Chard IM-15SS 40-lbs Ice Maker/Water Dispenser (Review)

Chard IM-15SS is ice maker that also works are water dispenser. It can produce up to 40 pounds of ice cubes in 24 hours however consumer feedback is really mixed – so is it worth to buy?

Ice production/Water dispensing

Chard IM-15SS makes bullet shaped ice cubes. It can make ice cubes in 3 different sizes and they affect time it takes to make a batch. A batch of small ice cubes take ~6 minutes to be made, a batch of medium sized ice cubes about 10 minutes and batch of large ice cubes – about 15 minutes.

Quality of ice cubes is decent. Ice bucket can hold up to 3.5 pounds of ice cubes.

Water dispenser works less well. If you turn on the unit it will dispense water that’s room temparture. If you want cold water you have to run ice-making process for at least 45 minutes before unit manages to cool down water. To accelerate this process you can remove ice basket and let 2 batches of ice cubes fall down straight into water reservoir. Since it cools down water it will also improve ice production and increase quality of following ice cube batches.

You will need water jug to use Chard IM-15SS. Even though it has built-in water reservoir it’s designed for collecting melted water from ice cubes and not to be used as main water source for ice making or water dispensing.

Plastic taste

Initially you might notice disgusting plastic taste to ice cubes produced and water dispensed by Chard IM-15SS.

First of all it raises question whether some of the materials that make contact to water are hazardous to health.

Second if that’s the case with your unit you will need to clean it and flush the system. Just set it to make ice cubes so it rinses all of the components, maybe add water and vinegar mix in water reservoir and when you are done drain mixture through drain cap afterwards and then flush the unit once again with water only, then drain it again, clean with clean, dry cloth and let unit dry.

You can also clean inside with diluted detergent, warm water and a soft cloth. But after you do you also have flush inside components with water, then drain water through drain cap, clean inside with clean, dry cloth and let the unit dry.

Quality

Quality of Chard IM-15SS is sketchy. Although housing is mostly made of stainless steel msot of internal parts are made of cheap plastic.

Some units seem to perform well, others are finicky and riddled with all kinds of problems like water leakage, ice coming out as large clumps, water flow issues, significant decrease of ice production volume etc.

Control panel

Chard IM-15SS has basic but therefore simple and intuitive control panel. There are only 3 buttons: To start or end ice production, to dispense water and to choose ice cube size setting.

It also features 6 indicator lights. Three of them simply shows which ice cube size setting you have chosen, either small, medium or large. power indicator light and two warning indicators: for when ice basket is full or water reservoir empty.

Noise

Chard IM-15SS operates quite loudly – if that’s an issue for you perhaps you should look for different model.

Dimensions

Chard IM-15SS measures 14 inches wide, 16.5 inches long and 17.5 inches high.

Conclusions

When Chard IM-15SS works like it’s supposed to it’s not a terrible ice maker slash water dispenser. The problem is it often doesn’t and all kinds of issues, problems and design flaws are somewhat common. You unit might be just fine, but because consumer reports that units with issues aren’t a rare occurrence makes IM-15SS tough to recommend. If you are looking for a good ice maker machine you might also want to read our Best Portable/Countertop Ice Makers article!