Hi Ruth! Thank you for your question and sorry for the delayed response. Have you been able to take care of this problem? If not, we invite you to visit the service locator on our website to find help in your area, or you can email customer.relations@scotsman-ice.com and someone will be able to help you directly. Please let us know if you have any additional questions. Hopefully this problem is resolved quickly. Have a great day!

They ended up replacing the unit. The new one worked ok for a while, but it now doing what the other one did--runs 24/7, makes deformed ice cubes. It developed a new noise, double pump, plus it pumps 15+ times when it dumps ice.. Ready to throw it out!

Hi Ruth! Please contact us at Customer.relations@scotsman-ice.com. We would like to work with you to get this resolved. Thank you!

Hi Ruth, we had our kitchen redone several years ago, and bought a Scotsman ice maker. We too, have had the exact same problems with our Scotsman! My husband got so sick of the extremely loud noise of it, especially during our family dinnertime, and it constantly making ice and running non stop, that he has turned it off. I have to say, i sure miss the ice maker, but our house is so much quieter now. Very expensive purchase only to be wasted! Very disappointed customer.

We too have an under counter Scotsman ice machine and it’s EXTREMELY LOUD! We had the same machine for 6 years before it died and we were foolish enough to spend 3k+ for another one. It makes good ice most of the time and then makes “shells” on occasion. The noise is ridiculously loud! So loud that we have to turn up the volume on the televisio!

Check your water fill/float valve. Mine was super noisy until I found this to be the problem. You can buy a new one on Amazon for about $60. Nice and quiet now!

Mine is brand new. One day old. Shouldn’t need new anything. I can’t believe how loud it is. I don’t want it. Expensive purchase and install to feel this way....Scotsman, what do you have to say about this product?

We have gone through three of them and have had a million service men. We love the ice but there iss nothing they can do to fix the noise!

We bought a house with one and it’s about 3 years old. The ice smells, I poured bleach down drain and cleaned it really well. Any other suggestions?

We also have a Scotsman that is extremely noisy. I have emailed Customer.relations@scotsman-ice.com numerous times and no one ever responds. We also have a vacation home with two Kitchen Aid ice makers that are really quiet. Even though our Scotsman is fairly new, we’re replacing it with a Kitchen Aid.

I have a Scottsman icemaker that I am extremely disappointed with. We renovated our kitchen about 4 years ago and this worked for about 3 months before it started having problems. It will work after service for a week or two then the same problem. It stays in reverse heat and melts the entire bucket. if we leave it off for about a day it will reset. on top of that when operational it is so loud i often have to turn it off. the tecs that have looked at it haven't said the noise was a problem but there is no way an appliance should make this amount of noise. If i would have known the frustrations this appliance would cause me i would have never put one in. i am at the point of replacing this with a different brand to not have a gaping hole under my counter.

i will record the noise once i bring myself to turn it back on if anyone would like to hear how bad this is.

Is the noise when the water is filling it up? I had the noise issue and after many hours of detective work, found it was the water fill float valve! I think I got the replacement off of Amazon for about 60 bucks.

Installed our new Scotsman this past November 2020. I bought the Scotsman because of the unique way it produces ice. Yes, the ice is great. It makes everything taste good. But at what price?. It is the loudest item in our home (for the exception of the washing machine). The pump is insanely loud, pumps all the time. When the ice drops, it sounds like the garbage man picking up trash outside. After the first month, it leaked onto our new floor. The service man said their was a pin hole in the internal hose. He replaced that part and replaced the float switch. He turned it on after the repair...and there was the obnoxious sound again. He just shrugged his shoulders. What gives here, Scotsman? I never would've have bought this with it sounding so loud. I actually cringe every time it sounds off. Will it work quieter if I convert to the gravity drain? Will this help? I would really like a full refund and get a cheaper model that produces less noise and still have enough money to replace it twice should it not last. Very disappointed. And to think, the salesman didn't mention this when we were looking at it.

We just installed the U-Line nugget ice machine and have the same problem - it is SO LOUD! My biggest regret purchase.

My biggest regret as well. I have given up with this. The noise could not possibly be normal and tech said the melting of the bucket is likely the hot gas valve sticking. Repair cost for that is the same as a new machine. Why would I replace the part then? And after all this why buy Scotsman again?

We have had our Scotsman icemaker for 7 years and its louder than our daughter in the house, and lmty shes loud! It’s on our 3rd floor deck and the bedroom below on floor 2, well it sounds like a stone quarry. The darn thing gets clogged and I pour the dang bleach, and the machine then produces the most beautiful and great-tasting ice you’ve ever had... ever! We’ve kept it only becausr by now its like a member if the family, flawed but beautiful.

check the water intake/float part. It gets to "fluttering" and makes a lot of noise. Fixed mine for about 60 bucks.

We have a Scottsman nugget machine and have had a few issues. The biggest issue was the drain pump was constantly running. This was caused by a few issues and not just one. The first issue was the float valve was bad and the level was set to high. This caused excessive water into the drain basin. Next the water pressure seemed to make the float valve very fickle, so we installed a RO water filter which reduced the pressure and cleaned the water for pristine ice. The last was a build up of biofilm in the drain tube which is connected to a micro switch that operates the drain pump. This is constant maintenance. I occasionally add distilled vinegar to the ice bin to help control the sludge. The tube can also be cleaned with mild compressed air followed by suction via a wet/dry shop vacuum. It took all these things to remedy the drain issue. If Scottsman is listening, please lose the pressure switch in favor of a different type of water level detection, the head pressure switch is too temperamental.

Mike,

i couldnt agree more! The pressure switch gets gummed up with a biofilm sludge all the time. This causes the pump to run continuously. It’s a real pain in the butt to pull the ice maker out of the cabinetry and pull it all apart to clean the pressure switch. Scotsman really need a different mechanism to detect the water level as this current switch is way too finicky and requires too much maintenance.

When the switch is clean it does work pretty good, but as soon as some slime builds up, that’s when things go off the rails.

Mine is making all kind of noise. The problem is the pressure switch. I'm reading it can be clean. How do you clean the pressure switch? My pump won't stop running.

Try unplugging the wires from the switch to stop the pump. You actually don't clean the switch, only the tube connected to it. A small pipe cleaner or brush (straw cleaning brush) work well. It's very possible the switch maybe bad as well. If so, one can be purchased online and sometimes eBay is a good source for OEM parts. It may also be a good idea to clean the entire unit. The maker was well designed with access in mind and the key panels come off easy with a #2 Philips head driver.

I forgot to mention that the larger hose in that the smaller tube is connected to is offen obstructed as well, I would clean both.

One thing I haven’t seen mentioned is to make absolutely sure your machine is “dead level” both front to back and side to side. We have the SCCP30 top-hat machine.

Our kitchen has an antique brick floor. Since you have to pull out the machine to service the finicky pressure valve (great engineering, Scotsman! Almost as good as putting cube size and bin controls in front of the refrigeration fins that need to be constantly cleaned if you have pets). I decided to put a 1/8” sheet of plexiglass under the machine so we could slip it out more easily. Surprisingly, that greatly reduced the sound we hear from both the pump (which sounded like a B-29 readying for takeoff) and the ice drop (which sounded like we live over a bowling alley). I haven’t tried it, but I’ll bet a bit of floor dampening foam (the stuff they sell for floating hardwood floor systems) under the plexiglass will work even better. For the first time, our machine fills up quickly and relatively quietly. Our ice was always at a 45° angle sloping away from the door opening, but now fills nicely.

does the scotsman SCCP30 have a filter that needs to be maintained? I can't find where it is. Thanks

Cheryl, the unit does not, but Scotsman says you should put a filter on the water intake line.

It's my belief, all ice makers should have a in line water filter. Not only will the ice taste better, the filter will help with the reduction of common contaminates of water and help keep the ice maker in clean working order. We have a reverse osmosis filter supplying the water to our maker. The RO unit removes most of the disolved solids that plague ice makers. The RO unit should significantly reduce the cleaning needed to maintain the machine. I hope this helps you.

I had the same problem pressure switch was stuck on one side causing the pump to run all the time disassemble the pressure switch blew it out reassembled it works fine

If you blow on the little clear tube and it doesn't click twice it is just dirty.

I fixed several of these machines now just cleaning pressure switch and checking electrical connections.

Scotsman is the world leader in ice machines and engineered very well. I work on them all and they are my favorite. Manitowoc would be my second choice.

Most important thing about these residential undercounter ice machines is you have to clean them at least twice a year and do it properly. A filter ahead of the ice machine helps as well keep the gunk out of the lines.

Go on YouTube and search Scotsman's ice machine cleaning and follow that process twice a year and you will have lovely ice all the time...

I descale the nugget icemaker at least twice a year, but the pump runs every 60 seconds and is extremely loud. It is only 1 year old. Scottsman needs to post a video on what they want us to clean. The noise is unbearable!

Installed a Scotsman DCE33 about a month ago and wish I would have read this article before now... I knew that it was going to make noise, but can't believe how loud it is - it is like the dishwasher running constantly but 3x the volume (aside from the ice drops and drain pump, which is almost more annoying because of the pulsing... which also blows my mind just how much water is wasted).

But I found this article trying to search for advice on ice production. I placed a service call a few days after I started it because in each batch of cubes, half would be perfect and clear and half would be cloudy and hollow. Finally got someone here after 2 weeks and they told me that I need to remove the inline water filter. I did that and absolutely nothing changed in the ice production except it tasted bad. I'm almost another 2 weeks and still waiting for them to return and not optimistic they are going to solve it based on the first stab at it (my water flow is plentiful, so no pressure issues). Considering the cost of this machine, I'm so disappointed so far.

Any thoughts?

I just don't think that Scotsman cares. The ice maker is the loudest appliance in my house other than the ventahood at full blast. I have a KitchenAid ice maker less than 30 feet that I don't hear. As much as we enjoy the nugget ice, I would NOT RECOMMEND a Scotsman ice machine. I spoke to Scotsman tech support yesterday and had the tech listen to the noise. He agreed that it was very loud but said that was normal.

I have the Uline nugget ice maker. Worked for about 8 months and then started to make some horrible screeching noise. Parts were replaced and then would start back up. Never able to fix it. The tech told the sales rep that the nugget ice makers should not be put in a house with a well. Still not resolved. I’ve had my water tested as well as my water pressures
And my house falls within all their manufactured guidelines.

The pressure switch contolling the pump is about $125. The biofilm is a constant problem even if you service the machine on a regular basis. If you are very careful, you can take the switch apart & clean it. I work on many Scotman residential machines & this is a common problem

I would NOT recommend Scotsman either! Our ice machine has been turned off for several years now. It never did work properly, and we had to have it fixed several times and still did not work right. So loud, and constantly making ice, we ended up turning it off. bummer!