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I thought there was a discussion about this somewhere on the forum, but for the life of me I can't find it. Do any of you have a portable ice machine that you use in your rig? It seems that one of us is always running to pick up ice when we're camping and at $7-8 for a 20 pound bag it wouldn't take long for one to pay for itself. I've been doing a search on the web and see that many of them are selling for $150-175 and can make about 30 pounds of ice a day, but I suppose you have to be diligent to make that much. If you have one do you think they are worth while, what brand? I imagine that as we get closer to summer more stores will have them on sale.

your absolutely right, we did have a discussion on ice machines once, but I'm up for
another one cause an ice machine is on my "want" list.

I believe this is the one we bought for someone here this past summer:

Magic Chef Ice Maker from Target

Love my ice machine. You do have to transfer the ice to your frig cause it makes it, doesn't stay cold enough to store it. I bought mine at Target for about $129 a year ago. I saw a lighter weight one at CW recently - mine is really heavy. I leave it on a table outside my rig. When traveling I seatbelt it in the backseat of my toad.

My two cents - if I had to use bottled water to make the ice, would not save me any money - plus would be an awful lot of weight I'd have to carry with the machine. If I were to buy one, I would not buy the one that requires bottled water - but that's just me.

Won't argue your filters. Have one on my rv right now - although didn't use it in some places - but I do believe in some filters - don't believe in many bottled waters being better.

That said - my two cents were more because on one of those ice makers, it says to only use distilled water - and that is bottled water that would not be saving anyone any money.

OKies, yep - we are two women of many words - did we each give a dimes worth yet?

OK, ladies, here's your missing penny of advice...you're supposed to use distilled water in the ice machine for the same reason you use distilled water in batteries....to keep from having mineral build-up on it's innards. Unlike a coffee maker where you can run vinegar thru it and the acid and the heat help to remove all of that nasty buildup. Altho there are ice machine cleaners you can use to clean them up. They have an acid base and are pretty nasty to use. We had to do this every 6 months at work to about 75 icemakers to keep them running properly. For what it's worth, there's my penny of advice. And no, Barbzee, filtering doesn't take all of the minerals out, unfortunately. For another penny, I'll tell you what I've learned about bottled water. LOL!

Y'all could buy 4 ice trays and refill them when they are empty. It's worked for me for 3 years. That's my quarters worth!

No room in my freezer for icecube trays. I have a Brita pitcher and always filter my drinking water and this is what I use to fill my icemaker. I also use a filter between my outside water hose and my rig cause some areas, including Kerrville, have heavy mineral content. My toilet once started having a really, really slow water rinse. Called repair man who had to remove the toilet to clean the filter inside the toilet. Lesson learned. No way outside of removing toilet to clean this little screen filter. Another product designed by men.

I have an icemaker that my son and his wife gave me. I love it. I can get to a location, put water in it, plug it in while I am setting up and make a bunch of ice that I store in gallon bags in my freezer for quick use. When the supply goes down I make more. But I do use filtered water in the icemaker to ccut down on mineral buildup. But I would highly suggest an icemaker.

Okay, Okay.....Here's my 2 cents....

We've had a portable ice maker for 2 years now.....have had issues with one manufactor.....having nothing to do with what kind of water used, but with the coolant.....but now all is well....ours, we've bought online and have cost us about $250...but they can produce up to 35 pounds of ice in a 24 hour period......we have water filter on the water line into the 5er, so mainly use that water, but have used bottled spring water, too.....have cleaned our out like you would your coffee pot....yes, you'll get vinegar "ice cubes"....but after running a second gal. of water thru...the ice tastes fine.....continuious use like we do (that baby runs at least 6 hours here everyday. Got to keep Ernie's beer cold... ).....you will be replacing the ice maker about every 2 to 3 years....we just got our new one........wouldn't be without one.....worth every penny....and yes, if you want to use the ice for an ice cooler, you need to "harden it up" so it doesn't melt as fast, by bagging it and putting it in the freezer.....hope this helps....

BTW, our new is is Retro Red in color....