How to select a laboratory ice maker, part six: Flake Ice Machine FAQ
Release Date:
2025-05-20 09:20
1. What is the difference between an ice machine for catering and a snowflake ice machine for laboratories?
Ice machines for catering generally produce cube ice, bullet ice, etc., and the ice is formed in existing fixed molds; while snowflake ice machines, in terms of hardware, in addition to a complete refrigeration system, also need to be equipped with a motor-driven ice blade system for crushing ice. The ice blade continuously operates, scraping out the ice formed in the ice chamber and compressing it into irregular crushed ice. Therefore, in terms of hardware cost, snowflake ice machines are much more expensive to manufacture than ice machines for catering due to the additional motor and ice blade system.
2. Why are ice machines on Taobao so cheap?
Most ice machines on Taobao are for catering purposes, meaning they produce cube or bullet-shaped ice, so the prices are relatively low. However, if you search for
3. What is the difference between imported and domestic brands of snowflake ice machines?
From a technical perspective, there is no significant difference between imported and domestic brands; refrigeration technology is very mature and has a long history of commercialization;
From a hardware perspective, the compressors, motors, etc., used by foreign brands, except for a few that use their own brands, are almost all sourced from major compressor and motor brands for OEM production or direct procurement. Moreover, most hardware manufacturers have joint ventures or wholly-owned factories in China, so there is no difference in hardware;
In terms of overall quality control, foreign brands have a certain advantage, as they have longer brand histories, larger capital and scale, and stronger technical means;
Domestic brands generally have an advantage over imported brands in terms of price and convenience of after-sales service;
Overall, most users' trend in purchasing snowflake ice machines has shifted towards domestic brands, with cost-effectiveness being the main factor.
4. Why do many brands of ice machines have similar appearances?
Why do many brands of snowflake ice machines, both domestic and international, have largely consistent appearances? The main reason is that most brands adopt the OEM production method, which means finding others to produce for them and then affixing their own brand. The advantage of this is that they don't need to invest in production and management costs themselves; they only need to leverage their channel advantages and focus on sales, operating under a light-asset model. The OEM production model is widely applied to consumer electronics products, such as the familiar Apple iPhone, with Foxconn being its largest contract manufacturer. This model is established when the brand owner has a strong brand and robust product design and quality control capabilities. In contrast, in the snowflake ice machine industry, most brands' manufacturers are not large in scale. What they can essentially do in the OEM process is: I pay, you produce, I brand and sell. Many problems can arise during this process. For example, since the brand owner lacks technical expertise, they cannot perform product design and quality control, and can only obey the OEM manufacturer, or simply produce exactly the same product as the OEM manufacturer's own, just for branding. Therefore, you will see many different brands of products on the market with almost identical appearances. It is conceivable that due to the brand owner's lack of technical capabilities, after-sales service also has to rely entirely on the OEM manufacturer, and their guarantee capability is very limited.
5. Which compressor brand is good?
Currently, good compressor brands include Danfoss (Secop in China) [e.g., Xiamen Guoyi Ice Machine], followed by American Copeland, French Tecumseh, Sanyo, etc. [e.g., Sanyo Ice Machine], and some others use brands like Zanussi [e.g., Changshu Xueke Ice Machine]. Danfoss's quality is widely recognized in the industry, and its price is generally 3-5 times that of other brands.
6. Typical target users?
In the laboratory field, the two most typical types of clients are currently molecular biology laboratories or protein purification laboratories. Refer to links:
Instrument configuration required for molecular biology laboratories
Equipment required for protein purification laboratories
Any laboratory that intersects with these two fields is a potential user. Of course, snowflake ice machines are also used in some catering or food processing fields.
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