ADDITONAL HINT ABOUT THE ULINE ICE MAKER:
This ice maker design uses a simple timing motor and gearing system to keep everything running correctly. I have been told that occasionally, the motor gets out of sync... On some models, you can pop the end of the ice maker "module" inside the cabinet off, short a couple of jumpers, and reset everything. So... If your ice maker still gets cold, but doesn't make ice - google this issue. There were a couple of U-tube videos that showed how to access the pins, and which pins to check / jumper.
Summer Breeze was originally equipped with a 14" Uline built in ice maker. These are the single most common ice maker installed in recreational boats you'll ever see. When I first bought the boat, it actually worked - which is amazing for a 20 year old ice maker. Then it quit making ice - but would still get cold. I was ok with that, and figured I'd just use it for additional freezer space (for Vodka, Tequila, maybe even rum, if it didn't freeze - supposedly liquors at 25% or less alcohol are at risk of freezing in a normal freezer).
The ice maker is plumbed to the boat's fresh water system. I typically go out to the boat on the weekends, maybe once or twice a week - so my water tank typically lasts for several weeks. I use a the blue inline RV Water Filters you can get at Walmart to filter water going into the water tank, and fill from the potable water source on the dock - but I still typically don't drink the water. I'll use the holding tank for washing hands, dishes, brushing teeth, and showering, but typically drink bottled water. Hence, I didn't mind so much when the ice maker quit making ice. I really wasn't motivated to use the ice it produced anyway.
Then a couple of weeks ago, I started getting a puddle in the cockpit, and was hearing the water pressure pump come on more often than it should. Granted, I can buy a LOT of bags of ice for $900... But after much internal debate, decide the time had come to replace the ice maker.
The ULINE Ice Maker:
AS I mentinoed above, the Uline ice maker is one of the most common units you'll find installed in most "pre-owned" recreational boats in the US. The kicker is that the boat manufacturers allow BARELY the space for this one model in the cabinet. No one else makes any kind of appliance that would fit this hole. It would be great to replace the ice maker with a mini-fridge in the cockpit, but there are no mini-fridges / dorm fridges made that are only 14" wide. You are stuck with the Uline. But there are options...
They come in Black, White, and Stainless. The stainless model is the "marine" version. Other than being much more expensive, and the stainless exterior (probably a good idea in saltwater environments? Thankfully, I'm on a fresh water lake.) - I don't think there's that much difference between the models, other than color. Here is the model from Amazon that I got:
U-Line U-BI95W-00A Ice Maker 14" with Reversible Door Hinge White
Here are the differences between that one, and the original unit on my boat:
The new ice maker didn't have the trim piece around the outside edge that screwed to an inset in the cabinet. The new ones are intended to simply sit inside or under a counter. No trim is provided.
The new ice maker had two feet on the front. I had to remove those to get mine to sit in the existing cabinet (simple screws - this was EASY - just be aware you may need to do it).
The new ice maker was not a "marine" unit, and therefore does not have a latch or lock to keep the door closed. I'm debating adding an after market hasp with a lock, just in case someone would get crazy enough to spike my ice... (or help themselves to any booze I might keep in it...)
The stainless version claims to be 15" wide (which, if that's true, wouldn't fit my space), and is about $500 more than the $900 model above. But it's shiny...
I ordered the ice maker on Amazon. It wasn't prime, but was expensive enough that they didn't charge for shipping. It did show up within a week. Then the fun began....
Since I'm still not crazy about drinking water that's been sitting in a holding tank for several weeks at a time, I decided I would at least put a water filter in the supply line to the ice maker. Checking Home Depot, there was basically ONE choice that would easily go inline with 1/4" water supply lines. I bought a GE GXRTLL refrigerator water filter. Note - there are NO specifications for this filter. It claims only to reduce chlorine taste and odor. It's basically a simple carbon activated filter. It won't remove cysts or any other nasty bugs from your water supply. If you want that, you'll have to get a much better filter, and will have a more interesting plumbing challenge to put it inline.
First step was to remove the old ice maker. It was held in place with 6 screws. Being a 20 year old Regal (or maybe just a Regal??), of course one of the 6 screws was different from the rest... As I mentioned above, the new ice maker did not come with the outside trim piece. The trim piece was riveted to the case. A drill removed the rivets. I had to remove the old door on the old unit, but the trim piece was otherwise easy to remove. Similarly, had to remove the door from the new unit to install the old trim piece. Instead of riveting, I went to Lowes and picked up a bag of small stainless sheet metal screws. I drilled holes in the new ice maker to lineup with the old trim, and screwed it in place, with stainless lock washers under the screws (1/2" x #8, stainless pan head phillips screws).
The ice maker installation is pretty simple. There are only two things to do - Connect power (it has a 110V power cord - just plug it in), connect water, turn it on, and wait for ice...
When I pulled out my old unit, there was a 110V power cord coming out of the wall with an outlet on the end. Plugging in the new ice maker was easy.
My boat also had a 1/4" polypropylene water supply line going to the old unit. In my case, there was a 1/4" brass compression fitting on the line, going to a nipple, that the line from the ice maker (also terminating in a 1/4" brass compression fitting) connected to. Turn off the boat's water pressure pump, BLEED OFF the water pressure (open another faucet on the boat), have a bucket near, and use a wrench to disconnect the hose.
Now is where the fun begins... (in my case, this involved multiple trips to Home Depot, Lowes, and one of the local hardware stores...)
I ended up with a 1/4" cutoff valve that was designed for 1/4" polypropylene hose to simply be pressed into it. VERY EASY. I'm a little nervous about whether this will ever leak (seems too easy) - but people swear by them, and so far so good. So... Using a pair of wire cutters, I clipped off the old 1/4" compression fitting, inserted the end of the water supply hose coming out of the wall of the boat into the cutoff valve, bought a 2nd piece of 1/4" polypropylene hose, inserted that into the outgoing end of the valve, ran several feet, and put a 1/4" brass compression fitting on the end of that hose. BE CAREFUL!! There are at least 3 different types of 1/4" fittings... There are compression fittings, MIP, and brass flared pipe fittings. You want COMPRESSION fittings. You will need to use a 1/4" brass compression fitting to go from the end of the 1/4" polypropylene hose to the 1/4" compression fitting on the GE GXRTLL refrigerator water filter. That is ALL that will work. If you use a different water filter, then you'll need to figure out what combination of fittings you need to go from the 1/4" polypropylene hose supply from the boat (unless you have something different), to your filter, and then to the 1/4" compression fitting on the ice make
On my first trip to Home Depot, I also bought a 10' section of stainless jacketed refrigerator water line. This water line was pre-made with 1/4" compression fittings that fit the ice maker, and the water filter, simplifying that chore. 10' is wayyyyy too long, but too long is better than too short...
Before going to the boat, I had removed the front panel of the ice maker, screwed on the stainless jacketed supply hose (it has a rubber washer in it - do NOT use teflon tape!!), and routed the hose through the ice maker and out the hole in the back of the machine.
Due to the VERY limited space in my cabinet, I had to arrange for the filter to sit on the SIDE of the ice maker, not behind it.
The whole point of adding the inline water valve on the supply line is so that when it is time to replace the water filter, I can simply pull out the ice maker, turn off the inline valve, hold the filter over a bucket, unscrew, and replace. (we'll see how well that works...)
Eventually, I was able to turn on the water, plug in power, turn on the ice maker switch (inside the door), and wait for ice to magically appear.
Of course, when I finally figured out that I had forgotten to turn the boat's water pump on, I also forgot that I hadn't closed the faucet on the wet bar in the cockpit that I used to bleed the water pressure. That only added a "little mess" to the project...
Hopefully this description will help avoid some of the issues you may run into if you ever need to mess with your ice maker.