Put that phone down. Don’t just call that repairman yet to come clean your pebble ice machine. It’s not as hard as you think.
When I was rationalizing my “need”to buy a pebble ice machine, several people discouraged me saying to buy two dishwashers instead; or they would say it has to get cleaned too frequently. Well, those two may be two good words of advice, but I didn't take either.
I opted not to get the extra dishwasher – come on, I am teaching boys how to clean up, too. (I always tell them the word "dishwasher" is not a proper noun, it is a common noun – think about that one.) I went for it! I bought a Scotsman Pebble Ice Machine and have not looked back!
I have lived in my house just over a year, and my machine has requested (with a little light notifying me) to be cleaned twice now.
I like DIY projects (well, except for the one this morning trying to install a motion detector switch – I gave that one up), so I took it to You Tube. I found this very helpful video that instructs you step by step on how to clean the machine. If you follow it, I assure you, you can clean your machine.
However, I want to point out some things prior to you starting the process.
I bought my cleaning solution off of my favorite site online: Amazon. I didn’t realize it is concentrated, unlike the solution he mentions in the video – I couldn’t find the link he was referring to, but I did find the same brand. I didn’t dilute it the first time and nearly froze up my machine – it made an awfully loud sound – I was on the phone with the friendly Scotsman people who walked me through my error. If you buy this solution you will need to dilute it according to the bottled directions. I believe it is 2.5 ounces for 32 ounces of water. I think you only need 16 ounces of the solution per one cleaning. So you can even save the remainder for the next cleaning in about six months. I also found this bottle with the nozzle attached that is very helpful.
You’ll need to set aside about an hour for this project. It
won’t be hands-on the entire time, so if you have some computer work or things to do in the kitchen nearby you can do that while the machine does its work.
At the end of the process, he instructs you to drain the plug following the cleaning. The water kept coming out and wouldn’t stop. In researching this, I wasn’t the only one having this issue. My guess is that since I have a constant water supply to the ice machine it wasn’t going to stop. I just let it drain a little, then plugged it up.
I hope this helps, and please let me know if you decide to try cleaning this on your own. After you do it, you will feel accomplished and love that you saved yourself the nuisance of waiting in that four-hour block the repairman gives you to expect him.