and most days didn't go under about 75%.

Sumner

====================================================

1300 miles to the Bahamas and back -- 2015

The MacGregor 26-S

The Endeavour 37

Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

[Highlander]

I recently heard about these portable ice makers, and am wondering if one would be practical on our boat. Anyone out there using one? Are they available with a direct 12 volt plug in, or do you need to go through an inverter? My thought would be to make my own ice for use in the small ice chest for drinks and such. I could probably handle the extra power draw while motoring, or when plugged in at a marina. I'm forever buying ice, and I'm not always in a location where it's available.

I thought about buying one , when slipped ur paying for the hydro anyway , when anchored I can use my 1000, inverter generator , I was lookin @ the one,s in walmart , anyone tried using one on their boat !!

J

[Tomfoolery]

We have a 02X with the standard Honda 50. I have no idea what it puts out current wise.

The manual says 10A, and presumably that's a max figure, though I don't know if the output flattens after a certain engine speed, or increases up to redline.

[Retcoastie]

Sumner said"
Since they are so big you might be fine without a controller but if the boat sits and they aren't being used you might still be overcharging them and hurting the life of them.

You sir, are correct. The thing is the panels are not deployed unless I am on the boat. So far, they have not been an over charge problem. They are not too efficient. They have never blown the mast light fuse which I think is 5 amps. If I were going away for a day on a tour or something I would just leave the mast light switch off, as I do at night. I sleep in the rear birth with my head near the battery box. As the sun comes up in the morning and the panel start working the red light on the mast light switch starts to glow. That's how I know it is time to get up and turn the switch on to connect to the batteries. You are also correct that an MPPT controller would be a wonderful addition and would provide more amps but at this point (Knock on wood) I haven't seen the need. So, that said, I can't justify the expense. The van justifies the MPPT controller because it has a horribly en-efficient reefer. The constant discharge and recharge was eating AGMs in a year.

Tomfoolery said:
The manual says 10A, and presumably that's a max figure, though I don't know if the output flattens after a certain engine speed, or increases up to redline.

Thanks. Guess I'm just too lazy to look it up.

Ken

[Sumner]

...The thing is the panels are not deployed unless I am on the boat....

With you doing that and if you don't need the added output from a MPPT controller then no need for it. Sounds like you have things thought out ,

Sumner

============================
1300 miles to the Bahamas and back -- 2015

The MacGregor 26-S

The Endeavour 37

Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links