Counter top ice maker question

[Glitternurse, LVN]

Hi all. I know several of you have countertop ice makers. My question is how do you maintain them? I have 5 sites with ice makers, 4 leave them on all the time 1 turns it off every night, they all end up with algae. It is not possible for me to go to each site to turn off and empty the ice makers every night and them turn them on and fill them in the morning and the secretaries don't have the time or the desire to do it, they don't even add water until they are out of ice and have no choice. Has anyone else had problems with algae? have you ever run vinegar through the machine? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

[JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN]

I've never had issues with algae.

I usually do a rinse out maybe every month or so.

However, I do plan to replace the machine every 12-18 months. No machine I've worked with has a longer shelf life than that with my level of use.

[BrisketRN, BSN, RN]

I try to empty mine out completely at least once a week, wipe it down with a Sani Wipe, and leave the top open to air dry overnight. This has helped keep any growth away, though I do have make sure kids aren't eating the ice.

[jess11RN]

I turn my machine off every night and open the top. I empty it when there are long weekends or breaks, but otherwise, I leave that baseline water in there. I also use our filtered water as well because our town's water is so iron saturated my machine wouldn't last.

[Glitternurse, LVN]

Thank you.

I do empty and turn the machines off on long weekends and holidays, after the students are dismissed, since it's minimum day dismissal. I will see if the secretaries would be willing to empty them and wipe them out on Friday and fill them on Monday.

It's funny I don't worry about the students eating the ice as much I worry about the staff. Here the staff uses the ice for their drinks. I have shown them the stuff growing in the machine, but they don't seem to care.