MaxiMatic MIM-5802 Mr Freeze Portable Ice Maker, Stainless Steel

I feel like this machine has gotten a bad rap here. I have be using this over a week, and I am amazed at the reviews.I'll cover the big gripes folks have first....1. Does not store ice.Sure it does....just not permanently. This was one of my biggest worries when I got the machine, but the worry was totally unfounded. I bought this to be an ice maker replacement for my kitchen and it works great for this purpose. It will recycle anything that melts. What I do is simple, fill the machine with filtered water n the morning and turn it on. Once it seems filled, I turn it off. The ice will last atleast five hours in it. By dinner, I turn it on again till it fills up. The key is knowing about how much ice you consume daily and only adding that amount of water each day. Once you do that, it works like a dream. Also, keep in mind this is the case far all portable ice makers. They would no longer be portable if you expect them to ac as a full freezer as well.2. Slow ice production.Even though it says right up front, your first Bach could take an hour. I had ice in 30 mns....and after that, it fills fast. I never run out of ice with 4 people using it. I have a hunch that if you try to use this in non climate controlled locations like a boat, you might have issues due to the ambient temp. The solution is pretty simple though, just bring along a cold ice pack or ice from home to pre cool it. You'll have ic in no time.3. Noise.It's ambient noise level is that of a running microwave. Don't pit it near your tv. Works fine in the kichen. If you have to put it in your man cave, turn it off during your movie, the ice will easily last.4. Quality.So far, so good. It's a fairly simple machine with little that will go wrong. I've compared all the clear ice brands on amazon. They are all exactly the same, all from china. This is the cheapest. Buy on amazon to address infant mortality.This thing is awesome so far...as long as it holds up I highly recommend it.My only gripes and they are minor...1. The machine takes too long to shut off when it runs low on water. This results in cloudy, deformed cubes. Why not just have it shut off when you know the cleanses goes away? Silly design mistake.2. Ice does release in a brick. I quick light chop with the scoops breaks it up nicely though.3. Even though it was shrink wrapped like most ss appliances these days...it still arrive with visible scuffs. Nothing real bad, but enough to be annoying. Doubtful any other brand would be better.

From the very start, this product was extremely slow to make ice. Expect to wait at least 1.5 to 2 hours for the first ice drop after filling the unit with cold tap water.Things that are different from product claims:*** It definitely never made ice in 30 minutes; average for each ice drop is around an hour.*** The product picture which shows it full of ice is extremely deceptive; the unit shuts off after the tiny ice holder fills (it can never actually get full of ice as pictured).*** The product holds 1.5L of water, not 15L.*** Convenient view window -- try as you might, you cannot see the ice through this window.*** Claim - Produces up to 25 to 35 pounds of ice per 24-hour period. Let's do the math. 1L of water weighs about 2.2 pounds. It takes this unit around 5 hours to turn 1L of water into ice at the rate of 24 cubes every hour. Let's give it the benefit of the doubt and say it can turn 5L of water into ice in a 24-hour period. That means it is creating 12 pounds of ice per 24-hour period. To keep the ice from melting, you need to remove the ice as it is made and place in it a freezer. Of course, you aren't going to do that overnight, so you can count on 25-50% of the ice made in a 24-hour period melting before you have the chance to use it. That means we're now down to 6-9 pounds of ice per 24-hour period.We kept the unit in a temperature-controlled room that is right square in the middle of the temperature range per the instruction manual. We cleaned the unit frequently, per instructions in the manual. Less than two months after purchase, the unit stopped producing ice altogether (it ran, but the water did not chill). We are still awaiting a response from the company about repairing the device.

I got this due to my Samsung icemaker breaking for the second time due to a design flaw. The refrigerator was out of warranty, and I knew if I fixed it, again, it would break, again.At any rate, this icemaker is larger than I thought it would be. It is fairly noisy, but I can't hear it outside the kitchen where I installed it. It was fairly quick to deliver ice not long after plugging it in and has been happily generating copious quantities of ice since.It did however have a curious smell to it when running. It smells like a combination of rubber tires and lubricating oil. The smell is slowly fading away, and does not affect the taste of the ice.I've been putting filtered water into the reservoir from my Brita water filter and it is clean tasting, clear ice. The ice cubes are not very large, and have a hollow indentation in the top, but this is fine, as long as it's cold. I took someone's suggestion and am putting the ice in larger freezer ziplock bags and putting these in my deep freeze. I've made about five quart bags of ice in two days.The only other complaint is that it generates a fair amount of heat. While this may be great in the wintertime, it is summer and it makes the kitchen hotter while it's running.Time will tell how this unit will hold up. We go through a lot of ice here in Texas in summer, so we will be running it full out for at least the next month. I will get back here and write updates when I can.Update Sept 7 2013: One thing I've noticed is that it is mandatory you dump any residual water out on a frequent basis, like every other day or the ice starts to take on an unusual, stale freezer flavor. I read somewhere that it helps to put two tablespoons of lemon juice in with the water when you set it up again for an extended run. I've done this, and the ice comes out really clean-tasting and fresh. Product continues to impress.