Maxx ice MIM50 cutter not cutting ice

[ectofix]

There is NO so-called “ice cutter”.  The ice forms in a mold that’s generally called an “evaporator plate” (a refrigeration term).  A very thin ice “bridge” forms between each individual cube during a freeze cycle.  When the machine goes into harvest, the bridge thickness should be thin enough to break when the ice drops and falls into the bin.  Sort of like a perforations in paper.  Once the ice drops, the bridge breaks so that the ice sheet becomes cubes when it lands into the bin.

 

TWO THINGS:

CLEAN the machine.  If scale has formed on the evaporator plate, the scale can be porous enough to prevent the ice from “sliding” out.  Therefore, that sheet of ice might not have dropped when the controls timed out, causing it to hang around for another freeze cycle – thus making an even bigger block of ice.  So…clean the machine.  That procedure should be done AT LEAST once every six months.  Maybe more frequently of you have hard water and no water treatment system for it. Once the machine is CLEAN, follow the instructions for setting the ice thickness.  If the bridge is too thick, then it can cause the ice sheet to fall without breaking up into cubes.

 

Here’s the manual containing instruction for both that I mentioned:

MIM50 Instruction Manual

[fixbear]

Max ice uses a simple tail coil temperature time method to determine ice thickness.  You may want to check the Evaporator tail coil for thermister bonding and test the thermister.

[ectofix]

I’d wondered about that.  I’d looked at the schematic, but have never serviced a Maxx Cold unit.

 

I saw no float switch for using water level to determine ice production (like Hoshi or Scotsman CM3s).  Nor did I see any so-called ice thickness control (like Manitowocs).

So I’m guessing a target evap outlet temp is achieved, followed by an adjustable timer (like Ice-o-matics).  In this case (Maxx Cold), the temp sensing and time to harvest are orchestrated by a controller?

[fixbear]

They are very inexpensively built units.  This one is a 15 inch under counter primarily for home use. 50 lbs per day isn’t very much ice. The counter-top hundred dollar machines make 30 pounds per day..