I left it running overnight and the basket wasn't full. Is it broken?
Almost certainly not. The basket that holds finished ice is not refrigerated, so ice sitting in it slowly melts, the meltwater drains back into the reservoir below, and the machine remakes it. Leave the unit running overnight expecting a full basket in the morning and you will find rather less than expected, plus a machine that has been cycling pointlessly, which is the design working exactly as intended rather than a fault. Make ice shortly before you actually need it instead of running the machine hours ahead.
How do I keep it running well and avoid reliability issues?
Water treatment is almost the whole story. This machine continuously freezes and melts the same water, evaporating a little each cycle, which concentrates whatever minerals it contains. Those minerals deposit as scale on the freezing cylinder and around the auger, insulating the cold surface and increasing friction on the part under the most load. Use filtered or distilled water rather than tap, which is the single most effective measure. Empty the reservoir completely when you finish rather than leaving water standing, since standing water in a warm machine is also how these develop a musty smell. And run the auto-cleaning cycle regularly, using a descaling solution suitable for ice makers periodically.
Why is nugget ice softer than the ice from my freezer's ice maker?
Because it is made a completely different way. A cube maker freezes water onto chilled prongs or into a tray and releases a solid block. A nugget maker freezes water into a thin layer of flakes on the inside of a chilled cylinder, then an auger scrapes and compresses those flakes into soft, porous nuggets. That porous, compressed structure is what makes it soft enough to chew without risking a tooth, and it also absorbs whatever drink it sits in, which is why the ice at the bottom of the glass tastes of the drink rather than nothing.
Can I use it camping with no mains power?
No, despite the portability marketing. This needs mains power and a water supply to run, so it suits a powered pitch or an RV hook-up rather than a tent or somewhere off-grid. The handle and compact footprint make it easy to carry to wherever power is available, but they do not make it a battery-powered device.
Why does the machine seem to work harder or produce less over time?
Very likely scale building up on the freezing cylinder and around the auger from untreated water. Scale insulates the surface that needs to stay cold, so the machine works harder and produces less, and it increases friction on the auger, the component under the most mechanical load already. Switching to filtered or distilled water and running the auto-cleaning cycle regularly can restore performance; a heavily scaled unit may need a dedicated ice-maker descaling solution run through the cleaning cycle.
Should I leave it running all the time?
No, switch it off when you are not using it. Because the storage basket is not refrigerated, ice made hours before you need it just melts and gets remade, so continuous running achieves nothing extra while adding wear to the auger and motor, which are the parts most likely to fail on a nugget ice maker. Turning it on shortly before you need ice is both more efficient and easier on the machine.
