Automatic Ice Making Refrigerators

[mrmnp]

You know I am not a Brit when I ask for help about the safety of using community delivered water to make ice cubes. Brits are blessed with the ability to enjoy drinks without ice.

I saw a LG two door frig with an automatic ice makeer for 55K baht at Carrefour and was so tempted as I use an inordinate amount of ice. I am really tired of making ice cubes all the time.

I have called BKK to inquire of the only stand alone ice making machine company in Thailand that makes them small enough for the home. For 60K installed, they have a reasonably sized machine that makes "flaked" ice. However, the water supply must be pump driven to create enough pressure for it to work.

I have a pump driven water system but I am concerned about the cleanliness of the water in Chiang Mai. I have always used bottled water, but am told by some the tap water is ok to drink, it just smells bad because of the chlorine. My water coming out of the tap smells awful.

I really wonder, if the standard in-line charcoal filter provided with automatic ice making machines is adequate to make tap water health safe as the automatic ice making machine manager said. He said there are many shops throughout Thailand that uses his machine with just the filter to clear the water supply.I believe the salesman that the filter will remove the smell, but what about the the health imperiling properties?

Can anyone help me?

I have made my own bottled water dispenser by buying a stainless steel water dispenser with spigot, the top diameter of which is just a little smaller than the diameter of the standard water bottle that I put upside therein. Works great and have it in a kitchen cabinet. It is physically higher off the floor than the icemaker in the refrig models available to buy, so my copper pipe man could hook up the frig icemaker copper tube to my drinking water dispenser I now have. My thought is that gravity would be enough to fill the automatic ice maker tray through the factory installed copper fill tube intended to be connected to the house water supply.

My preference would be to hook up the frig icemaker up with the pump driven house water supple if the water is drinkable once it has gone through the charcoal tube.

I would be gratefull for any help or information anyone has regarding the drinking safety of Chiang Mai's municipal water supply and the efficacy of any hookup ideas I have made above. Many thanks for your replies.

[p1p]

Best answer is to hook up the fridge to a pump supplied from a closed (bladder) reservoir fed by a water filtration system. This way you have clean, drinkable water and clean ice. Bladder fills slowly through the filter but can supply sufficient water for the fridge and a seperate drinking water tap if required.

[Guest IT Manager]

I think it mazing, that your house has electricity....

[mrmnp]

p1p: If the filter thing, machine or whatever is independent of the bladder, couldn't I just hook up a filter machine between the community water intake pipe and my stainles steel water tank which is huge? or is the bladder an integral part of the scheme.

Where can I get such a filter?

Many thanks for your help.

[KevinN]

MRM, I believe that what p1p was refering to is a water pressure tank that has a bladder inside for the water and air on the outside of ther bladder to make the pressure when charged again the air,but I couldnt find one where I live but was told that they do have them for sale in BKK.

And what I would do ,is just buy a small pressure pump that is tankless and has a pressure switch to turn it on and off at preset pressures,I gave 3500 for mine and run my whole house with it for the last 2 years,,you could hook it to your potable water pipe from your stainless steel tank and into the reefer line, and it would charge the reefer ice maker in case that your gravity was to low to work,and that way ,you would be using good potable bottled water,a charcoal filter will not take out bacteria,only bad taste and they are not cheap here either.altho I did see them for sale at carrefour the last time I was in CM.

[mrmnp]

Thank you gentlemen for the last two posts.

In summary, if I understand it corectly and where I stand at the moment, subject to change with later posts, is try the gravity power of my current system and if that doesn't work, buy a pressure regulated water pump and attach it to the water line from by potable water dispenser to the frig ice maker.

Hopefully, someone has bought one of the automatic ice-maker refrigerators and will give additional imput. I will post my question on the gneral question board so I get a broader audience that those who check the Chiang Mai forum.

Thanks again.

[tuky]

One of my alltime favourite threads involved fridges.

Here is IT's take on the situation...

I just got a Thai cheapy for about 7,000 baht and has a water pump in the door and a pipe goes into a 2 litre water container.

It was a simple matter to make a special connector to go on a tall brown bottle. It seals the bottle and I push the button and voila... Chang on Tap on Door on my frig.

Cold.

here is the special link

enjoy

[november222]

this topic has run its course. it was on page 396.

[Ta22]

here one suggestion .

move yourself or rent or buy a house near a 7-11 .

the cost of moving would cost you less then 10-15k ..

and from then on .. you can walk into 7-11 and buy a pack of ice for 7 baht -

This way you solve at least 3 main problem .

1. Lower electrical bills -

2. less worry if it safe .

3. you save 45k , now you can make a post and treat everyone to a round of beer

in the past . the Queen of china . heard form tale about immortal water that will chill your heart when you drink it , so she send 2000 man and 300 woodsmith to bring back to her ICE . some 1000++km aways

from what i read is those man travel for month and there keep the ice in large wood boxes and cover it with animal skin . so by the time it reaches the Queen she can get a tea cup size of ICE water .

--

do you know that ice water is Bad for your health . try to get a balance , if you like cold water maybe you can try really HOT tea for a change . - in extreme sences the feect of very cold and very hot is slightly the same .

so if someone hang you up and tell you that he is going to burn you with a burning Hot Rod . and what he really do is use a ice cream stock on your back , you will still scream like a baby thinking is a burning hot rod .

is all in the mind .

Talk about NECO POSTER

IT ALIVE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

time for you to move to ICE LAND

Edited October 8, 2010 by Ta22

[WinnieTheKhwai]

this topic has run its course. it was on page 396.

Excellent!!!

[november222]

this topic has run its course. it was on page 396.

Excellent!!!

will it run its course again?

[NancyL]

Several of our Thai neighbors have ice delivered every day by the same couriers that supply the restaurants on what seems to be an hourly basis.

[Ta22]

one huge bag of ice is 20baht i -

i used to own a small cafe and i get it at 15b per bag take about 5 -6 bag to fill the large ice box up .

is also a good option .

[DoubtingThomas]

I'm sure I've seen fridges with auto ice makers and cold water that use a reservoir tank. S'pose you have the inconvenience of topping up the tank but better than ice trays.

Incidentally, it's not only Thailand that's a problem. In the DFW area under some conditions you get "inversion" in the reservoir lakes and the tap water tastes and smells like cr*p. I even have to use bottle water to make my cuppa.

And of course, being a Brit I put my Bud Light in the microwave before I drink it. 15 seconds on high is about right.

Oh, take the cap off first.

Edited October 8, 2010 by DoubtingThomas

[garyh]

I have seen water filters with a small pump, all you need is connect this to the fridge as they have a filter in the fridge anyway. Some of the internal filters can be removed if you have the external. So just buy your water in the 20 liter bottles and connect the bottle to the pump.

I like the crushed ice you get from the fridge.