White ice

[kooldude]

This one is a strange one I've never seen before...... I have installed many s series 380 pound Manitowoc ice machines on top of Pepsi fountain dispenser in convenience stores all working perfectly except for one which was working perfectly for about four or five months then all of a sudden the ice it yielded was coming out white in color almost like it had air in it and felt funny when crunching it almost like it was porous and almost always hanging up on the evaporator plate causing it to build up very thick and not drop properly. Checked with the water Department, changed my filters and checked everything I could including asking every technician that I know and have had no conclusion on what might be causing this. I have a ice machine in the same building on the same water supply which is been functioning normally without a hitch... perfect color etc.
the crazy part is it was working perfectly for several months and now this white ice semi-porous.
Wondering if anybody has any ideas what might be causing this and would be very appreciative for some input as I am at a loss and the owner/manager is beginning to question the reliability of this machine and has to add ice from the other machine under extreme load conditions.

[Dad]

Originally posted by kooldude
and the owner/manager is beginning to question the reliability of this machine and has to add ice from the other machine under extreme load conditions.

As he should...

Clear ice is made due to the extreme cold temps for flash freezing. White ice is made by higher temps such as your house ice maker.

The ice maker needs servicing. Probably a small leak and too low of a suction pressure.






[Edited by Lusker on 11-27-2005 at 07:41 PM]

[kooldude]

Thanks, that makes perfectly good sense and must've been the summer heat because I was overlooking that because assuming the last 20 or 30 machines worked great and this one was only a few months old. Funny how the factory couldn't come up with that idea.
Will check it out and get back to you. Frank

[Dad]

Actually, I learned it here..

If you are in the business.... you need to apply for membership by hitting one of the yellow buttons. It only takes a few minutes and costs nothing. That way you can ask in the pro forum

Welcome to the site

[t527ed]

make sure you don't have a water pump cutting out or a water fill problem.

[Freezeking2000]

I have only seen this when water had lots of minerals in it, mostly on well water. Try a batch of ice using bottled water!

Manitowoc says it will be taken care of by an awesome water filter system.

[Retro]

I agree with the Lusker guy but

If it were minerals in the water... why doesn't the other ice maker in the building make white ice?

Maybe it has a really good filtration system.

The OP may want to check.

[dirtyboy103us]

ive seen foggy ice and low production on a hozi
km1200, older machine just poped up one day

it was hot water going to the machine from a open hose bib
in the kitchen hot water presure was higher and bleeeding over to cold side of whole place water temp was over 110 deg.

[icemeister]

Originally posted by t527ed
make sure you don't have a water pump cutting out or a water fill problem.

I have to go with the water fill problem. If there's only a dribble of water flowing over the parts of the evaporator because the sump isn't getting enough water during fill you will get a white ice primarily made up of frost.

Probably the inlet water solenoid valve is the culprit here.

[Dad]

Ice... I think you may be on to something here.. but they did away with the inlet valve and are now using a nobstick inverter to supply just the right amount of water to each batch. It is regulated by the veenerstich probe located just inside the recirculating sump area. Read the new manual... aren't you trained anymore?




:D

[icemeister]

I went to the their website and got caught up on this month's new model lineup from Manitowoc. After careful study, I now believe the problem with this machine is either an impacted peripheral aqua-particulate separator or the veneerstich probe became dislocated when an untrained tech improperly removed the sump tray.

It is difficult indeed to keep abreast of the latest info when they only put on a school once a year while constantly improving their machines.













:D:D:D

[Dad]

See.. I AM good for som'tin

[frozensolid]

This white ice being soft is the key here. I would bet in this case, that pump cavitation is the primary cause. Many things can cause pump cavitation, most have already been mentioned here. Blockage on the suction side or impeller failure are a couple other things to look for.

[kooldude]

All great ideas fellows and I'll be going out to the site in a couple of days to look at things closer and be sure to report back in.
That's what makes this site so great putting our heads together and our experience... Frank

[acrman]

Just a thought, maybe I have my head in my a**.. I have worked on alot of Manitowocs, however no "S" series YET.. But I have the book and have been studying, as my accounts are surely gettting them, so what I was going to say was, its my understanding that the S series uses compressed air (from a mini compressor) to aid in the harvest of the ice. Have you checked out this part of it to make sure that not malfunctioning ????

[mark 11]

Hey Kool Dude did you ever figure out your white ice
problem???

[IceDoctorII]

White ice in a commercial ice machine nearly always indicates a water starvation or tracking problem. Suggest you contact your local Manitowoc Distributor reference a service bulletin that discusses this on early s models.

[roger605]

The water pump/water system could be picking up air. Low water,cloged filter in float valve, check water supply,crud in water line will do it.

[mark 11]

I once had white ice on a Manitowoc machine, problem was
burned out dump valve coil, white soft ice was from extreme
concentration of mineral build up in water............