ZDIS150WSSC GE ice machine

[herfdog]

Ice formation is great but the ice freezes together in the bin where it is supposed to slowly melt away to make room for fresh ice. In the bin it turns into a giant ice ball which cannot be broken up very easily or removed.  I noticed the bin was freezing cold even with the door open and little ice in it. I've seen lots of problems with ice machines but not this. The sealed system has not been serviced so I do not expect an over charge to be the problem. Has anyone ever seen this? And what should be done to stop the excessive freezing?

[AccApp]

That makes no sense. This is what I call a "sheet-cutter" type icemaker. Water is pumped and recirculated onto an evaporator plate (which is the only source of heat removal in the compartment) until it is sensed to be thick enough. The valve then switches to shove hot gas through the evaporator which then releases the sheet of ice onto a grid of heated wires which then cut it into 3/4" x 3/4" x sheet thickness pieces. The usual failure for these is to have a wire in the cutter grid break and not be able to cut the sheet into pieces. Is it making normal size pieces? When is the last time you cleaned it? Do you have unusually hard water in your area?

[herfdog]

I agree, this makes no sense! Which is why I posted my question. I completely understand that the evaporator plate is the only source of heat removal in the unit. 

The wires on the grid are all intact and it is heating and making perfect 3/4 x 3/4 cubes which in turn freeze together at some point later on. The hot gas valve is doing it's job correctly in the harvest cycle, releasing the sheet of ice before the next freeze cycle begins. The machine was descaled recently and the evaporator plate looks clean. The water in this area moderately soft.

And to answer most of your points, ice is not clinging together until after it's been in the bin for a while.

 Again I ask, has anyone ever seen this before or have any clue as to the cause? 

[AccApp]

That is truly bizarre and something I've never seen. The only thing I can imagine causing this would be some contaminant in the water source.

[herfdog]

Bizarre is the right word to describe this. What kind of contaminant causes re-freezing?

[AccApp]

Salt could cause ice cubes to freeze together, maybe something else could. Has anyone else ever seen this? 

 

And how long did this run normally before the problem developed?

 

[herfdog]

Salt... perhaps a malfunctioning water softening system could cause this. Salt in the water would cause the evaporator to work overtime to make the sheet of ice in the first place, wouldn't it? Possibly causing the colder temps in the bin that I noticed.

I do not know how long it ran normally before this problem started.

[AccApp]

Do you have a water softening system in use?

[herfdog]

I don't know if they do or not.