forum on tube ice operations and equipments

[engrp]

good day to all.

Is there a forum or subgroup in refrigeration engineer that discusses tube ice machine operations and equipments ?

what about cube ice machine equipments ?

thank you

[RANGER1]

engrp,
Let's start one, what have you got?

[engrp]

I am planning to set up a tube ice maker. preferably 10 ton daily capacity. I would like to ask firsthand experience of some forum members, on tube ice maker equipments, Vogt and morris brand. what are strengths / weaknesses of each brand. I am using ammonia for our block ice operations, but would prefer to use another refrigerant for tube ice maker. thanks for any comments/advise you can provide.

[RANGER1]

I think both are very reputable brands.
Always be very careful of their capacity ratings, as never seem to make as much as they say
Ask for a guarantee for your conditions.
Morris all stainless as standard.
If you bought a bigger ice machine on ammonia you could always buy block compacting press if it was more efficient.
Is there an agent nearby in your region for quick response?
Also do you want machine to constantly run to get your 10 ton a day, as maybe power is cheaper at night & you only run 12 hours.
Ammonia better, but more expensive.

[engrp]

thanks for the inputs, ranger1. there is a local importer of morris, but I think for Vogt, not sure if there is an exclusive importer. I am planning to use a refrigerant based ice maker since we do not have a very large capacity genset, and would want our genset to be able to operate the tube ice maker even during brownouts, (which is very frequent here). as for operating time, since we do also have a peak/off peak power rate, I plan to use it only during the off peak rate period. thanks for your recommendations,ranger1.