Ice Maker Troubleshooting

A few things can cause your ice machine to stop producing ice. Hoshizaki ice makers are programmed to shut down into a failsafe mode when problems persist. They alert users with a series of beeps (called a beep code) to help them identify what the issue could be.

Each condition has a separate beeping pattern, ranging from 1 to 7 beeps, followed by a 3-second pause. The machine will continue the pattern until the condition that caused the alarm is resolved and the ice machine alarm is reset.

Below is a list of Hoshizaki beep codes for KM-series ice machines and what they mean. The first three are the most common, as they generally relate to temperature and water conditions.

• 1 Beep – High temperature measured at the evaporator outlet.
• 2 Beep – Long Harvest Cycle
• 3 Beep – Long Freeze Cycle
• 4 Beep – Shorted Circuit on Mechanical Bin Sensor
• 5 Beep – Open Circuit on Mechanical Bin Sensor
• 6 Beep – Low Voltage supplied to Machine
• 7 Beep – High Voltage Supplied to Machine

If your ice maker is beeping or signaling an error on its digital display, subscribers can call us at 866-553-7708. We’ll send a tech out right away if necessary.

Ice machine production is proportional to water and air temperatures. As those temperatures increase, the ice maker has a more difficult time creating ice, lowering the daily amount of ice you get in a day. This relationship is less of a “problem” and more of a reality of how ice machines work.

If you notice your ice machine is producing less ice than average, check to see if your air and water temperatures are optimal (around 70 degrees Fahrenheit for air and 50 degrees for water).

If the air around your machine is reaching 100 degrees, you risk your ice maker shutting down completely. Lowering your air conditioning for that area is the most common remedy. If you don’t have air conditioning in that area, you may want to find a better place to install your unit. Low ventilation could also be the culprit. If so, make sure your ice maker has at least a foot and a half space on all sides and is free of clutter.

High water temperature is a more complicated issue. Hot water can be the result of outside water lines exposed to heat on a summer day or another piece of equipment, like a dishwasher, pumping hot water into the cold water line.

If you conclude you have hot water, you should call a plumber to find the source.

Although there are a few causes for malformed ice cubes, the most common reason is due to low water flow to the ice machine. Low water flow can be a result of the water supply itself or a plugged water filter.

Other issues include leaks that reduce the amount of water in your ice machine or improper calibration of ice machine components, such as the float switch.

If you notice your ice machine is producing smaller ice cubes, call an ice machine technician right away.

Customers can call us at 866-553-7708.

Sounds like a good problem to have but if ice cubes are too big, they can get stuck in your evaporator plate and cause freeze-ups, which lead to a do damage to our ice machine. Water leaking into the machine, often from a leaky water inlet valve, is a likely culprit when you’re dealing with oversized cubes.

Improper calibration of ice machine components can also lead to longer freeze times and larger ice cubes.

Finally, cold ambient temperatures (either from the surrounding air or the water entering your machine) can lead to freeze-ups as well. Make sure your ice machine is installed in a room where the temperature is above 50 degrees.

There are a few reasons why water might be leaking from your ice maker. They include:

• Faulty or incorrectly installed water pumps
• Pipes that have come loose or have worn out
• Water inlet valves that have not been sealed properly
• Condensate drains that are leaking water
• Freeze ups

Leaks within the ice machine are due to components not being installed correctly or from worn out parts in older units. However, in many cases it’s the water line that’s leaking, not the ice machine.

If you notice water near your ice maker, the first thing to do is determine whether the leakage is originating from in front or behind your unit’s shutoff valve. If it’s behind the shut off valve, the leak is stemming from the water system. If it’s in front of the shutoff valve, the water is coming from inside the ice machine. Once you’ve discovered where the leak is coming from, shut off the ice maker first and then turn the water off.

If the leak is coming from the water system, you should call a plumber right away.

If the leak is coming from the ice maker, call 866-553-7708, and we’ll schedule a technician to come out.