Whether it’s a sweltering summer day or your employees and guests want fresh, crisp drinking water, you can quickly elevate your workplace water supply with clean ice. But, have you ever wondered how that ice is made?

Read on to learn more about the ins and outs of a commercial ice maker, along with the benefits they offer and how teams can determine the right mesin es for their unique business needs.

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The Inner Workings of an Ice Machine

Most of us are aware that ice is made up of water. When cooled at a certain temperature, fresh ice is formed and kept at the same temperature to preserve it for later use. But, there’s a little more to the story than meets the eye, and delving into the gritty details of ice production is key to finding the perfect ice machine for your workplace.

A modern ice maker is composed of four primary components: the compressor, condenser, expansion valve, and evaporator. Each part of the unit is filled with a refrigerant, circulating and changing temperatures as it flows through the system. Here’s a closer look at these elements:

The Compressor

When it comes to ice-making, the compressor is a crucial component. By pressurizing and heating the refrigerant, this step prepares the refrigerant for rapid expansion, which occurs a little later in the process.

The Condenser

Condensers are the metal tubes that cool the refrigerant, transforming it from a vapor into a liquid. The refrigerant will flow through these coils to draw heat away and effectively cool the water. Finally, depending on whether you have an air-cooled or water-cooled unit, heat is expelled from the machine using air or flowing water. This lowers the refrigerant’s temperature, transitioning it from a high-pressure vapor to a high-pressure liquid.

The Expansion Valve

The thermostatic expansion valve is essential for rapidly expanding and releasing pressure from the refrigerant. This process, called adiabatic cooling, results in a significant temperature drop in the refrigerant. You can think of this like when you release pressurized air from a can and it quickly cools — where a pressure shift happens that causes the liquid inside to cool as it exits the can. Rapid expansion is what turns a high-pressure liquid refrigerant into a low-pressure, low-temperature liquid during ice production.

The Evaporator

Finally, in the ice maker’s evaporator, a water drop freezes into a solid ice cube. This happens due to the low-pressure liquid reaching the evaporator, where heat from the water transfers into the refrigerant. As water flows over the evaporator, it gradually cools until it reaches the freezing point and forms ice cubes.

Once the entire cube has frozen, your unit initiates the harvest cycle. This involves warming the evaporator using either hot gas or room-temperature water, melting the ice, and releasing it into your commercial ice bin. This way, it’s ready for use whenever you or your employees need an ice cold glass of drinking water at work.

Discover the Commercial Ice-Making Process

While an ice maker is generally made up of the same four main components, there’s a slight difference in how a commercial ice maker will operate depending on the type of ice you want to offer. So, what does the ice maker cycle look like for each?

Discover the following steps involved in ice production for three main ice types:

1. Crescent Ice

This half-mooned shaped ice is ideal for liquid displacement in beverages and allows a glass to hold more ice — all while making drinks look fuller. Crescent ice also limits splashing when added to beverages and is less susceptible to packing together or “bridging” while being stored. This ice type is commonly used in ice bagging, soft drinks, and mixed drinks.

Ice maker steps to produce crescent ice:

Ice formation begins as water cascades across a mold or tray, which is then chilled to create the distinct crescent ice shape.
After freezing is completed, the mold is then quickly heated to release the ice from the mold for storage or use.

Note: Some crescent systems freeze ice on both sides of the evaporator, which allows a unit to produce more ice in fewer cycles.

2. Nugget Ice

Also known as cubelet ice, chewblet ice, or Pellet ice, this ice type is highly popular for its soft texture that retains liquid. Because nugget ice is soft and chewable, it’s perfect for people who enjoy chewing ice, but don’t want to risk the chance of chipping a tooth. It’s preferred by bars and restaurants, like Sonic and Chick-fil-A because the small, semi-soft, nubby-textured chunks of ice are good at absorbing flavor and amplifying drinks.

Ice maker steps to produce nugget ice:

First, water is forced through either an auger or a coil.
While water flows through the auger, it gets chilled. This results in the formation of ice.
Finally, the end of the auger pushes the frozen coil across a cutting surface, which cuts the ice into smaller pieces.

3. Tulip Ice

Named for its rounded, cupped-shape, tulip ice is another great choice for chilling drinks. Where softer nugget ice tends to absorb the liquid for drinks and melt faster, tulip ice is more solid and takes longer to melt — so it’s less likely to dilute drinks. The rounded shape of tulip ice also provides more surface area to help cool drinks faster.

Ice maker steps to produce tulip ice:

This process begins by submerging evaporator “fingers” in a chilled water bath, where ice forms on them.
This cold water bath is then dumped and the fingers begin to warm.
Lastly, the ice melts off of the fingers and falls into a collection bin for storage and use.

With a better understanding of commercial ice machines, their elements, and the production and refrigeration cycle, you can appreciate the intricacy of the process. Regardless of the ice type you’re after, a workplace ice maker continues the cycles above until your ice storage bin or tray is fully stocked — ensuring you have an ample supply for your employees, guests, and customers on demand.

The Value of High-Quality Ice Maker Maintenance

It’s important to note that if any of the essential components or processes of your unit malfunction, you can struggle to produce enough clean ice to satisfy these individuals’ needs. This underscores the importance of regular ice maker repair and maintenance to make sure your machine is always in great working condition.

The Benefits of a Workplace Ice Machine

With a premium commercial ice maker, your business is set to enjoy a host of workplace benefits including:

Enhanced hydration as fresh ice encourages employees to drink more water. This promotes better hydration throughout the workday.
Increased cognitive function, which ultimately leads to improved focus and productivity among team members.
Greater employee satisfaction from workers who feel their comfort and well-being is being taken into account.
Improved workplace culture, leading to higher engagement levels.
Reduced absenteeism in a generally healthier workforce, decreasing health-related issues at work.

Commercial ice machines have come a long way since John Gorrie first created them in 1845! These days, most new commercial ice makers have all sorts of features to give users the best experience. For example, one of the most common lines of ice machines Easy Ice uses, the Manitowoc NXT series, comes with features like a digital display, production scheduling, and more.

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While these advancements are helpful, they are not central to how ice makers work. Despite the advancements in ice machine functions, the refrigeration cycle and the ice-making process have remained relatively unchanged since it was first designed. To understand how an ice maker works, we need to learn how a refrigeration system works.

Easy Ice has managed over 33,000 ice machines and counting. We understand how ice makers work, and how to keep them running well. Here is a high-level explanation of how an ice maker work from the experts!

How Does an Ice Machine Work? How You Get Your Ice Cubes

The process behind how ice cubes make their way to your ice tray is fascinating and relies on several key components. Having on-demand ice cubes for your drinks is possible thanks to the wonders of electricity and mechanical engineering, which have given us the four key components of a freezer.

Whether we’re talking about commercial-grade modular or self contained ice machines like Easy Ice provides or the refrigerator in your home’s ice maker, the fundamental processes of all ice machines are the same.

Modern refrigeration systems consist of four major components. Not counting external parts like the power supply or water supply, the core of a refrigerator-freezer is the compressor, the condenser, the expansion valve (TXV), and the evaporator.

Refrigerant circulates through each of these ice machine components thanks to the fan motor changing the ambient temperature throughout the interior. Because of the localized low temperature, even warm water gradually freezes.

However, all of these components need to be working properly. If even one falters, you’ll be stuck with an empty ice bin and have to break out the ice molds. Commercial ice makers need regular maintenance if you want to keep up a steady supply of ice cubes.

Again, if any of these components fail, your machine will not perform to specifications. In many instances, industrial ice makers will start producing fewer ice cubes. Leave it a little longer, and there won’t be enough ice to meet customer demands. In some cases, the ice machine will even stop making ice altogether or begin leaking water. For this reason, caring for these components through routine maintenance and cleaning is a top priority.

manitowoc ice machine with warehouse background

At Easy Ice, our ice machines receive at least two preventive maintenance and cleaning visits per year to ensure these vital components stay in the best working order.

Get the Ice, Skip the Hassle

Our ice machine subscriptions are more than an ice machine lease. They’re an ice-in-your-bin guarantee.

The Role of Ice Machine Refrigerant

Refrigerant is vital to the function of an ice machine. Modern refrigeration systems use some form of refrigerant to get water cold enough to freeze with mechanisms capable of releasing and absorbing heat.

Throughout the refrigerant’s journey, it heats and cools. During the heating and cooling cycles, the refrigerant changes physical states, from liquid to a vapor and back to a liquid again. This is part how the interior loses heat, which is what makes the ice-making cycle possible.

By the time the refrigerant reaches the evaporator, it should be in the form of a low-pressure, low-temperature liquid. At this stage, the heat in the water migrates towards the cold refrigerant, lowering the temperature of the water to the freezing point.

The Ice Machine Compressor

The compressor is where an ice machine works to heat and pressurize refrigerant. This is a crucial step in preparing the refrigerant for rapid expansion later.

Once in this state, the vapor needs to convert to a high-pressure liquid before it passes through the TXV valve.

The Ice Machine Condenser

The ice machine condenser cools refrigerant to change its state from a vapor to a liquid.

An ice machine condenser is a series of metal tubes within the ice machine. As the refrigerant passes through the metal coils, heat migrates away from the refrigerant, effectively cooling it.

The ice machine completes the cooling process by forcing air (air-cooled ice machines) or running water (water-cooled iced machines) over the hot coils. The heat migrates into the air or water, where it is ejected out of the machine. Eventually, the temperature of the refrigerant lowers enough to change it from a high-pressure vapor to a high-pressure liquid.

Keep your ice machine condenser clean to avoid costly repairs!

The Expansion Valve (TXV)

The TXV releases the pressure in the refrigerant through rapid expansion.

Ice machines work to produce a batch of ice through a process known as adiabatic cooling. When a highly pressurized substance expands, the change in pressure acts as a heat exchanger and causes the substance to cool quickly.

It’s the same reason why the pressurized air you use to clean your keyboard becomes cold when you hold down the trigger. As the air exits, it releases the pressure in the can, causing the liquid in the can to cool.

In the ice-making process, the rapid expansion turns the refrigerant from a high-temperature, high-pressure liquid to low pressure, low-temperature liquid.

The Ice Machine Evaporator

The evaporator is where the ice maker will freeze water to produce an ice cube. Once the low-pressure liquid makes its way to the evaporator, heat from the water migrates through the evaporator plate and into the refrigerant.

As water flows over the evaporator, it begins to cool to the point of freezing. Over time, the water freezes into the shape of an ice cube.

Once the full cube is frozen, the ice machine starts a harvest cycle to gather the ice for use. The ice machine uses either heated gas or warm water (or both) to warm the evaporator, causing ice to melt and release into the commercial ice bin.

Other Parts (Inlet Valve, Etc.)

Of course, outside factors like water supply don’t play a direct part in the cooling process. However, they still have an important role to play in the overall functionality of your machine. Paying for an expensive ice maker that never produces cloudy ice won’t do much good if the ice drops into a dirty storage bin. Likewise, good luck making ice if you have issues with a faulty water inlet valve or a defective water pump.

Evaporators are among the most expensive ice maker parts to repair. What are the others?

An Ice Maker Works Only as Well as Its Components

Now that you know how an ice maker works, you can see how involved the refrigeration process really is. Whether you’re working with a refrigerator ice maker, a silicone ice mold, or a commercial ice machine, the principles are the same.

Regular Ice Maker Maintenance is Essential

The process continues until the ice produced fills your ice bin, so you have plenty for your customers and employees. However, there’s more to keeping your ice makers in good order and keeping your ice tray full than just the core technologies.

If any of these vital ice machine components fail, your ice machine will struggle to make ice. This is why ice machine maintenance procedures are so essential to producing a reliable ice supply. You need to keep the basic components of your machine in good order if you want smooth, reliable ice production.

It also helps to choose the right brand of ice maker for your needs. A commercial ice machine will typically have greater capacity than a refrigerator ice maker, for instance. While a refrigerator ice maker is fine for household purposes, you’ll want a purpose-built