Manitowoc SM-50A Undercounter Ice Machine with K-00376 Pump Drain Kit

Never again cloudy, white, crescent ice! We are a whiskey household so it was important for us to have readily available large clear ice. Sure we have the ice ball makers and the kits that make large cubes of clear ice, which is good for a few drinks but run out quickly. Even our refrigerator in-door crescent icemaker struggles to keep up if we have guests over. Definitely struggled with the cost of this thing as gourmet icemakers tend to run more expensive than their equivalent dice icemakers. However not that much more expensive. Icemakers in general are fairly pricey anyway with most costing the same as a full-size refrigerator. Regardless I am happy with the purchase. Machine produces beautiful faceted gourmet ice that look like jewels in the glass, minimal dilution and nothing imparted to the spirit other than chill. The unique hexagonal shape of the ice really up the presentation unlike the typical cylindrical top-hat shape of most gourmet ice makers. Sure one could argue edges melt faster, but haven't noticed that to be an issue. On delivery, the unit was packaged very well since none of the external damage to the box appeared to translate to the machine. To clarify to anyone else looking to purchase this unit; "with drain pump" means its another small box of parts shipped along with the unit. It's NOT pre-installed in the unit. If you are not handy, suggest you find some who is to help you install the drain pump. Its not super hard, but not easy either. The instructions lack a lot of detail, so watch the youtube videos. Once you are all hooked up and ready to go, it will take around 30 minutes for the machine to drop it first load. You'll also hear it draining a lot of water at the onset. With an empty tub, ice harvest is quite loud, but it does get quieter as the tub fills. I will say that this machine does hum like a dishwasher when its running. However it sits in our bar so its not a concern for us. Once its full of ice though it doesn't cycle that often and you do have buttons inside to delay icemaking for 2-8 hours if you need some quiet periods. It goes without saying, this is not a machine to install in your bedroom. During the initial startup I did see a lot of water splash on the door and scoop. This eventually went away after a few cycles and the tub was full. You will waste more water. Unlike countertop icemakers that recycle ice melt to make more ice, all that goes down the drain. This is common to most if not all built -in icemakers. So far its been great having this unit. Time will tell on its longevity and maintenance needs.

I have owned one of these ice makers for 5 years in my primary residence and it continues to crank out loads of crystal clear ice. I like it soo much that I bought another one for my vacation house.

Love the quality of ice the machine produces however, there are a couple of big negatives: This machine is LOUD! When ice making cycle is in progress, it gives off a loud hum. It is almost unbearable. You would figure that a company like this would have figured out how to make their machine quieter. One saving grace is that there is a delay setting so it postpones ice making so your house is quiet in the middle of the night up to 8 hours. Secondly, the installation instructions are terrible. They are not clear when it comes to hose and electrical connections. Very challenging to install. The drain pump and ice maker need to be professionally installed or make sure you go to the Manitowoc website and watch the technician training videos so you get the install correct if you do it yourself. It will take you a few hours to install. Overall, I am happy with the quality of ice this machine makes but I recommend you buy another brand unless you have this machine in a separate bar area or garage. The noise is sometimes unbearable. I wish I would have bought a quieter machine.

Machine stopped working on the 6th moth. Manitowoc sent a list of service companies. They want your credit card before they go (they knew better). Since Manitowoc doesn't honor their warranty, I ended paying for 7.45 hour labor $1,200 for "repairs" not covered by warranty. Machine is 8 month old now and stopped working again and still Manitowoc doesn't honor the warranty. I will never buy Manitowoc again. Their customer care is a joke.