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Originally posted by baub

Originally posted by midhvac
After you get it to stay in the freeze cycle long enough to make some ice, you just have to worry about it being able to get rid of the ice

And not taking pieces of the evaporator with it!

I was wondering what those silver greenish flakes in the icecubes were!

That's an old model. I'm surprised that the evaporators still manage to release the ice. Even more surprising is if there's anything but a box of rust sitting on the bin

Originally posted by sodadude
I metered in some 502 yesterday and ended up with a freezing cycle that starts at 50 PSI on the lowside with a head pressure that maxes out at 250 PSI. Unit runs 15 minutes, hot gas defrost kicks in and around a minute later ice is dropped into the bin. Lowside is around 30 PSI when freeze cycle ends.

Watched 3 or 4 cycles with steady consistent results. I now believe charge to be correct.

One more question. Does the bin have any kind of switch to shut off icemaker when full?

Actually I noted the ice machine was mounted on a bin make by a company called Hoshizaki, or something like that.

Anyways, it is working for now, thanks for the replies.

Good going there soda. You may be the last man on the planet with a jug of R502.

Did you find a leak? If not, you'll likely be back "fixin' it again". You'll find in practice that it's best to find and fix a leaker, then weigh in the proper charge pr the nameplate on any ice machine because they're real touchy about charge at times.

baub's right about the curtain switch. If you pull the water curtain away from the grid you should hear the microswitch click on & off.
It's strange to find a Hoshizaki bin under an Ice-O-Matic........I usually find just the opposite.

Originally posted by sodadude


One more question. Does the bin have any kind of switch to shut off icemaker when full?

Actually I noted the ice machine was mounted on a bin make by a company called Hoshizaki, or something like that.

When the curtain can't close after a harvest cycle, because the last slab holds it open, machine shuts down. Take out some ice from the bin, level of stored ice drops, curtain closes, machine kicks on. Switch is behind the right side cover...a little micro switch actuated by a tab on the curtain.

Do your buddy a favor... get him a Hoshi head to match the bin!

I metered in some 502 yesterday and ended up with a freezing cycle that starts at 50 PSI on the lowside with a head pressure that maxes out at 250 PSI. Unit runs 15 minutes, hot gas defrost kicks in and around a minute later ice is dropped into the bin. Lowside is around 30 PSI when freeze cycle ends.

Watched 3 or 4 cycles with steady consistent results. I now believe charge to be correct.

One more question. Does the bin have any kind of switch to shut off icemaker when full?

Actually I noted the ice machine was mounted on a bin make by a company called Hoshizaki, or something like that.

Anyways, it is working for now, thanks for the replies.

Re: Sodadude

Originally posted by baub
It sounds like you are low on charge, the TXV is starving, and suction pressure is dropping too fast. The pressure control is closing, and sending power to the solid state timer, a few minutes, then bam, into harvest.

Try this. Disconnect the wire from the pressure control to the timer. Let the machine run in ice making mode for 30-40 minutes. If it makes a full slab, great. If the top or bottom cells (can't remember which) are very hollow or empty, you are low on charge or have a bad txv.

Good luck.

Yeh, do that .... then run for the hills!!!

Sodadude

It sounds like you are low on charge, the TXV is starving, and suction pressure is dropping too fast. The pressure control is closing, and sending power to the solid state timer, a few minutes, then bam, into harvest.

Try this. Disconnect the wire from the pressure control to the timer. Let the machine run in ice making mode for 30-40 minutes. If it makes a full slab, great. If the top or bottom cells (can't remember which) are very hollow or empty, you are low on charge or have a bad txv.

Good luck.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by icemeister
That's about it. baub. They don't get much simpler than an Ice-O-Matic.

The original Manitowocs....like the A-Series and the C-Series had a similar setup with the LP control and a timer.

Sodadude, go to their website and download the service manual for the C20-C50 B-series cubers:

http://www.iceomatic.com/iom_manuals2.html
[/QUOTE

Ice thanks for the info. According to what I looked up the manual said the start of the freeze cycle should be 50 PSI on the lowside. As I stated in original post the starting running pressure was 35 PSI.

Would a difference of 15 PSI cause the unit to go into the harvest cycle way too early?

Originally posted by midhvac
After you get it to stay in the freeze cycle long enough to make some ice, you just have to worry about it being able to get rid of the ice

And not taking pieces of the evaporator with it!

After you get it to stay in the freeze cycle long enough to make some ice, you just have to worry about it being able to get rid of the ice

Originally posted by icemeister
That's about it. baub.
Sodadude, go to their website and download the service manual for the C20-C50 B-series cubers:

http://www.iceomatic.com/iom_manuals2.html

THEN RUN FOR THE HILLS.......

That's about it. baub. They don't get much simpler than an Ice-O-Matic.

The original Manitowocs....like the A-Series and the C-Series had a similar setup with the LP control and a timer.

Sodadude, go to their website and download the service manual for the C20-C50 B-series cubers:

http://www.iceomatic.com/iom_manuals2.html

Ice-o-fu**ed-up

Your friend's machine is going into harvest way too early.

Completion of the ice making cycle is initiated by a low pressure control. Once the ice thickness has built up to a desired level, the TXV throttles back, causing the suction pressure to drop. LP control closes, sending power to an adjustable completion timer. After the time set has passed, machine kicks into harvest.

Your suction pressure is dropping too fast, sending power to the timer too early.

Possible faults- Low ambient temp, low refrigerant charge, bad TXV.

Hope this helps.

However a friend at a local racetrack asked me to look at his. It was making ice in the beginning of the week. Now it is not. This is my only info:

Make: Ice O Matic(a Welbilt Co.?)

Model #- C50HAPB

Refrigerant- 502

Running pressures- Lowside-35PSIG
Highside-215PSIG


The compressor runs and the tube into the evaporator starts to get cold. After running a minute or so I hear a click or something that sounds like a solenoid firing. Now the same tube that was cold is now starting to get hot.

My first guess this has something to do with warming up the grid so the cubes will drop down.

I took the top of the unit off and noticed a general purpose valve made by JACKES-EVANS.

I am guessing this is a hot gas bypass valve(no clue)

While I had the top off, the compressor kept running for about 10 minutes and actually started to make ice.

However after I buttoned everything back up it went back to chilling for one minute, solenoid firing, warming up for a minute etc.

Does any of this make sense to anyone? What the hell is going on?