GE Profile Opal 2.0 Nugget Ice Maker - Black Stainless Steel

This is one of the best on the market. I bought this because my son loved the ice it made. Too long of a story to include here, just know that his last hours on this earth included chewing on the perfect ice pellets made by this machine. I found that insulating the ice bucket caused the ice to last a bit longer. Although this machine recycles the melted ice water into new pellets, adding a small layer of rubber/foam insulation helps in keeping the ice box colder, and helps prevents the ice from melting too fast. I used 1 inch, 1/16 inch single sided adhesive rubber in a double layer on both sides and bottom of the ice box. This is the second machine I have bought. The first one lasted 20 months, using distilled water, about a gallon a day, and never ran it thru a cleaning cycle. I do not recommend that practice. I bought the extended warranty for this new one, and have a new filter shipped from Amazon every month, which aligns with the programmed cleaning cycle. It’s very easy to use, and the side water tank is so handy, as it holds about a gallon of water. Our tap water is very hard, which is why we chose distilled water to use is our machine. You’ll find that slime and algae will build up, plugging the filter, and interfering with the ice making auger in the ice cup. Keep it clean by flushing and sanitizing with bleach, and changing the filter after each cleaning. I’ll post an update on how long this one lasts. As far as I can tell, this one is the best counter top I’ve maker on the market today. Its size is perfect for our countertop, and you have to walk in the kitchen to hear it making its perfect ice. The noise level is not a problem with this one. I highly recommend this ice maker, with the side tank for your iced drink needs. You’re gonna love it.

If Amazon allowed "zero stars" I'd rate it that or less. The numerous 5 star reviewers have not yet experienced the ticking time bomb that WILL go off inside this machine. First and foremost, this is not the GE you have come and know to love...they sold the rights to the GE name for small appliances back in 2022...and as you'd expect, the "new" company has no obligation to uphold GE's famous reputation for quality/reliability. This POS is chock full off compromises, cut corners, and assembly SNAFUS that accountants love but make the engineers that envisioned this thing roll in their graves. I've had my second machine just over a year, thankfully they sent me a replacement at the 8 month point on the first try, but now it's dead and conveniently "out of warranty" BTW, if you submit a warranty claim, they can/will send you a "reconditioned" machine and it does not extend your original warranty. If you search youtube for "repair GE Opal icemaker" or "GE Opal Icemaker screeching" you'll find TONS of DIY'er's videos desperately disassembling their machines only to discover "GE" has no parts...you can only find "used" parts on ebay (from others parting out their failed machines when they discover that GE won't service the machine after the warranty period either...you're SOL) and a few hand made/3D printed parts on Etsy. That's right...a few clever souls have resorted to DIY repairs via making their own parts, and are recouping their time and effort selling them to the long and growing list of unsuspecting buyers who will experience the same failures and learn the hard way that GE is not in the business of keeping these things running. I called the "GE Parts" number listed on the website knowing that GE isn't GE anymore but was blown away when the rep relayed that they do not support/sell parts or even service the machine. If you are in warranty, you pay ~$75 to ship yours back to them (so they can harvest parts...) and they send another one back to you, not necessarily a new one...and you pay for that shipping too. Yes, sadly I know this from first hand experience. Four very weak points in this machine... 1. Calcium buildup will totally wreck the internals despite religious cleaning (might be able to avoid this if you ONLY use distilled water and their Gucci $30 anti-scale reservoir pre-filter, maybe these last a month?) 2. The bushings on the rotating mechanicals wear out allowing the auger (the spinning part inside that moves the water that becomes ice as it moves up along inside the chilled cylinder) to shift slightly in place and contact the cylinder walls, so it will grind some metal off the cylinder walls with each rotation and "add" that material to the ice (many users report "black dust" in the bottom of their ice bin...this is the source), a symptom often preceded by reports of a loud squeal (that's the auger riding on the cylinder walls). Why this major component isn't kept in place with a beefy deep groove sealed ball bearing is a mystery only the accountants can solve. Plastic/nylon bushings have no place in reliable, long lasting equipment. This unit is neither... 3. Cheap Chinesium bearings in the gearbox that fail due to lack of lubrication (assembly line "tech" not trained on how to lube the assembly in production, so the bearings run dry and fail quickly). Countless videos online that document the destruction inside the gearbox that 25 cents of a decent gear lube would have prevented...that and maybe a $5 bearing from SKF vs the no-name trash/factory rejects and seconds they used instead. 4. Speaking of gearbox...the main motor spins a shaft that drives the first gear in the gearbox...and that first gear is made of nylon. It's typical in expensive machinery to use a "sacrificial gear" in the gear train to prevent the expensive motor from burning up when there's another failure/misuse (like in my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer...don't ask me how I know this...) but there's no point in this case since you can't get a new motor...so there's nothing for the sacrificial gear to protect. All the nylon gear does is become the first failure point in the gear train when one of the cheap/improperly lubricated/assembled bearings begins to create too much drag, then the tiny teeth on the plastic gear will pay the price. But at least you won't need a new motor...just a new gear/gearbox. Did I mention GE doesn't sell parts? That includes a new gearbox, or internal gears. Yes, there is a new gear available on Etsy, if you have a couple hours to burn removing/rebuilding the gearbox...pretty straightforward actually if you are handy, and it's good idea to change out all the bearings while you're in there if you actually get that far, but this isn't something I'd expect for a $500 machine built by "GE." I would understand the "new and not really GE" company policy of refusing to support/supply parts for a $30 hand mixer, but a $500 ice maker...the company needs to step up and supply repair parts. If you really love this machine (it does make GREAT, addictive little nuggets) then the only prevent defense I can offer is to use only distilled / demineralized water (~$1 a gallon at your favorite huge department store), use and replace the special $30 descaling pre-filter for the tank early and often, de-scale with vinegar weekly, and buy the $250 "extended warranty" so they'll have to send you a replacement...then you'll have lovely ice making capabilities for maybe three years, for ~$700 plus whatever it costs to keep the consumed pre-filters stocked and the shipping costs for the inevitable replacement units (that weigh 30+ lbs...) Totally bummed, had high expectations for this one, swing and a $500 miss.

I've been using this machine 1 year now, daily for hours, and it's still going strong and works great. Bought the additional side tank which is a must. I only use with distilled water which greatly helps in reducing buildup. I clean / flush once a month with vinegar solution and once a quarter with bleach solution. It's never been really dirty or had any mold build up because of the routine. The cleaning process can be a bit of a pain as I have to carry the machine next to the sink and it's heavy. Only complaint though and it's because where I chose to have it. The app is great with WiFi to tell me when tank is getting low, needs cleaning, and allows me to schedule ice maker to run in mornings and afternoons. Starts making decent ice quantity within 15 - 30 minutes. Ice itself is well formed, chewable, and clear with distilled water.

The built-in ice makers that come with refrigerators are notoriously temperamental. Ours quits on its own for no reason whenever it feels like it. Its cube storage is small and it isn’t reliable. Last summer it went on strike for a week so I set up one of those $100 ice-bullet makers. It had to be tended like a fussy old aunt. With another summer in the near future, I decided to improve matters. I bought this GE Opal 2.0 unit. I *love* it! I especially like the fact that when the already-made ice begins to melt, the water is put back into the system to freeze again into new nuggets. It’s automatic and runs along without supervision as long as it has enough water to run an ice cycle. After a week, I also bought the available side tank. Now we’re really set for all the drinks, ice packs for sprains, and nugget crunching to come. I high recommend this!

I was nervous getting this from the reviews that I read. I was pleasently suprised. It is quiet. It can make the first round of ice within 7 minutes. The ice is not "wet". It is easy to add water and it works wonderfully with Alexa. I do wish that there was a hose hook up and sensor that would allow me to tap into my fridge water supply so that it filled itself, but it is not terrible withhout it. I fill it up each morning as coffee is making and that's all I do each day. It wil take about 8 cups of water and that will fill the bin twice. You can over fill. For example, you can have a full bin of ice and then fill up the water reservoir. It will stop making ice until the amount of ice drops, then it will start making ice until it fills up again. I have to listen for it to hear it. I have mine on a schedule with Alexa to make ice from 5am - 10am and then again at 4pm - 10pm. works great. With this schedule, I have always had ice when I went to get some. Really satified with this product and would suggest it. The reservoir is nice, but I don't have it and am not planning to buy it. Haven't needed it. Wish the price was about $100 less, but I'm not fussying that much. Solid build. Update: after sitting on my kitchen counter for a year, regular cleaning, fan started to get loud and then leak in reservoir and unit became unusable. Went back to fridge ice maker and threw this in the trash. I see why they price it so high, not seeing many return buyers. So disappointing.

The GE makes great ice and lots of it and it has a self-cleaning mode. For comparison, we had a Costway that broke after three years of continuous use. Its fan was loud when making ice, but its smaller ice bin filled quickly, so it didn't run for very long. It worked great, but it was very difficult to clean, requiring about 45 minutes with a toothbrush and flashlight to get the gunk out of its depths. The GE's fan is almost silent, but the compressor makes a low omnidirectional 118 hertz hum at about 62 decibels. It's quieter than the Costway, but the GE makes more ice so it runs for longer periods. Interestingly, my wife commented that the GE is louder. So psychologically, the longer (but quieter) run time seems noisier. The sound might not be a problem if you have a loud household (kids, TV, dogs, etc.). If you have a quiet household with a kitchen that's open to the living room and the ice maker is sitting on your countertop, then you might be annoyed. We put the ice maker in our walk-in pantry, so it's out of sight and its sound is muted. Despite the GE's weird loud-quietness, I think I'd still pick it because of its capacity, self-cleaning capability, the type of ice it makes, the lighted ice bin, and, being a $$ quality GE Profile product, it should last a lot longer (hope). It can be controlled via an app which works with Google Home and presumably Alexa too, but unless turning the unit and bin light on/off remotely is a compelling feature, it’s not worth loading and configuring yet another third party middleware app (i.e., Smart HQ) to do so.

I really love this ice maker. I previously purchased one of the less expensive "bullet" ice type (Igloo) and it stopped working after about 30 days so I returned it. I didn't own an ice maker before that one and really love having one. I use bottled water for it and it tastes great. Besides the obvious benefit of the small chewable ice, there are many other benefits. One, it keeps the ice MUCH longer. The ice melts much slower in the GE model because it has a more insulated container holding the ice, The clear plastic part is double walled which helps a lot. This machine is much quieter than the others. You still hear the compressor, but since the ice is smaller and in a more insulated container, its really quiet when it drops. This ice maker makes the ice on a more continuous basis rather than waiting for a batch of 9 of the bullets in the others. Overall it also just seems much better made. The ONLY thing I haven't figured out yet is the app. I have it connected, which is cool in itself to be able to turn it on/off, adjust the light, see the current status (like when it is out of water). However I scheduled it to turn off at night and that part doesn't seem to be working. It's very likely user error. Also for those debating getting the side container of water or not, I did not and don't think I will. The machine itself stores enough water to more than fill the large ice storage of ice. So unless you are going to make ice to store in a freezer, or go through more than one bin a day, I don't think it is that beneficial. I chose not to get it mostly due to wanting to save the space on my counter.

At first, I was skeptical about getting this for my wife as a birthday gift because of the price - I wondered if it was really worth it. Now that we've had it for almost a year, I can tell you it is DEFINITELY worth it! This ice maker is so amazing! It actually promotes hydration - you WANT to drink more water because you just love the ice! I was impressed at how fast the ice starts being made after turning it on. It does make a slight humming noise but it's at such a low decibel level so it's barely noticeable. You do have to take good care of it though. Read the cleaning instructions and take the time to clean it on a regular basis. But do NOT try to open the top of the unit. It's very difficult to pry open and it's not worth the trouble. Just use the two cleaning methods that are mentioned in the manual... and you'll have great tasting ice in no time. Our friends and family love when we have this ice ready when they come over! It's like getting Chick-Fil-A ice for free!