[herefishy42]

Greetings,

A customer had a noisy gearbox on a Scotsman nugget ice maker/dispenser. I tried to push the replacement of the machine, $2k vs. the $6k +/- for the replacement. Surprisingly, the customer opted for the repair and the disclaimers regarding the integrity of the rest of the machine for budget considerations.

Technician did not investigate the evaporator condition upon determining the failure of the gearbox. Upon changing the gearbox out, the evaporator and auger were observed considerably scored. I had worked with Reynolds/Wilshire before, and tech assistance would encourage technicians to take sand cloth vertically to the evaporator to take horizontal scratches out. I instructed my tech to do so.

All went well for a few days, until the customer called about an intermittent noise. We duplicated the noise by simulating a full bin event and some back-pressure on the evaporator prior to shutdown. The sand cloth didn't really hit the horizontal scratches that hard. I have decided to stay the course with the customer's repair decision, and have purchased a bandfile to take after the scratches. It did a dandy job on the auger which was pretty badly scored. Tomorrow we hit the evaporator surface with the bandfile.

Any comments, observations, or past experiences? Myself, I have been able to quiet slightly scored evaporator surfaces in the Reynolds/Wilshire machines with sandcloth and a screwdriver handle working from the top of the evaporator.

 

[craig1]

horizontal scores don't matter. remember the auger should never touch the evaporator anyways. The 1/16" or so layer of ice that forms on the evaporator at startup stays there the entire cycle. only the ice that forms on top of that ice gets scrapped off. adding vertical scratches gives something for the base layer of ice to stick to so it doesn't spin. If the base layer spins, your machine will sound like its in need of an exorcism.

If the edges of the auger are dull it will grab the base layer and spin it, rather than shaving off the surface layer. you might need a new auger.

 

[smeq]

As an in-shop tech for a company that rebuilds equipment to custom orders, I can attest that ice flakers are not your normal icemaker. The wear they show at the end of their usefulness tells a story of a tortured life. Just like in "old car syndrome", it's one thing after another. Bad auger, bad auger bearings, motor and transmission shot; even the evaporator is out of tolerance. The compressor is usually done with. Unless a store goes out of business with a fairly new unit, used ice flakers are the worst thing to try to find. But you're not going to be scot-free just replacing an auger. That's just the beginning of repairs.

 

[Freezeking2000]

As an in-shop tech for a company that rebuilds equipment to custom orders, I can attest that ice flakers are not your normal icemaker. The wear they show at the end of their usefulness tells a story of a tortured life. Just like in "old car syndrome", it's one thing after another. Bad auger, bad auger bearings, motor and transmission shot; even the evaporator is out of tolerance. The compressor is usually done with. Unless a store goes out of business with a fairly new unit, used ice flakers are the worst thing to try to find. But you're not going to be scot-free just replacing an auger. That's just the beginning of repairs.

Needs new bearings i bet. Did you inspect the bearings?

 

[herefishy42]

After filing the auger, and hitting the evaporator with the bandfile - all seems well. The prior full bin test that caused the squealing / failure cannot be duplicated, all is quiet.

The top bearing is fine. The scoring appears to have been manifested by failure of the gearbox drive shaft bearing - the scoring was worse on the bottom of the evaporator near the gearbox and seems to point to a loss of tolerance at that end of the business.

I was most encouraged by the post that pointed out that the 1/16" - 1/8" of ice that forms on the evaporator is there for the duration of the cycle and what is desired is that that first layer does not move and cause the squealing. So with the approach that the surface of the evaporator should mostly be capable of keeping the formed ice in position for scraping gave confidence to further pursue the remedy.

~Cheers

 

[kim]

The auger edges should be sharp to cut the ice. Scratches on the evap should be small enough to not touch the auger. An old guy I used to work with would get old flakers and sand the evap with a cylinder hone. He said he could get 2 years out of a worn out evap/auger.

 

[herefishy42]

No complaints on this kit, so far - it's been a few weeks.mm