Thereye Countertop Nugget Pebble Ice Maker Machine, 30lbs Per Day, 2 Ways Water Refill, 3Qt Water Reservoir & Self-Cleaning, Stainless Steel, for Home Office Bar Party

UPDATE Jan 2024Well, after 7+ months of 7X24 service, our Thereye ice maker failed. The failure manifested as a significant leak while making ice. Investigation found the leak was from a weep hole at the bottom of the ice maker section. I reached out to Thereye and they determined the unit unrepairable and unfortunately they no longer offered the product for sale nor did they have a similar product to offer. At first I feared I was going to be out the purchase price, but Thereye did refund my ENTIRE purchase price as the unit was within the 1 year manufacturer warranty. As quite a few people have comment, I found the support side of Thereye extremely responsive (email).Device failures are a fact of life and whether this was a random, one off failure or a design issue, what matters is HOW a manufacturer handles issues. I have NOTHING but PRAISE as Thereye stood behind their product and refunded my purchase + tax. My overall rating of 5 stars STANDS as the unit was a delight while it lasted and Thereye stood behind their warranty, NOTHING but kudos all the way around.After using the ice maker continuously (plumbed to filtered water) for many months, it began to accumulate what could best be described as a mild mold infestation. Now, before you gross out, it was mild. I had been cleaning it every couple of weeks with the New Calgon Cleaner followed by the New Calgon Sanitizer but within a few days, there would be signs of a dark residue appearing in the bottom of the water reservoir and along the back wall. The water filter I use includes a polyphosphate unit which locks up water minerals to prevent scaling so I had NO hard water buildup. It also removes all the chlorine which is probably why the mold managed to get a start. I tried dilute bleach cleaning and that helped but the mold persisted. I changed to 50/50 dilute vinegar cleaning and that was much more effective but still the mold persisted as I would get a small accumulation of residue in the bottom of the water reservoir in due time. I finally switched to a 1-2ppm concentration of ClO2 (chlorine dioxide is FDA certified safe when used as directed for drinking water sanitization) and was able to kill out the mold. I use CLO2 tablets, where 1 tablet dissolved into 32oz of water gives a 100ppm concentration which I store in a opaque 32oz bottle.. Then when I drain, clean and refill the unit, I manually add 64oz of filtered water + 2 TBL (tablespoon) of the 100ppm concentrate which equals a 1.65ppm concentration. At this level, the ice has no aftertaste and it banishes the mold. Between cleanings, I routine add 1 TBL of the 100ppm concentrate when the light chlorine odor is no longer detectable (ie all the ClO2 has been consumed). ClO2 is much safer than chlorine and more effective as it breaks down into one chlorine atom and two oxygen atoms, both strong sanitizers, on contact with anything slightly acidic (say mold for instance).I might add that my unit had started to have a very high pitch squeal when making ice and once I eradicated the hidden mold, it is once again silent. These units are fairly HIGH maintenance and if ignored ANY of them WILL fail, regardless of brand, as they share a common internal design which is conducive to both mold growth and scale buildup. In fact, the internals of the Thereye unit are IDENTICAL to the GE Opal version 2, just arranged slightly different.Still, we are very satisfied with the unit and LOVE the soft ice!The unit arrive, double boxed in HEAVY cardboard with the unit fully surrounded in styrofoam. While I allowed the unit to sit upright for a couple of hours to resettle the refrigerant (per instructions), I ran several cleaning cycles with white vinegar and water as per instructions followed by several clean water rinses and complete drains. When the allowed 2 hours had passed, filled up the unit with fresh water filtered thru a 1micron ELF-P-KDF filter and started it up. In less than the expected 15 minutes, it was beginning to spit out ice chiplets and shortly thereafter, ice pellets. Makes ice faster than expected. The ice is soft and chewable and very "sonic" in quality. The noise level is much quieter than feared. Once there is a bed of ice in the bucket, there is very little noise from the unit. Only time will tell as to the reliability, but i did purchase the Amazon 5yr $0 deductable extended warranty just in case. So far, very pleased.

This ice machine (Thereye Nugget Counter Top) is great when it works. Seven months into owning it and using it daily it started to malfunction. We cleaned it weekly and our water is filtered. I had to go back and forth with Amazon and the Seller and finally was shipped a replacement.It was getting louder and the control panel was just blinking inconsistently. It also was hot to touch on the sides. I sent videos to Thereye and followed all of their instructions. I cleaned it ten plus times in a row per their instruction. I also used an ice maker cleaning solution because they told me that US’s water is hard and causes scaling. It seemed to me that it was a control module or electrical malfunction. They offered to give me a partial refund with me sending it back or less of a refund and it would not have to be sent back. I went back to Amazon and finally Thereye sent me a replacement.I have had the new one for less than two months and the same thing is happening. Also, the original one I bought is still under warranty as it was purchased in Dec. of 2022. Anyways same thing is happening… little to no ice, blinking lights, and sometimes just shuts off. I have followed all of their instructions and have it well vented. They also suggest using distilled water which I understand but why do my refrigerators operate for years with just filtered water??I have contacted them three times with no response. I would stay clear of this ice maker. In the mean time I bought a $100 model and it takes less space and pumps out the ice.

I am an ice eater. It was hard to find “perfect” ice so I tried this machine. It does make the small nugget ice, not the larger bullet type, which is what I was looking for. These are very good when they first come out of the machine. After they’ve been in the ice basket for a bit they get looser and less satisfying to crunch, but still leagues above bullet type ice or any ice cube. If you need the perfect crunch ice I’d get something stronger that makes the ice faster, as by the time this is done filling the basket only the top inch is perfect. Not that it’s slow, just if you’re an ice perfectionist lol. Also, since these ice nuggets are small, they do melt faster than a normal ice cube if you add them to a drink. You can combat this by filling your cup with as much ice as possible so it stays colder longer. If you only want a little ice in your drink and don’t want your drink to get diluted, a bullet type cube or ice cube tray ice would be a better option. This machine does produce some heat so if you have it in a smaller room in the summer it will heat the room up. It’s not too loud IMO. It’s also easy to clean. The two tubes that go up the back of it detach and allow you to drain all the water into your sink, and it has a cleaning cycle if you want to use ice machine cleaner or vinegar or detergent—rinsing is easy with the drainage tubes on the back especially if your sink has a sprayer/hose. I have had no issues with leaks or performance and I run it pretty much constantly, it lives under my work desk lol. Be very careful when you reach in to scoop the ice out that your hands and arms are clean—it’s not fun to find like a dog hair in there. Make sure to check that there’s nothing like that that before refilling it (you have to lift the basket up and out to check). Since it’s easy to get stuff like that in with the ice and into the system, I would say this isn’t the type of ice maker you want if you want kids to be able to do it themselves—for kids I would bag the ice and put the bags in the freezer and have them get their ice from there, not reaching in and opening the machine. The ice stays pretty cold in the basket for a couple of hours if you don’t want to bag it and freeze it, and as it melts, if you leave the machine on, it will just make more ice with the melted water once the amount of ice cubes gets below the sensor. I don’t buy distilled water for it I just use my brita pitcher filtered water and I haven’t had any trouble with build up or weird tastes. The machine is bigger than I thought it’d be (and they send it in a huuuuuuge box) and not the easiest to move if you have any physical challenges or are a senior.