Hello Andrew 🙂 Your ice maker series is very creative. So many others have followed your example and are building their own home made ice maker. This icemaker is a brilliant success. God Bless. See you on the Live Stream.
I use empty juice bottles or 2 liter soda bottles, fill them up 3/4 with water and add 2 tablespoons of salt, then freeze. The salt lowers the freezing point of the water. I use them in my work ice chest and it keeps everything very cold all day. Put a raw steak wrapped in foil or plastic wrap in the bottom of any ice chest, place the frozen salt water bottle on top, check back in a hour or so, the steak will be frozen. So, try this with your ice blocks. the juice bottles are rectangular and will stack on their sides and likely fit nicely in your freezer.
Thanks for another great video! I’m thinking that the results of putting another fan on the compressor (& the condenser) might be a surprise. You are doing a heck of a job in the research and development department here Andrew! 👍
From a science and manufacturing teacher, excellent job Andrew! Data equals valid results. I am also a fisherman and block ice lasts, unfortunately your plastic trays will not. Due to the expansion of the ice they will eventually fail. Stainless steel bowls from yard sales work great but tip over easily due to design. Also, plastic items are tapered due to the molding process. They come out of the mold just like your ice comes out of them. Look at the plastic items around and you will see this design element.
Thank you for leaving the oh no moment in there i loved the look on your face when you open the freezer up and was like what the heck great job sir you and your wife your the best two people on youtube to me down to earth as can be love your channel and live steram's. And this is a wonderful build.
Love this series of videos. Could you make the collar smaller (shorter)? Just big enough to accommodate drilling the holes for wires and tubing. That would reduce the volume inside the freezer.
My old refrigerator had a turbo setting on the icemaker, it was basically a fan in a little plastic case to aimed at the bottom of the ice cube trays, that fan did go on and off periodically as it was making ice, I don’t remember never paying attention to the sequence but I do remember it being off sometimes. I would think that the fans blowing and circulating would be good with the razor you made because that would allow that warmer area to get down to the cooling service and be removed from the unit.
Just finished mine, I ran up a video on it, and I'm thinking of putting a fan in the door, and using the switch for the light as my power supply so it will force cold air up, i think when you do that, you will have good results,, you have great videos, look forward to seeing more. Thank you Tim S.
Have you ever put a FLIR camera on the freezer? It'd be interesting to see what the heat loss around the seals is. Maybe putting an insulating blanket over the top and 12" down the side would have an impact.
Loving this series. cant wait to see the fans cooling compressor off. I mostly like all your testing and data. would be interesting to see some temps of the cabinet compared to ambient before and after you put a fan on the compressor
What about hacking up a tunnel out of carboard around the icemakers and send the air down that. So then you basically have a wind tunnel around the ice. then no wasted air motion deflecting or going where you dont want it.
Have you thought instead of using the down pipes to the bottom of the ice makers, you use them at the front to the fans using a 90 deg fitting?, so the fans are in the middle from your bar aiming onto the side of them but still pulling air from the bottom (should not need the smart controllers still), but so so your mixing the cold air at the bottom back with the top air at the top and because of air pressure it should be pulling the hot air at the top though the ice to cool it down?
Man that is working awesome for you. Got good results and everything. Can you say you would never run out of Ice for your get-together. Good video buddy.
Wish you would try suggestion I made earlier: remove fans completely. pre-cool water inlet (passive) by installing supply loop(s) to underneath of lid. Commercial ice machine performance is affected by water inlet temperature and condenser ambient temperature.
I tested this a while back with chilled water and only got a 7 percent increase. Don't forget the whole purpose of this build was no modifications to the freezer and a cleaner install. Coils inside would freeze and opening up the lid would defeat the no modifications approach.
Excellent information! I can tell you the constant melting in my commercial unit is sickening… maybe I should’ve (still can) went with a chest freezer for the ice bin! 🤔 warranty would definitely be out the window with that kind of lid modifications lol
@@TKCL I've worked liquor/beer store were we did just that. Commercial ice maker, bag our own. Big ice storage freezer just like out front at the Grocery. Nearest beer to the local University, could hardly make ice fast enough.
using a 7 CuFt freezer is a good baseline. What you will find is that using your same BASIC design principles and a larger chest freezer is the cheapest way to go. the difference in energy consumption between a 7 and 24 cuft freezer is almost inconsequential vs the storage capacity. In short, volumetric efficiency is better as you go bigger without a real penalty in energy consumption.
Have you thought about moving the ice makers below the original freezer height? That would move them out of the "warm" zone that was created at the top of the unit created by the modification and would probably increase production. You could do this with brackets attached to the added material you made. Also, if you are planning on a Ice maker 3.0 build, rip your 2 X 4 material in half to reduce height of the lid from the original freezer height and the dead air volume that was created above what the original freezer air volume it was designed to chill. By ripping the material in 1/2 you would give yourself space to pass the water and electrical supplies inside without modifying the freezer. I think the benefit of ripping the material in half would reduce the air volume you added which should keep the freezer closer the ideal freezer temperature throughout the freezer and the compressor would run its normal cycle and not stay on all the time. You could test this theory by adding insulation board to the bottom of the lid to fill the air space down to what I am talking about. If you should decide on a 3.0 build, I would give the 2.0 a good home and give you updates on ice production :)
I have, but the big drawback to lowering is reducing the storage capacity of my freezer. It's nice to be able to pull out a 100lbs of ice for a fishing trip and not deplete the freezer.
Wonder if using a 2x2 up top (vs 2x4) to expand the freezer would still allow all the penetrations but slightly reduce that additional warm zone at the top?
@@TKCL I thought of mentioning that as well....you're going from a 5 or 7 cubic foot freezer to a 6 or 8 cubic foot freezer....having that space not as high can make a difference.
To attach the fans to the lids use sections of dowel rod to act as a thermal break. You can screw them onto a bracket on the outside of the lid then just screw up into them making sure the screws don't touch in the wood to have an effective thermal break between the inside and outside of the lid and you only have the screw holes to fill if you end up removing later.
@@TKCL On the outside of the door you have a bracket of metal with screws punching down into the lid and into sections of dowel rod. Screw the bracket up into those sections using the wood as a thermal break so they are not cold on one side and hot on the other.
One thing comes to mind...freezers have a fill line, above which things don't freeze as well. The position of the icemakers is well above that line now.
Love this build! I'm enjoying all your updates and testing. I think Whirlpool ice maker kit part # 1129316(or Supco RIM316) would be great for this project too. It comes with all of the wiring, valves, water line, inlet and everything.
Bonus, with the whirlpool ice makes you can probably use the fan that mounts on the ice maker and pulls power from the same harness. Part #2210315 (you'd probably have to get them on eBay at this point)
Do you plan to test insulating the freeze lid? I have a friend who put foam board insulation on his freeze lid and swears it makes his freeze kick on less.
Have you considered blowing over the ice at an angle? Blowing straight forward will create eddies when it hits the cooler wall. You want to blow the heat away (as you know) and having a smooth airflow path will facilitate that. Maybe direct the air into the fans from below so the fans' intakes don't compete.
2nd opinion on Shauns theory I wonder if mounting the ice makers slightly lower towards the bottom of your PVC ring and perhaps installation of some HVAC duct turning vains. Or at least a full wing of sorts. Softening the air corner and directing it right down over the cube trays They could be mounted to the lid as well
@@TKCL I had something in my head cutting the inside corner out of large PVC elbows to create a scoop for the air as well. I was thinking that maybe it would cause a circular motion from the bottom to the top of the freezer drawing colder air up from the bottom and recirculating it down... Where the fans need to be in all that is beyond my 30 seconds of thought but, maybe you could aim them in the same orientation. If you can't duct with something like PVC you can get corrugated plastic sheets (like cardboard but made from plastic) from H.D.
Andrew, there’s s principal called dead heading a air flow. In the previous freezer when you had the fan blowing down the middle of the ice machines the air flow hit the freezer wall after passing by the ice machines. Then that air flow was able to go down as it hit the side wall. In the newer design with the ice machines against the back wall of the freezer the air has nowhere to flow but back towards the fan and that’s creating a dead head. I think this may have contributed to a lower outcome for you because the air flow would not be circulating nearly as well back to the bottom of the freezer in a rough looping pattern. Best wishes Andrew! I’m watching all of your experiments and home building! Looks great!
The bottom can be used to make up the space taken from top. Let the bottom fill the 5 inches with ice and then an aluminum sheet over top. This should help keep temperature better and more efficient again
To increase production decrease the water inlet temperature. In commercial units we would run water through a coil of copper in the storage bin and the ice would cool the inlet water it does make a big difference. Your unable to do that as it would freeze solid. If you monitor your inlet water temperature with your ice production may explain your 13 pound production.
I'm thinking about trying to build one of these in my spare time. I'm also thinking about ramping things up a bit and seeing what a 20+ cu. ft. freezer with 4 ice makers is capable of. In order for mine to be a success I think double production overall would not be worth the overall cost. Alternatively if adding extra thermal mass and having more configuration options with the available space; I think there is a possibility of increasing production without increasing cost. (except equipment cost) As a baseline I should get close to 20+ pounds in a 24 hour period for this to at least mirror yours, but a good goal to shoot for might be 30 pounds to justify a larger startup cost and production cost. Also thinking a larger freezer could be split in half with a simple peice of aluminum and one side be my ice maker side and the other be thermal mass from food storage.
Keep in mind that at a certain point you reach cooling capacity of these compressors. My gut says introducing that much water will not allow the compressor to convert all the energy as quickly. I'd be curious to hear your results.
You could also try to make the freezer a bit better at dissipating the heat. Normally the sides will be warm to the touch. Some cheap aluminum fins on the sides might help pull some more heat away from the freezer. Though that's just a guess.
Andrew any thoughts on narrowing the height of the pvc collar from 6 to 3 inches to decrease the warm zone at the top and also trying the same placement of the icemakers as in the first freezer? Gotta keep the quest going for the perfect diy ice machine and leave no unanswered questions!
I don't expect much gain from a lower collar since my last ice maker didn't have one and the results were not much better. I hate to move the ice makers back to the original position because I'm enjoying using that shelf for block ice. The "perfect" ice maker isn't necessarily about the most production. It's a balance of form, production and in this case being a little more universal.
I wonder if the fans are circulating the air to fast top to bottom to allow cooling. Like in auto ac where slower blower speeds produce lower air temps as it has more time to exchange heat across the coils. I would hypothesize that slower speed focused air with the cones might produce better results.
Hey Andrew the only thing I could see possibly if you wanted to just put a divider between your block ice and your cube dice so the two don’t intermingling you can access your block guys easier I’ve been loving this whole series
What about changing the amount of air coming out of the fans, more or less airflow make a difference? Also what about drawing air away from the dispensers, like how cooling car seat suck air away from your back to cool you off
I cant help but think that there is too much airflow with those fans? I am really curious as to how much heat they generate too. Seems like its a fine line of efficiency inside that freezer and you're teetering right there on the brink. You know what else would be interesting is a 3 or 7 day sample between setups.. Because all that tinkering and stuff brings the temps up so high inside there and that little compressor is fighting to bring it back down for several hours.. Several hours could be a couple of ice dumps each, i.e. several pounds? Once the freezer has "cooled down" and is producing ice throughout the week, efficiency surely will go up some measurable amount, right? All that ice mass helping the icemakers freeze up quicker and taking the load off the compressor. I really want to make one of these, I saw home depot had freezers in stock when I was there yesterday... Gotta build a shop first though!
@@TKCL see if you can put a potentiometer on the fans you have (I think you're using DC fans). Depending on the type of fan it may or may not work but it would allow you to make the adjustment to the speed yourself...
Love these videos and saving so much money to have ice so readily available. However I am very concerned to see what happens when freezer fills up with ice. Will the ice makers kick off such as a normal fridge setup would?
Since everyone is tossing their ideas out there... Hows about creating a foam plug for the dead space at the top out of foam board. It would insulate and fill the empty space at the top, which should keep the cool air where you want it. It would be cheap and easy to test.
Mount the ice makers to a bracket so they are lower in the freezer, you can use a ramp to slope the ice over to the other part of the box to make up for the clearance, I think the insulation you added to the top bracket is just not sufficient, perhaps if you were in a cooler climate, or had it in a basement you could get away with it, but I just think you're getting too much cold loss at the top of the unit.
just use one fan. the more power you use inside the freezer, the more work the compressor needs to do. You don't need the fan to be pointed on the ice machines. plus, try whit a small 12v pc fan, some requires 1-2W at full power and it should be plenty for the job
@@TKCL yeah what probably happens whit high flow directly on the water is called evaporative cooling. You force liquid water into vapour dropping water temperature, but causing the side effect of ice build-up on the freezer walls, causing efficiency drop over time. It's okay if you don't care, but i'd prefer a slightly less day production if it would save me frequent defrost cycles
Just use one shrouded fan, have it circulate the warmer air from the top area of the freezer down towards the bottom just to keep a temperatures even top to bottom because there are no cooling coils like the last 6"s or more. Love the build. More air flow in and around the condenser would. Also the climate controlled room would help as well. Just something to test. What about hanging pvc tubes filled with water that you could dump daily or maybe twice a day just when you need more ice. It would be easy to fill dump and break down into usable chunks, plus move them when you don't need them.
I would not think that high velocity is that important or that you need that much air flow I think one would be fine or use a buck converter and drop the voltage a little bit and slow them down some
Question: For my cooler ice I make 8 or 15 lb blocks using locknlock 8 cup storage container. for my drinks I make 5.25"x 1.25" x1.25" ice cube using a collins ice mold. one piece is 5.2 oz (1/3 lb) I have contigo 24 oz tumblers which makes a huge difference. I also have an rtic cooler which I just bought their new one which is 7qts bigger, 8lbs light & the same price as my old one. Depending on how long i'm gone & how hot it is, I would throw in a 5 or 10 lb block of dry ice on top of the block ice using my cooler divider. I get about 10 days with this. However, my question is, once I make my block ice, I take it out of the mold, throw it in a plastic grocery bag and put it in the chest freezer and start making another one. I only add 1-2" of water at a time. So I have several blocks of ice in the chest freezer and around the top on the inside is all frosted over. Have you not ran into that issue with having all that ice in there?
Yes frost is a constant problem and must be dealt with about once a month. These are non defrosting freezers and you are introducing moisture via room air and humidity, plus the warm water that you introduce for block ice. It's perfectly normal.
@@TKCL I would freeze the block in my regular freezer and then put it in the chest freezer. I finally got rid of it and bought a frost free upright. I'm wondering though if I should keep in container with lid on,
1st what you have to keep in mind is every time freshwater fills the ice maker and every time the icemaker heater comes on your heating the freezer. 2nd is the icemaker runs on a clock motor. so even if your colder and the ice freeze faster it still takes the same time to make a batch of ice. the ice maker on average takes 90 min. to make 8 - 10 cubes. so you get about 16 batches of ice a day. Typical refrigerator ice maker will produce from 3.5 to 6.6 lbs per day, depending on the size cube it makes.
Negative on the timer, this has been proven many times with my testing and pulling manufacturers information. The ice maker reads mold temperature, once below 10 degrees a timed dump cycle is activated. The quicker you can get the mold to temp the more dump cycles that are triggered and production goes up. That's why when I unplug the fans I usually average 4-5lbs in a 24 hour period. Turn the fans back on and you double your productivity.
I love taking on things that my mind pumps out and most work some are even better, some not. But if I can get my 24 hour test to go like yours.. seem like just a few minutes... Lol.. If you and I got together you wouldn't never get done with the House.
Your ice makers were over quick freeze side try putting them back on right side it is much colder on the right side it has the cooling tubes on the bottom are much closer to ice maker so you blow much colder air on ice maker
As I recall the fridge ice maker also has a coil at the water side of the ice tray with a fan blowing over it to help lower the water temp to freeze faster . Just something to look into
I'm in the process of gathering materials to build one. Based on your extensive research and testing. One thing you didn't mention was about the freezer itself. I started researching and was unaware that most cheaper freezers are only made to be placed in a living space. More expensive models are labeled GARAGE READY. it seems they have a compressor heater for low temps and provisions for working well in high temperature as well most say 0 degrees to 110 degrees. And built for placement outside of the controlled environment. Wàs your latest build a garage ready? It may have made a big difference in your hot shop environment on production.
I'm looking at the Danby 7.2 cf garage ready. Also with industry leading 5 year warranty. At just over $400 This considerably adds to the build cost. But mine will be in a shop or garage in the Pacific northwest. With common temperatures ranging from 15 degrees to 105 degrees Wondering your thoughts Local retailer has cheap 7 cf freezer for $199 right now. The Danby is sold out and I'm on a waiting list
Due to my wide range of temperature out here in Pacific northwest. And the much longer warranty. I think I'm going with the garage ready model. Despite the increased cost. In my research seems garage ready means a compressor heater of some kind. Cold oil probably not a issue for you. And increased R value for not working compressor to death. In 100+ degree weather. Probably not a issue for you either. With plans to move it inside once your house is done. I could go through 2 of the cheaper freezers for the price of 1 But pulling everything and moving it would be a pain. I think I'll just pay now rather than later Thanks for the input and all your extensive testing work
I also removed the pvc ducting in mine. Didn’t notice a justifiable difference. I’d rather have more space for ice. But I am still working with the single fan hanging on an aluminum bar, no shroud. Maybe I’ll do a 24hr test to see what mine is producing.
@@TKCL made 11.8 lbs in 27 hrs. Had to work late so I missed the 24hr mark. Side not I did have way more ice in my right side ice maker, probably because I have the fan right side blowing right to left. No shroud and blowing down the middle of maker. Also I am about half full of ice. It’s over the ledge by a couple inches.
Perhaps your high velocity fan motors are producing more heat than you realize? I'd run tests on them using a laser thermometer to determine exactly how much heat, if any, the motor itself is generating, and then also isolate them in a control box with a thermometer probe to see any increase in a closed environment. Great video series!
When you were shopping for the ice makers did you see any that make the nugget ice? I want that chewy ice but only finding the whole machines to make it. Love your channel :)
I finally found a machine that makes the sonic ice, I am testing it now and will release a video in a few days. It's a table top version, but makes a lot of ice. It's going to be on sale next week too.
I was wondering about a fan speed controller to be able to turn the fans down save some energy and see what your results are and you probably want a low speed fan for the external cooler anyways condenser sorry
You could test if the ~10 pound of ice is the actual capacity by freezing block ice or something else at the same time. Basically see if production changes significantly if the freezer has more stuff to freeze.
Another thought, with regards to the fan, how about one fan pulling from the bottom, up through 1 duct, a pipe screwed to the back wall, perforated with holes pointing up to the ice maker. Sort of like a diffuser. Super interesting stuff. You know the mfgr of these freezers has got the efficiency down to a SCIENCE, there is not an extra dollars worth of copper or insulation put in that thing than is needed, not to mention the layout of the evap coils. I wonder if the lid mod is killing efficiency?
Glad you took my advice to put the two ice makers sideways on the back wall. I am thinking of one more thing, basically you are fighting time, fighting time to have as much ice in a certain time. The freezer has the capacity to keep frozen hundreds and hundreds of pounds of whatever in there, it’s not the capacity issue. If you would let the ice sit and build up, your ice production will increase, for example, everyday one pound more. So, since you are fighting time in that 24hr period, one more thing I am thinking of is the precool your incoming water. As of now, you have room temperature water entering the ice makers. I would drill a hole (I know you don’t want to) but you could use a infrared camera or maybe even with the laser gun to find where the cooling pipes are in the wall. I would drill a hole in the left and right side and stick a pvc pipe in and hook it up to the water line and go up to the two ice makers. I would out that pipe to the top edge (hottest part) of the freezer, I know you would think the pipe would freeze , but since ambient water is constantly running, it might not freeze close. I would play with diameter and length .thanks for reading
Exact opposite actually. I tested thermal mass effects a few ice episodes back and to my amazement, I produced more ice with a empty freezer than one with well over 100lbs of ice. It's about recirculating that cold dense air from the bottom. When it's full of ice you don't get that effect without tubes, false floor ect.
Maybe try adjusting the cube size could give a faster freeze time with smaller but more cycles of heating the tray and then larger cubes might mean less heating cycles 🤔
Have you tested just using one ice maker ? You have made a lot of improvements since you originally started with one. Just wondering if the ice production would be half or would it be higher? Made me wonder when you said people who put 3 in didn’t get much increase.
I have to wonder if having the ice makers on the short side (like the version 1.0 did) would increase production... I am thinking about convection and the volume of air vs the size of the area the ice makers are in. Also I think that you are correct about not only cooling the compressor but that putting it in a room with AC will help. When you put it in the room with the AC, you might want to look at fabricating a "cover" for the warm air exhaust are of the unit, add an exhaust fan, and vent it to the outside of the AC space.
Does that particular freezer use a magnetic strip in the lid gasket? Most i have seen do, although it may not seem like much, if that gasket isnt sealing 100% you could have air leakage contributing to compressor run times. I'm wondering if adding a thin steel flashing to the sealing edge of the pvc collar for the magnetic gasket to attract to would make any difference. you could seal it to the pvc with caulking of some sort.
If you ever watch when you close an upright freezer in particular, the door will actually suck down tight as the warm air introduced to the freezer cools off and contracts, creating a pseudo vacuum (not a measurable vacuum but enough to keep everything shut tight)
One of the chief losses in freezers, coolers, etc is through the lid seal. I haven't seen a close up yours, but if you can improve the seal, I predict a noticeable decrease in internal temperature.
I agree with this idea... if you have a laser thermometer (even a cheap harbor freight will work in this case) handy then check the side of the collar vs the seal surface. @ about quarter to half inch intervals on one part of the sealing edge. You might try some of the HVAC metal tape on the inner lip of the collar where the seal presses, and see if you can get a better seal... I'm thinking that its either a seal issue or an insulation issue with the collar.Maybe try adding an additional layer of foam board so that the lid closes into it and the air has to push out and up rather than just out. But I'm just spitballing ideas and seeing what sticks to be honest. At some point I endeavor to try and make one of those counter-top pellet ice-makers drop into a chest freezer. (My wife dislikes the common fridge style half round ice cubes, and those pellet ice makers that actually store the ice and not just remake the same water into ice over and over again are like $2-3k.
This is exactly how yeti cups keep ice so well. They have fantastic seals around the lid. Lowes and Home Depot both have sections where they sell different types of weather stripping and seals. I'd try doubling or tripling your lid seal. It's a pretty inexpensive thing to try.
I’ve had mine going, with 2 makers for about a month. Both ice makers worked great to begin with and now both are only producing about 2-3 cubes per cycle. Any ideas?
Hello Andrew 🙂 Your ice maker series is very creative. So many others have followed your example and are building their own home made ice maker. This icemaker is a brilliant success. God Bless. See you on the Live Stream.
Thank you, God bless
I use empty juice bottles or 2 liter soda bottles, fill them up 3/4 with water and add 2 tablespoons of salt, then freeze. The salt lowers the freezing point of the water. I use them in my work ice chest and it keeps everything very cold all day. Put a raw steak wrapped in foil or plastic wrap in the bottom of any ice chest, place the frozen salt water bottle on top, check back in a hour or so, the steak will be frozen. So, try this with your ice blocks. the juice bottles are rectangular and will stack on their sides and likely fit nicely in your freezer.
Thanks for another great video! I’m thinking that the results of putting another fan on the compressor (& the condenser) might be a surprise. You are doing a heck of a job in the research and development department here Andrew! 👍
Thank you for watching
Sell ice maker kits with instructions for the 2.0 build. I think I’d buy one
Too much legality
It's in the description. Plus a video ......
From a science and manufacturing teacher, excellent job Andrew! Data equals valid results. I am also a fisherman and block ice lasts, unfortunately your plastic trays will not. Due to the expansion of the ice they will eventually fail. Stainless steel bowls from yard sales work great but tip over easily due to design. Also, plastic items are tapered due to the molding process. They come out of the mold just like your ice comes out of them. Look at the plastic items around and you will see this design element.
Non-stick bread loaf pans would work nicely I think...
I just need something with a lid so I can stack them.
Thank you for leaving the oh no moment in there i loved the look on your face when you open the freezer up and was like what the heck great job sir you and your wife your the best two people on youtube to me down to earth as can be love your channel and live steram's. And this is a wonderful build.
Yeah 24 hours wasted lol 🤣
I saw that look and thought oh boy hope it didn't die or come unplugged melting the ice.
Love this series of videos. Could you make the collar smaller (shorter)? Just big enough to accommodate drilling the holes for wires and tubing. That would reduce the volume inside the freezer.
I could, but there won't be enough of a gain for the trouble. My last ice maker had no collar and only slightly out produced this one.
My old refrigerator had a turbo setting on the icemaker, it was basically a fan in a little plastic case to aimed at the bottom of the ice cube trays, that fan did go on and off periodically as it was making ice, I don’t remember never paying attention to the sequence but I do remember it being off sometimes. I would think that the fans blowing and circulating would be good with the razor you made because that would allow that warmer area to get down to the cooling service and be removed from the unit.
Just finished mine, I ran up a video on it, and I'm thinking of putting a fan in the door, and using the switch for the light as my power supply so it will force cold air up, i think when you do that, you will have good results,, you have great videos, look forward to seeing more. Thank you Tim S.
Have you ever put a FLIR camera on the freezer? It'd be interesting to see what the heat loss around the seals is. Maybe putting an insulating blanket over the top and 12" down the side would have an impact.
I don't have a flir, but really want one. I put a thermal blanket on my last one off camera and had disappointing results.
Loving this series. cant wait to see the fans cooling compressor off. I mostly like all your testing and data. would be interesting to see some temps of the cabinet compared to ambient before and after you put a fan on the compressor
What about hacking up a tunnel out of carboard around the icemakers and send the air down that. So then you basically have a wind tunnel around the ice. then no wasted air motion deflecting or going where you dont want it.
Have you thought instead of using the down pipes to the bottom of the ice makers, you use them at the front to the fans using a 90 deg fitting?, so the fans are in the middle from your bar aiming onto the side of them but still pulling air from the bottom (should not need the smart controllers still), but so so your mixing the cold air at the bottom back with the top air at the top and because of air pressure it should be pulling the hot air at the top though the ice to cool it down?
I have to be careful to not block my scooping room and making this inconvenient.
Man that is working awesome for you. Got good results and everything. Can you say you would never run out of Ice for your get-together. Good video buddy.
Wish you would try suggestion I made earlier: remove fans completely. pre-cool water inlet (passive) by installing supply loop(s) to underneath of lid.
Commercial ice machine performance is affected by water inlet temperature and condenser ambient temperature.
I tested this a while back with chilled water and only got a 7 percent increase. Don't forget the whole purpose of this build was no modifications to the freezer and a cleaner install. Coils inside would freeze and opening up the lid would defeat the no modifications approach.
Excellent information! I can tell you the constant melting in my commercial unit is sickening… maybe I should’ve (still can) went with a chest freezer for the ice bin! 🤔 warranty would definitely be out the window with that kind of lid modifications lol
Or buy a small deep freezer, bag your ice and freeze it.
@@TKCL I've worked liquor/beer store were we did just that. Commercial ice maker, bag our own. Big ice storage freezer just like out front at the Grocery. Nearest beer to the local University, could hardly make ice fast enough.
Love that you showed us your mistake, if it were me my phone or truck keys would be in the ice.
Lol 🤣
using a 7 CuFt freezer is a good baseline. What you will find is that using your same BASIC design principles and a larger chest freezer is the cheapest way to go. the difference in energy consumption between a 7 and 24 cuft freezer is almost inconsequential vs the storage capacity. In short, volumetric efficiency is better as you go bigger without a real penalty in energy consumption.
Love the outtakes....
we love you Andrew you're not too proud to show your own mistakes😹
If you are not making mistakes, you are not building anything!!!
Have you thought about moving the ice makers below the original freezer height? That would move them out of the "warm" zone that was created at the top of the unit created by the modification and would probably increase production. You could do this with brackets attached to the added material you made. Also, if you are planning on a Ice maker 3.0 build, rip your 2 X 4 material in half to reduce height of the lid from the original freezer height and the dead air volume that was created above what the original freezer air volume it was designed to chill. By ripping the material in 1/2 you would give yourself space to pass the water and electrical supplies inside without modifying the freezer. I think the benefit of ripping the material in half would reduce the air volume you added which should keep the freezer closer the ideal freezer temperature throughout the freezer and the compressor would run its normal cycle and not stay on all the time. You could test this theory by adding insulation board to the bottom of the lid to fill the air space down to what I am talking about. If you should decide on a 3.0 build, I would give the 2.0 a good home and give you updates on ice production :)
I have, but the big drawback to lowering is reducing the storage capacity of my freezer. It's nice to be able to pull out a 100lbs of ice for a fishing trip and not deplete the freezer.
Wonder if using a 2x2 up top (vs 2x4) to expand the freezer would still allow all the penetrations but slightly reduce that additional warm zone at the top?
Probably not enough to make a difference. These numbers are close to the previous freezer with no collar.
@@TKCL I thought of mentioning that as well....you're going from a 5 or 7 cubic foot freezer to a 6 or 8 cubic foot freezer....having that space not as high can make a difference.
But I also have all the data from my last freezer with no collar. Not a significant difference between the two.
Thank you very much im starting my build today!
You were getting better results with one fan!
Slightly better yes...
To attach the fans to the lids use sections of dowel rod to act as a thermal break. You can screw them onto a bracket on the outside of the lid then just screw up into them making sure the screws don't touch in the wood to have an effective thermal break between the inside and outside of the lid and you only have the screw holes to fill if you end up removing later.
Not sure I follow...
@@TKCL On the outside of the door you have a bracket of metal with screws punching down into the lid and into sections of dowel rod. Screw the bracket up into those sections using the wood as a thermal break so they are not cold on one side and hot on the other.
I love these ice maker videos.
One thing comes to mind...freezers have a fill line, above which things don't freeze as well. The position of the icemakers is well above that line now.
Very true, thus the reason the fans are so important. Dropping the ice makers make me lose a lot of capacity. It's give and take.
Love this build! I'm enjoying all your updates and testing.
I think Whirlpool ice maker kit part # 1129316(or Supco RIM316) would be great for this project too. It comes with all of the wiring, valves, water line, inlet and everything.
Bonus, with the whirlpool ice makes you can probably use the fan that mounts on the ice maker and pulls power from the same harness. Part #2210315 (you'd probably have to get them on eBay at this point)
That look of confusion at the end was Priceless! Lmao. Oh, and Thanks for the update Andrew
Thank you for watching
Do you plan to test insulating the freeze lid? I have a friend who put foam board insulation on his freeze lid and swears it makes his freeze kick on less.
I've already did it off camera with a thermal blanket, I didn't see much change.
Have you considered blowing over the ice at an angle? Blowing straight forward will create eddies when it hits the cooler wall. You want to blow the heat away (as you know) and having a smooth airflow path will facilitate that. Maybe direct the air into the fans from below so the fans' intakes don't compete.
That's worth trying
2nd opinion on Shauns theory
I wonder if mounting the ice makers slightly lower towards the bottom of your PVC ring and perhaps installation of some HVAC duct turning vains. Or at least a full wing of sorts.
Softening the air corner and directing it right down over the cube trays
They could be mounted to the lid as well
@@TKCL I had something in my head cutting the inside corner out of large PVC elbows to create a scoop for the air as well. I was thinking that maybe it would cause a circular motion from the bottom to the top of the freezer drawing colder air up from the bottom and recirculating it down... Where the fans need to be in all that is beyond my 30 seconds of thought but, maybe you could aim them in the same orientation. If you can't duct with something like PVC you can get corrugated plastic sheets (like cardboard but made from plastic) from H.D.
Andrew, there’s s principal called dead heading a air flow. In the previous freezer when you had the fan blowing down the middle of the ice machines the air flow hit the freezer wall after passing by the ice machines. Then that air flow was able to go down as it hit the side wall.
In the newer design with the ice machines against the back wall of the freezer the air has nowhere to flow but back towards the fan and that’s creating a dead head. I think this may have contributed to a lower outcome for you because the air flow would not be circulating nearly as well back to the bottom of the freezer in a rough looping pattern.
Best wishes Andrew! I’m watching all of your experiments and home building! Looks great!
I'm thinking about relocating a single fan for flow as you described.
The bottom can be used to make up the space taken from top. Let the bottom fill the 5 inches with ice and then an aluminum sheet over top. This should help keep temperature better and more efficient again
It’s like a car, to rev it up or give it better performance what you really need to do is paint flames on the outside and maybe some pinstripes. 😉
LOL!!
Heck yeah!
Need that paint job on Chevy Bolt.
To increase production decrease the water inlet temperature. In commercial units we would run water through a coil of copper in the storage bin and the ice would cool the inlet water it does make a big difference. Your unable to do that as it would freeze solid. If you monitor your inlet water temperature with your ice production may explain your 13 pound production.
I did test that in another episode with pre chilled water. Seen a 7-9 percent increase.
I'm thinking about trying to build one of these in my spare time. I'm also thinking about ramping things up a bit and seeing what a 20+ cu. ft. freezer with 4 ice makers is capable of. In order for mine to be a success I think double production overall would not be worth the overall cost. Alternatively if adding extra thermal mass and having more configuration options with the available space; I think there is a possibility of increasing production without increasing cost. (except equipment cost) As a baseline I should get close to 20+ pounds in a 24 hour period for this to at least mirror yours, but a good goal to shoot for might be 30 pounds to justify a larger startup cost and production cost. Also thinking a larger freezer could be split in half with a simple peice of aluminum and one side be my ice maker side and the other be thermal mass from food storage.
Keep in mind that at a certain point you reach cooling capacity of these compressors. My gut says introducing that much water will not allow the compressor to convert all the energy as quickly. I'd be curious to hear your results.
You could also try to make the freezer a bit better at dissipating the heat. Normally the sides will be warm to the touch. Some cheap aluminum fins on the sides might help pull some more heat away from the freezer. Though that's just a guess.
Thank you for doing all these test!
Thank you for watching
Andrew any thoughts on narrowing the height of the pvc collar from 6 to 3 inches to decrease the warm zone at the top and also trying the same placement of the icemakers as in the first freezer? Gotta keep the quest going for the perfect diy ice machine and leave no unanswered questions!
I don't expect much gain from a lower collar since my last ice maker didn't have one and the results were not much better. I hate to move the ice makers back to the original position because I'm enjoying using that shelf for block ice. The "perfect" ice maker isn't necessarily about the most production. It's a balance of form, production and in this case being a little more universal.
Thanks for the update and yeah, I'd forget the ice collection things too. 😀
I wonder if the fans are circulating the air to fast top to bottom to allow cooling. Like in auto ac where slower blower speeds produce lower air temps as it has more time to exchange heat across the coils. I would hypothesize that slower speed focused air with the cones might produce better results.
Very possible!
Reverse the fans to pull air over the ice makers rather then push or Try a push pull configuration
I kind of did something similar on my last build, without a doubt air forced towards the ice makers produce more ice.
Add a fan to the condenser coil of the freezer to improve it's heat dissipation? Assuming it doesn't already have one.
Create/build a passive draft channel to draw heat away from the exterior heat transfer. A sudo chimney…
Hey Andrew the only thing I could see possibly if you wanted to just put a divider between your block ice and your cube dice so the two don’t intermingling you can access your block guys easier I’ve been loving this whole series
I definitely need that
Great video on the ice machine
Thank you
Dude you crack me up with your outtakes, lol "Yeah, I did that"
What about changing the amount of air coming out of the fans, more or less airflow make a difference?
Also what about drawing air away from the dispensers, like how cooling car seat suck air away from your back to cool you off
I am considering lower velocity fans
I cant help but think that there is too much airflow with those fans? I am really curious as to how much heat they generate too. Seems like its a fine line of efficiency inside that freezer and you're teetering right there on the brink. You know what else would be interesting is a 3 or 7 day sample between setups.. Because all that tinkering and stuff brings the temps up so high inside there and that little compressor is fighting to bring it back down for several hours.. Several hours could be a couple of ice dumps each, i.e. several pounds? Once the freezer has "cooled down" and is producing ice throughout the week, efficiency surely will go up some measurable amount, right? All that ice mass helping the icemakers freeze up quicker and taking the load off the compressor. I really want to make one of these, I saw home depot had freezers in stock when I was there yesterday... Gotta build a shop first though!
I am seriously considering one fan with a splitter or my two older lower cfm fans. Could make a positive difference.
@@TKCL see if you can put a potentiometer on the fans you have (I think you're using DC fans). Depending on the type of fan it may or may not work but it would allow you to make the adjustment to the speed yourself...
I like that thinking!
These testing that you do is really interesting thank you
Thank you for watching
It'll be interesting to see the final final results
Love these videos and saving so much money to have ice so readily available. However I am very concerned to see what happens when freezer fills up with ice. Will the ice makers kick off such as a normal fridge setup would?
The newly designed ice maker still has the trip bars and will cut off when full.
Love the tests, the channels. Great job..Keep em coming
Thank you for watching
Also consider more electrical introduces heat in the freezer.
Since everyone is tossing their ideas out there... Hows about creating a foam plug for the dead space at the top out of foam board. It would insulate and fill the empty space at the top, which should keep the cool air where you want it. It would be cheap and easy to test.
Hmmm 🤔
@@TKCL Smart !
Mount the ice makers to a bracket so they are lower in the freezer, you can use a ramp to slope the ice over to the other part of the box to make up for the clearance, I think the insulation you added to the top bracket is just not sufficient, perhaps if you were in a cooler climate, or had it in a basement you could get away with it, but I just think you're getting too much cold loss at the top of the unit.
Hi, Andrew! Very interesting. See you later today.
just use one fan. the more power you use inside the freezer, the more work the compressor needs to do. You don't need the fan to be pointed on the ice machines. plus, try whit a small 12v pc fan, some requires 1-2W at full power and it should be plenty for the job
Keep watching, I run a lot tests in the series. Thanks!
@@TKCL yeah what probably happens whit high flow directly on the water is called evaporative cooling. You force liquid water into vapour dropping water temperature, but causing the side effect of ice build-up on the freezer walls, causing efficiency drop over time. It's okay if you don't care, but i'd prefer a slightly less day production if it would save me frequent defrost cycles
You'll enjoy the most recent episode because that's exactly what I do.
Just use one shrouded fan, have it circulate the warmer air from the top area of the freezer down towards the bottom just to keep a temperatures even top to bottom because there are no cooling coils like the last 6"s or more.
Love the build. More air flow in and around the condenser would. Also the climate controlled room would help as well. Just something to test.
What about hanging pvc tubes filled with water that you could dump daily or maybe twice a day just when you need more ice. It would be easy to fill dump and break down into usable chunks, plus move them when you don't need them.
I would not think that high velocity is that important or that you need that much air flow I think one would be fine or use a buck converter and drop the voltage a little bit and slow them down some
Question:
For my cooler ice I make 8 or 15 lb blocks using locknlock 8 cup storage container. for my drinks I make 5.25"x 1.25" x1.25" ice cube using a collins ice mold. one piece is 5.2 oz (1/3 lb) I have contigo 24 oz tumblers which makes a huge difference. I also have an rtic cooler which I just bought their new one which is 7qts bigger, 8lbs light & the same price as my old one. Depending on how long i'm gone & how hot it is, I would throw in a 5 or 10 lb block of dry ice on top of the block ice using my cooler divider. I get about 10 days with this.
However, my question is, once I make my block ice, I take it out of the mold, throw it in a plastic grocery bag and put it in the chest freezer and start making another one. I only add 1-2" of water at a time. So I have several blocks of ice in the chest freezer and around the top on the inside is all frosted over.
Have you not ran into that issue with having all that ice in there?
Yes frost is a constant problem and must be dealt with about once a month. These are non defrosting freezers and you are introducing moisture via room air and humidity, plus the warm water that you introduce for block ice. It's perfectly normal.
@@TKCL I would freeze the block in my regular freezer and then put it in the chest freezer. I finally got rid of it and bought a frost free upright.
I'm wondering though if I should keep in container with lid on,
1st what you have to keep in mind is every time freshwater fills the ice maker and every time the icemaker heater comes on your heating the freezer. 2nd is the icemaker runs on a clock motor. so even if your colder and the ice freeze faster it still takes the same time to make a batch of ice. the ice maker on average takes 90 min. to make 8 - 10 cubes. so you get about 16 batches of ice a day. Typical refrigerator ice maker will produce from 3.5 to 6.6 lbs per day, depending on the size cube it makes.
Negative on the timer, this has been proven many times with my testing and pulling manufacturers information. The ice maker reads mold temperature, once below 10 degrees a timed dump cycle is activated. The quicker you can get the mold to temp the more dump cycles that are triggered and production goes up. That's why when I unplug the fans I usually average 4-5lbs in a 24 hour period. Turn the fans back on and you double your productivity.
I love taking on things that my mind pumps out and most work some are even better, some not. But if I can get my 24 hour test to go like yours.. seem like just a few minutes... Lol..
If you and I got together you wouldn't never get done with the House.
I think a fan to get some air past the coils would make a big difference to efficiency
Peltier water chiller runs almost on demand pre chilling water
Evenly distributed small amounts of cold air bathing on icemaker sounds like key..
Your ice makers were over quick freeze side try putting them back on right side it is much colder on the right side it has the cooling tubes on the bottom are much closer to ice maker so you blow much colder air on ice maker
As I recall the fridge ice maker also has a coil at the water side of the ice tray with a fan blowing over it to help lower the water temp to freeze faster . Just something to look into
Some do offer that option.
@@TKCL it just might give you the boost in output your looking for having slept on it for a while myself 😎
I'm in the process of gathering materials to build one. Based on your extensive research and testing.
One thing you didn't mention was about the freezer itself.
I started researching and was unaware that most cheaper freezers are only made to be placed in a living space.
More expensive models are labeled GARAGE READY. it seems they have a compressor heater for low temps and provisions for working well in high temperature as well most say 0 degrees to 110 degrees. And built for placement outside of the controlled environment.
Wàs your latest build a garage ready?
It may have made a big difference in your hot shop environment on production.
I'm looking at the Danby 7.2 cf garage ready. Also with industry leading 5 year warranty. At just over $400
This considerably adds to the build cost.
But mine will be in a shop or garage in the Pacific northwest. With common temperatures ranging from 15 degrees to 105 degrees
Wondering your thoughts
Local retailer has cheap 7 cf freezer for $199 right now. The Danby is sold out and I'm on a waiting list
Never knew of garage ready freezers, can't say that mine is.
I seen no issues in hot Florida summers and now my shop is seeing Temps in the 40s
Due to my wide range of temperature out here in Pacific northwest. And the much longer warranty. I think I'm going with the garage ready model. Despite the increased cost. In my research seems garage ready means a compressor heater of some kind. Cold oil probably not a issue for you. And increased R value for not working compressor to death. In 100+ degree weather. Probably not a issue for you either. With plans to move it inside once your house is done.
I could go through 2 of the cheaper freezers for the price of 1
But pulling everything and moving it would be a pain.
I think I'll just pay now rather than later
Thanks for the input and all your extensive testing work
Very well could be a problem for me, we regularly see Temps in the 20s during the winter and occasionally a day in the teens (although very rare).
I also removed the pvc ducting in mine. Didn’t notice a justifiable difference. I’d rather have more space for ice. But I am still working with the single fan hanging on an aluminum bar, no shroud. Maybe I’ll do a 24hr test to see what mine is producing.
I'm going to test lower velocity myself.
@@TKCL made 11.8 lbs in 27 hrs. Had to work late so I missed the 24hr mark. Side not I did have way more ice in my right side ice maker, probably because I have the fan right side blowing right to left. No shroud and blowing down the middle of maker. Also I am about half full of ice. It’s over the ledge by a couple inches.
Suggestion, maybe to help cool the top of the freezer maybe add aluminum plates on the wood and it might keep the top cooler.
Perhaps your high velocity fan motors are producing more heat than you realize? I'd run tests on them using a laser thermometer to determine exactly how much heat, if any, the motor itself is generating, and then also isolate them in a control box with a thermometer probe to see any increase in a closed environment. Great video series!
I'm considering swapping them out for low velocity fans I already have.
Definitely worth a try... C'mon 13 lbs!
When you were shopping for the ice makers did you see any that make the nugget ice? I want that chewy ice but only finding the whole machines to make it. Love your channel :)
Sure didn't, other than a table top version that I know will be released soon.
The nugget stuff is SUPER expensive.
Yes it is
I finally found a machine that makes the sonic ice, I am testing it now and will release a video in a few days. It's a table top version, but makes a lot of ice. It's going to be on sale next week too.
I was wondering about a fan speed controller to be able to turn the fans down save some energy and see what your results are and you probably want a low speed fan for the external cooler anyways condenser sorry
I'm considering that myself
You could test if the ~10 pound of ice is the actual capacity by freezing block ice or something else at the same time.
Basically see if production changes significantly if the freezer has more stuff to freeze.
Good idea
In the new freezer setup, what is the ice production rate with none of the fans running at all?
Not sue on the new freezer, the old one was in the 4+ pound range.
Check out a peltier water chiller or the guts from a water fountain to pre chill the water as close to freezing as reasonable
I was kicking around the fountain idea at one time.
Another thought, with regards to the fan, how about one fan pulling from the bottom, up through 1 duct, a pipe screwed to the back wall, perforated with holes pointing up to the ice maker. Sort of like a diffuser. Super interesting stuff. You know the mfgr of these freezers has got the efficiency down to a SCIENCE, there is not an extra dollars worth of copper or insulation put in that thing than is needed, not to mention the layout of the evap coils. I wonder if the lid mod is killing efficiency?
I'm sure it is some. Creating more volume but not increasing coils or cooling capacity is not beneficial.
Awesome job, I tried the same thing but water keeps overflowing the ice maker, any ideas?
FWI, those fan generate quite a bit of heat when they are running at full speed. Did you think about adding a speed controller?
I could send you some if you are looking to test again
I'm currently running a new model with speed control.
@@TKCL yeah I just watched that video. I will have to build one of these and use some 1u server fans. They move some serious air but are tiny
Glad you took my advice to put the two ice makers sideways on the back wall. I am thinking of one more thing, basically you are fighting time, fighting time to have as much ice in a certain time. The freezer has the capacity to keep frozen hundreds and hundreds of pounds of whatever in there, it’s not the capacity issue. If you would let the ice sit and build up, your ice production will increase, for example, everyday one pound more. So, since you are fighting time in that 24hr period, one more thing I am thinking of is the precool your incoming water. As of now, you have room temperature water entering the ice makers. I would drill a hole (I know you don’t want to) but you could use a infrared camera or maybe even with the laser gun to find where the cooling pipes are in the wall. I would drill a hole in the left and right side and stick a pvc pipe in and hook it up to the water line and go up to the two ice makers. I would out that pipe to the top edge (hottest part) of the freezer, I know you would think the pipe would freeze , but since ambient water is constantly running, it might not freeze close. I would play with diameter and length .thanks for reading
Exact opposite actually. I tested thermal mass effects a few ice episodes back and to my amazement, I produced more ice with a empty freezer than one with well over 100lbs of ice. It's about recirculating that cold dense air from the bottom. When it's full of ice you don't get that effect without tubes, false floor ect.
@@TKCL thanks for that. What about precooling your incoming water?
Tested that also with chilled water, it was around a 7 percent gain in production.
What are the CFM of the fans?
157cfm
Thanks love the build
Thank you for watching
Any way of drawing that warmer air out without raising the internal temp?
Try increasing your filtration water without dissolved solids freezes faster and clearer
Probably already in a comment section:; move the fans to where the blocks are might increase airflow
Another awesome ice episode! Thanks Andrew
Thank you for watching
Maybe try adjusting the cube size could give a faster freeze time with smaller but more cycles of heating the tray and then larger cubes might mean less heating cycles 🤔
I've got them about maxed out. Less heating cycle ls is probably a good thing.
The fans should pull negative pressure on the cube trays they should blow away from the trays
THANKS for the belly laugh at the end
Have you tested just using one ice maker ? You have made a lot of improvements since you originally started with one. Just wondering if the ice production would be half or would it be higher? Made me wonder when you said people who put 3 in didn’t get much increase.
Not one no, I guess I should test that.
@@TKCL you could test that simply by cutting off the water to one of the ice makers...
I wonder if the difference in freezers has anything to do with your resukts
This one actually achieves a much colder temperature than my last. With the fans turned off.
When and if the ice chest fills up, will the auto shut off bars still work?
On the new design yes! But I also keep a good eye on this and can see it filling up from days away. Then I can just unplug the ice makers
What would happen if you put the tubes at front in front of fans to pull cold air up
I would have no room. To scoop ice with that setup.
Parts list on 2.0 ?
Look beneath the video in the description, everything is listed.
I have to wonder if having the ice makers on the short side (like the version 1.0 did) would increase production... I am thinking about convection and the volume of air vs the size of the area the ice makers are in. Also I think that you are correct about not only cooling the compressor but that putting it in a room with AC will help. When you put it in the room with the AC, you might want to look at fabricating a "cover" for the warm air exhaust are of the unit, add an exhaust fan, and vent it to the outside of the AC space.
So when will we have a rough estimate on how much this ice maker cost?
As of right now it's roughly $400 after removing a lot of items.
@@TKCL not to shabby.....
Does that particular freezer use a magnetic strip in the lid gasket? Most i have seen do, although it may not seem like much, if that gasket isnt sealing 100% you could have air leakage contributing to compressor run times. I'm wondering if adding a thin steel flashing to the sealing edge of the pvc collar for the magnetic gasket to attract to would make any difference. you could seal it to the pvc with caulking of some sort.
If you ever watch when you close an upright freezer in particular, the door will actually suck down tight as the warm air introduced to the freezer cools off and contracts, creating a pseudo vacuum (not a measurable vacuum but enough to keep everything shut tight)
I have looked at that, it doesn't not snap or pull down the seal. I know exactly what you are talking about.
One of the chief losses in freezers, coolers, etc is through the lid seal. I haven't seen a close up yours, but if you can improve the seal, I predict a noticeable decrease in internal temperature.
I agree with this idea... if you have a laser thermometer (even a cheap harbor freight will work in this case) handy then check the side of the collar vs the seal surface. @ about quarter to half inch intervals on one part of the sealing edge. You might try some of the HVAC metal tape on the inner lip of the collar where the seal presses, and see if you can get a better seal... I'm thinking that its either a seal issue or an insulation issue with the collar.Maybe try adding an additional layer of foam board so that the lid closes into it and the air has to push out and up rather than just out.
But I'm just spitballing ideas and seeing what sticks to be honest. At some point I endeavor to try and make one of those counter-top pellet ice-makers drop into a chest freezer. (My wife dislikes the common fridge style half round ice cubes, and those pellet ice makers that actually store the ice and not just remake the same water into ice over and over again are like $2-3k.
@@jcota2003 great idea.
This is exactly how yeti cups keep ice so well. They have fantastic seals around the lid. Lowes and Home Depot both have sections where they sell different types of weather stripping and seals. I'd try doubling or tripling your lid seal. It's a pretty inexpensive thing to try.
I’ve had mine going, with 2 makers for about a month. Both ice makers worked great to begin with and now both are only producing about 2-3 cubes per cycle. Any ideas?
Thats very odd, filter plugged? Lack of water flow?