Product review (1 stars): Parts failing and company does not sell replacements
<div id="video-block-R1VYSL42RMSLLD" class="a-section a-spacing-small a-spacing-top-mini video-block"></div><input type="hidden" name="" value="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/B1%2BW5UL6BxS.mp4" class="video-url"><input type="hidden" name="" value="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71fF4NWiUdS.png" class="video-slate-img-url">&nbsp;I just received my new ice maker yesterday and my initial review will be based on my impression of the item at this point.  Because there are clearly widespread issues with all of these portable ice makers, I am basically holding my breath to see if this machine holds up over time.

I will keep updating my review to document any problems should they arise.

*** 7/14/2016 ***

I did a ton of research on these ice makers and ultimately decided on this particular brand and model because of its smaller size, the type of control panel and indicators, the overall rating for this brand in general, and availability of Prime shipping.

The unit came well packaged and arrived undamaged.  The instruction sheet that comes with it is basically worthless, although there is not much to using these things.  When you remove the ice maker from the box, all of the parts are taped in place and also the mechanism that moves the ice to the bin is taped down.  They do not draw any attention to the user needing to reach back in there and remove the tape so I see some people might miss that and possibly damage the unit when it tries to move.  You know, some instruction manuals are overkill and point out every little detail; this one is the complete opposite.

Setup was easy.  I let the unit sit about an hour to let the refrigerant settle, then cleaned the inside, filled with filtered water, plugged in and turned on.  I set mine to the large size and had the first batch in 8 minutes.  The first few batches come out a little smaller as it begins to work, but very quickly starts cranking out batches of full-size ice.  This is likely due to the water getting colder as it goes which makes them freeze better and faster.

Thus far it works VERY well and is meeting our needs as our refrigerator ice maker simply cannot keep up. Having both going solves this problem and now we always have ice when we need it.  This will also be very helpful when we have quests over, as we always run out of ice.

The machine runs a little louder than I thought or hoped it would, but it is not too bad.  Actually, the only part of the machine that is somehow loud is the cooling fan, which I can hear across the room and even upstairs.  It makes a certain 'whirring' noise that just seems to travel, but it fades into the background and I get used to it pretty quick.  I know they make very quiet fans these days, so I am not sure why they chose to use the type they did, but for now this is my reason for 4 stars rather than 5.  Since this is my first ice maker of this type, I am unsure if this is common with these or if some run quieter than others.  Everything else about it is quiet and you just hear the reversing valve open to cycle the hot gas back to release the ice, followed by the ice dropping every 8 minutes.

I have a limited amount of counter space where I wanted to place this, so I chose this model because it is a bit narrower than some of the other ones.  This was a personal preference and does come with the downside of only holding 1.5 lbs of ice and 2 quarts of water compared to 2 lbs of ice and 3 quarts of water for the larger units.  The other consideration was the controls and indicators.  Some of the units now have LCD displays for option selection and status indicators rather than just having the LED indicator lights and buttons.  I prefer the latter because it just seems easier to operate and also easier to see the status of things at a glance (such as ice full or low water).  This unit has 'touch' sensitive controls, which are ok, however, I would have preferred actual 'buttons'; not a deal breaker by any means though and the controls do work well and are very easy to use.

I got the silver color and it looks very nice in our kitchen and goes nicely with the other stainless steel appliances.  Note, this is not actually stainless steel, but rather some type of plastic, but it looks very nice and certainly doesn't look cheap.

This model has a large viewing window and you can actually see back into the area where the ice is being made, so it's neat to watch.  This same company also makes another model that has the viewing window all the way to the back, over the ice-making area.  I did not see that one at the time I ordered this one, but could be a good option as you really can see the full inner-workings of the machine on that one.

When the ice bin fills up the machine shuts off automatically.  There is an infrared beam that gets blocked by the ice once it reaches the top.  Despite the instructions stating that you have to manually restart the machine after emptying the bin, or as the ice melts, it will resume making ice automatically once the bean is not obstructed.  The instructions also mention that it is very important to allow 3 minutes between stopping and starting the machine to allow the refrigerant to cycle and the machine is smart enough to do this for you.  For example, if it just turned off and you pull the ice forward to clear the bean or empty the bin, the ice-making cycle will begin immediately (adding water) but it will wait the 3 minutes before restarting the compressor.  This is a nice feature.

The machine makes ice real fast and fills the bin fully in just over an hour.  Yes, the ice does slowly melt if left in the machine and this seems to be true with these machines.  This is no problem for us, as we use the ice as it's being made.

Overall thus far I feel that this is one of the best purchases ever.  It cranks out ice very fast and if it continues to do so I will remain happy.

Pros:

Small footprint
Makes ice FAST
Easy to use
Good controls and indicators
Nice looking

Cons:

Cooling fan is a bit loud (machine is nearly silent until the fan kicks in)
Horrible instruction manual (really, a single sheet folded in half)
NO warranty information included with product (have no clue who to contact if it should break, where to get replacement parts, etc.) !!!

More updates to come.... stay tuned

*** 7/25/2016 ***

Been using the machine hard for a little over a week now and it continues to crank out ice, with no loss of performance thus far.  So, at least I know that I got a machine that works well from the start.

Thus far my experience has been positive and it really has been a life-saver as our refrigerator doesn't not keep up at all, while this machine does an excellent job supplying us with ice throughout the day.

One time a couple days ago one of the ice cubes broke in half (maybe when it dropped from the freezing unit) and then somehow half of it got caught between the side of the machine and edge of the flat thing that shuttles the ice into the bucket.  I heard it making these horrible noises that didn't sound right and ran over the find that this was the reason.  It was wedged so tightly in there I had to break the piece of ice apart to get it free.  This was causing the whole mechanism to jam and I feel lucky that nothing broke.  Hopefully that's just a fluke and won't be something that keeps happening.

Other than that, my original observations still stand; the cooling fan is the loudest component of the whole thing, and if it were not for that it would be nearly silent.  I've also noticed that the water pump has become a bit louder than it first was; hoping that is not a sign of any problems.  It's not making any 'bad' noises, but just seems a bit louder.

Still love the machine.  Will see how things continue to go.

*** 8/11/2016 ***

Machine is still working great and cranking out ice daily.  It has been a real life saver.  No signs of trouble at this point.

*** 10/15/2016 ***

The cooling fan started making a horrible noise, which sounded like the bears are going bad on it.  I contacted Ivation to ask if I could simply order a replacement fan, as these parts are easily replaceable and they told me that they do not sell replacement fans and that I would need to send the entire unit in for warranty service.  I did not want to do this, as the machine works fine otherwise, especially the freezing unit, which seems to be the hard thing to get right on these things.  I had to do tons of research on-line and finally found a compatible fan (same AMP, voltage, and CFM rating, however, Ivation uses a non-standard plug (three pin instead of two pin), so that took even more work to carefully switch out the wires from the old fan plug to the new one.  Got it working though, but not happy that this company does not sell parts for their own machine as some of the others do.  Had I known this beforehand I probably would have gone with another brand, such as Edgestar or Avalon Bay who have parts readily available on their websites.

*** 1/10/2017 ***

Ok, my happiness with this machine continues to drop as now just about six months in the water pump as going out, and again Ivation does not sell this part so I am now in the process once again of doing research to see if I can get another manufacturer's pump to work in this machine.  I have kept the machine well-maintained and cleaned, however, the pump had been getting progressively louder and louder over time.  I went on vacation for a couple weeks and when I tried to use the machine again when we returned it had become much worse and I don't expect it to work at all much longer.  It's so loud you can't hear anything else in the room when it's trying to pump water.  I attached a video of what it sounds like.