GE Profile Opal | Countertop Nugget Ice Maker with Side Tank | Portable Ice Machine Makes up to 24 lbs. of Ice Per Day | Stainless Steel Finish

My family is in love with this ge profile opal | countertop nugget ice maker.

We have a franchise fast food place called sonic, which has always been famous for its soft, chewable, ice. They literally sell bags of their ice and we bought ice there for years. I was horrified when my nearby sonic closed. So when my daughter called me to tell me that she had purchased this ge opal and that it makes ‘sonic ice’, i knew i had to have one. Mt daughter was so tickled, she sent me an amazon gift card as an early birthday gift to cover part of the price so i ordered.

It comes in a very protective shipping box with custom molded foam inside. Mine fortunately arrived in perfect condition but others have not been so lucky so i strongly suggest opening and inspecting it immediately so you can return if necessary.

Also note that if you live in a city with hard water, as i do, you need to order a filter to install before first use. Https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/b07518fm17/ it snaps into the bottom of the water well in the ice maker. You have to really push to get it in place but there is a definite snap when it’s in place. You need to run the cleaning cycle before first use but it’s easy to do. It is outlined well in the user’s guide. Also, you need to wash out the side, water tank before first use. Then you are ready to make ice.

This ice maker is pretty big but it fit fine under my upper cabinets. The side tank attaches magnetically on either side of the ice maker so it’s pretty flexible. It’s quite attractive with crystal clear plastic and a brushed, stainless steel skin. It’s also pretty heavy at 47lbs so you may need help to pick it up and put it in place.

You need to understand how these work. The unit is not refrigerated. It does not keep the ice frozen. Instead, it makes the ice, which falls into a clear, plastic, ice drawer. When the drawer gets full, you transfer the ice to a bag or bin and place it in your freezer. That is, if you aren’t using it the minute it gets made. 😉 if you leave ice in the bin, it will slowly melt and the water goes back into the water well beneath the ice drawer and will be reused to make more ice.

It is also not plumbed and there is no option for a direct plumbed line. Instead, you fill the water tank and the side water tank manually so it has water to make ice. The side water tank holds enough water to make about 3 drawers full of ice. The machine can make up to 24 lbs of ice per day and the drawer holds about 3 lbs of ice. It’s plenty for my big family and i do make and bag ice so i don’t have to run the ice maker all the time. (these are the bags i buy and use: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/b00inv51zm/)

it is very easy to use once you set it up. The user guide provides good, clear instructions for this. It’s mostly making sure you have the correct water line attached to the side water tank. Once it’s set up and clean, you set the switch in the back to ice and start making ice. There is an illuminated, round, touch sensitive, button on front. The lights surrounding the button tell you the status of the ice maker. It tells you when to empty the ice drawer, when to add water, and when it’s making ice. There is also bluetooth connectivity and an app for your phone which allows you to see the status of the ice maker and control it remotely. However, the permissions were too invasive, imo, so i did not install the app.

Others have mentioned that their machine is too noisy but i don’t find that at all. It’s louder when the fan comes on initially but for the most part, it’s just a quiet hum and the sound of ice falling into the drawer periodically.

Best of all, it makes that perfect ice we all love. It makes soft, chewable, small, nuggets. We are completely delighted with the quality of the ice. It also makes ice pretty fast. It’s summer in texas and we use a lot of ice and this machine keeps us in all the ice we can use. Do note that when you place the ice in the freezer for future use, it’s not quite as soft as when it comes straight out of the ice maker and you do have to bang the bag of ice on the counter to break it up after it’s been in the freezer. But it’s still awesome.

Maintenance is weekly descaling with vinegar or a product ge makes for that purpose. I am using vinegar and it works fine. You also need to clean it with bleach to prevent mold on a regular basis but neither is a huge chore and again, the process is covered well in the user manual.

I am very pleased with this ice maker. It looks great on the counter. It makes perfect ice. The drawer is easy to pull out and empty or just pull out and scoop what you need. It’s expensive, though. If you aren’t a household that uses a lot of ice or enjoys chewing this special, soft, ice, i’m not sure it would be worth it. You can buy much less expensive, counter top, ice makers.

I have wanted this baby for years!! I am one of those crazy people that asks for “extra ice” and knows the difference between sonic ice and mcdonalds ice. If you are my people… This is for you. I say this, because this machine takes a little love and affection. You must run the clean up before use and you must run the clean programming as needed (i use distilled water to reduce the frequency – worth it because the cleaning process blows). Assuming you follow directions (or in my case – watch youtube) then it is not that hard and your ice will turn out amazing. It’s been running perfectly for well over a month now. My family is happy, i’m happy. My theater room is complete.

We’ve had our ice maker for 2 years and it is still running strong. We’ve learned a few things over those 2 years that has helped us out.
1) we changed where we placed the ice maker on our countertop to an area where it gets better air flow. This is critical! Make sure both sides of the machine can get adequate air flow.
2) we only use distilled water
3) periodically clean your ice maker. This is not a sealed water system so dust from the air will settle into the ice basin and the water trough, which will then dirty the hose lines, etc. We just use cleaning vinegar and run the machine on clean cycle. Wipe down all of the inside of the machine where the plastic basin catches the ice. Occasionally, we’ll take some pipe cleaner and run it up the hoses from the side water attachment.
4) at least twice a year, we do a deep clean where we take the top off and lay a vinegar-soaked cloth over the cutter wheel where the ice comes out.
5) you’ll also need to vacuum the side vents once a month or every other month. Think of it like your air filter system for your hvac.

My only ‘complaint’ is that occasionally the blue light will come on when it has plenty of water. What’s happened, which sounds pretty common, is that the pump has lost its prime or maybe there is some small trash that’s inhibited the water. We just take the filter out, place a finger over the tube, and hit the start button. You can kind of prime/syphon the pump to get it flowing again. Not too big of a deal.

I have had this machine for 2 years. Off and on i had issues with mold crystals in the ice. I have used filters, cleaned the system as instructions suggested, however i could not get it to stop. Tonight while cleaning i decided to look for suggestions from other users and someone suggested i take a look in the water reservoir and so i took the top off of the ice maker and this is what i found. It smelled like pond water. I was sick to find this and have thrown this entire thing away.

I can not tell you how much i love my ice maker….perfect ice whenever i want it. Having this at home has completely replaced using my ice machine in the refrigerator! My family loves how convenient it is to fill water bottles and cups! I have shared this amazing product with my friends and famiily…if you have been looking at this and not sure….don’t wait another day! Jump at the chance to have the perfect ice at your finger tips…just refill the water container and let it fill up!

Sometimes you just need to splurge and this was one. I love sonic ice and saw this. Why not? Its great for iced coffee, soda, water. Plus it’s a cool looking night light in the kitchen. I love it and have recommended it to friends. The shipping weight was a bit of a surprise at 55 lbs when i received it.

We have 3 refrigerators. Only the kitchenaide in the kitchen has filtered ice. We always ran out when we had company. I had seen the ge opal at a friend’s house & loved everything about it but the price was holding me back. Thank you, amazon prime, for featuring the ‘macdaddy’, portable edition with the side car. This feature allows you the benefit of ro water to create filtered ice. The portability factor makes it moveable to wherever you need it. We found a functional, rolling cart ($100) on amazon & it fits perfectly in my pantry. Love my opal!

I love this machine. It makes my favorite chewing ice. It is fast too.

If you twist my arm to complain about anything it would be that it is noisy. But i don’t care, lol!

I bought it about 6 months ago and eat ice all day long. I hope it continues to make quality ice for a long time!

I love this ice maker. It is a beautiful addition to my countertop and the feedback on it from guests have been 100% positive. Whether it keeps their drinks cold without diluting it too fast, or it simply just tastes good. I personally love to fill my canister with it and keep my water cold all day. The noise level isn’t bad, i hardly notice it from the next room although i haven’t kept it on overnight. If i plan to run it long i just start in the morning so i can turn it off in the evening. The light is subtle but it’s a nice addition to the ice maker. I definitely recommend this ice maker over any other.

All our friends and neighbors are jealous and love it when they come over and see it. We use daily and it supplements our fridge/ freezer ice maker. The only negative is it does take up counter space and can be a little noisy. I definitely recommend the side tank.

I use this product cuz our ice machine on our refrigerator work and all but when it was on and making ice cubes it would trip the breaker and our electric would go out everytime it went to make ice cubes and it’s the entire kitchen that lost power but i got it for a few reasons but i wish i could of tried before i bought it cuz the number one issue is the price i paid way way to much for that for what i get…..it takes up
a lot of space on the kitchen counters… It’s quiet and simple and makes ice chunks fast… But but it’s not really portable..like number one cuz i thought this is prefect that i could use this in the camper… But campers are made to be compact and not much counter space so that’s sucks… And number two i wanted ice cubes i don’t want these ice chunks i call them other call them nuggets cuz they melt so fast cuz the are very small and when i use them in my pop it waters down my pop alot.. And i hate water down pop… Number three it does produce faster then i thought..but i like to chew on the ice cubes for the crunchy ice and at the gas station they have huge cubes and i would have to chop it up a bunch but then i had a lot to chew on and it did jot melt as fast as these chunks do that’s a fact…number four where the ice is stored is definitely not as big as i thought it would be for the amount of money i paid for that… Cuz i think i almost paid like $500- or close to $600 for that thing and it most definitely not worth that amount thats for sure … When i expected something so expensive i thought this thing is going to be perfect ice cubes and actually they are not i e cubes they are chunks and the amount that machine can hold for chunks… I was expecting it to blow me out of the water with like a very large compartment and its most definitely not a large compartment at all…. But there is good things to this machine as well as i mentioned them earlier…
Next time i will never soend that much again on something like that plus the only thing i truly truly regret is that i wish it was something we could try before we bought like they do clothes or something like that to see if i truly want to soend that much and is truly worth that much amd i believe ot definitely not worth any where near the amout i paid!!!!

Pros – the ice is amazing, the side water reservoir is needed and works great, it produces a good amount of ice daily, the machine looks nice and is well built, and the ice bucket with scoop is great

cons – the noise the machine makes is very loud and annoying, the directions say to clean it every week or two and the process is involved and takes quite a bit of time, the machine is large and requires 3′ clearance all around it, adding the much needed water holder makes the space it takes up even more, the reservoir in the machine is too small to not have the water tank, the machine is very heavy and bulky, the price is quite high for a counter top ice maker, the ice melts in the container pretty quickly because it isn’t insulated.

Initial setup requires an initial cleaning. It takes flushing the system with bleach water and then flushing the system with clean water 3 times. It is quite the process because the drain line isn’t very long and the machine is bulky. The bad thing is that you are supposed to clean it every week or two. It is a major pain because i don’t have space near the sink so i’ve moved it every time because a bucket doesn’t work well either. The first time making ice it made a little and then melted it all multiple time. I’m not sure if something happened the first time, but i unplugged it over night. The next day i plugged it in and it worked.

The noise level is quite annoying for a product this expensive. It constantly runs a pump while making ice. It is very loud.

The ice is absolutley great though. Everyone loves the flavor and size. I use it every day and thoroughly enjoy the ice.

Purchased this for my wife for christmas when it was on sale for black friday. Received the machine on dec. 5th but wasn’t able to set it up until the 25th. Suffice to say my reading of the reviews of the machine (despite its 4.5 stars) i am still wary of the life of the machine but have double the manufacturer’s warranty so was willing to take the gamble despite its high price.

I fully read the manual (not just the quickstart guide) and followed all the instructions and flushed the machine prior to putting it into use.
2 weeks in we have used it daily for about 8-12 hours per day only using distilled water. About 4 of the supplied scoop fills a large stainless steel yeti type tumbler and 2 scoops for a standard 16oz glass. It takes about 5 hours for the compartment to completely fill the bin with ice from empty, and the reservoir holds about 1/2gal of water to the top fill line.

Things to note:
1) reviews with complaints mentioned loud noises….we havent had any and the machine runs quietly. The noise level rises once the reservoir is nearing empty.
2) the manual says the indicator light has a raindrop effect when making ice but it is very very subtle….almost barely noticeable. Until i really looked at it, i thought the light was just a solid white.
3) download the opal app to unlock the scheduling features for the machine to turn off / on automatically daily and to turn the machine on/off remotely. You are also able to lower the brightness of the indicator light to a nightlight setting.
4) with our daily usage of about 8-12 hours per day, we have needed ~ 4 gallons of distilled water / week = $ 3.52/week
5) the bin will stop making ice (solid white light) when it is full…..but that means really full with ice filling the window
6) i’ve experienced when remotely turning the ice making on/off via bluetooth, that sometimes the machine gets ‘stuck’ and continues making ice even though it says it is stopped. It doesn’t respond to any button pushes or bluetooth commands so you have to manually unplug the machine for 20sec and then plug it back in.
7) install the machine as instucted with 3’+ of space on the sides and the back. As it is an ice maker it exhausts heat. It sucks in air from the left side and expels the heat out the right side. Plenty of clearance allows the machine to work its best.

So…so far so good. The ice is great and between the my wife and i the amount of ice it provides is perfect per day. We haven’t run a cleaning cycle yet as we are using only distilled water and will probably do that every 2 weeks vs the recommended 1x per week. I will update my review as the year progresses and hope that the build of the machine has improved versus earlier in its lifespan.

Update : 12 weeks later
everything is working great so far…….we start it usually mid-morning and it runs about 12 hours / day.
It does stop making ice when it registers the basket as full so it isn’t running the entire time. We are still averaging about 4 gallons of distilled water per week (~ $2.96 as we get it for .74/gallon).

Performed only our 2nd cleaning as the use of distilled water allows for cleaning not as often (experienced owners said 3 months so that’s what ive set it for) and we have had no variances in taste or production or quality in the ice. Also using distilled you don’t have to worry about buildups or deposits or flushing with vinegar.

We still use a diluted bleach solution just in case for disinfecting but as nothing but distilled has only been used in the machine we aren’t too worried about bacteria or growths of any sort.

Will post another update in 3 months.

The ice is great. Would buy again. Having said that the machine we have is the second one, the first had a major noise issue and was defective.
The normal noise level is acceptable, just depends on where you place the machine.
The awkward part is refilling the adjacent reservoir. You have to turn it upside down to fill then back over to place in its holder, no big deal but the base of the reservoir has an attachment for the water tube, which just slides over a male end. The problem is that it comes off easily and will empty water before you realize what has happened. I finally solved that by securing it with a small zip tie.
Again, the ice is great!

The ice it makes is excellent, and it makes plenty of it. It may fall short for a large gathering, but for 3-4 people it keeps up no problems.

It makes quite a bit of noise, and, as a counter top unit, that noise is projected all around the room, unlike a full-size refrigerator or a below-counter ice maker. Depending on the point in the cycle it goes from a noticeable, but not terrible amount of noise, to a loud whir and gurgle combination, to ridiculously loud screaming and grinding sound. When you get to the screaming phase, it needs water. It won’t tell you it needs water for another 15 minutes, but it does, and it will quieten down once fed.

It also needs to expel a lot of hot air out one side, the hot air was expected, of course, it is a tiny freezer, but it’s one-sided-ness was not. While facing the unit, the right-side rear is the air vent and you do not want to block this. I had to relocate things a bit once i discovered that.

I’ve had it going for 6 months now w/o issue, i use only ro filtered water in it, so no clogging or cleaning has been required. I have it on a schedule to run from about 8a to 10pm, and there’s usually plenty of ice left if you need an 11pm drink. If power is lost to the unit for long enough, it will forget the schedule. Wifi would be better than bt, or at least ble, the bt range is about 15′, so it’s only good for setting the schedules. Wifi ( and homekit and/or an api ) would be a worthwhile upgrade, but hardly necessary.

I did not get the external tank, will probably try to plumb it to the filtered water tap now that it’s worked through at least some of the warranty — as that will void the warranty. If you have more than a couple of people using it, the external tank is probably worthwhile, though expensive for what it is…

I bought this about a year ago. It made great ice, and plenty of it. I had so much trouble with it, i didnt even much care when it finally died. I had cleaned it according to instructions frequently, but it continually quit. I finally contacted the opal manufacturer. They said it was still under warranty. I paid them a $300 deposit, and they sent me another one, with instructions to return my old one for a refund. That went well. I put new one in service a few months ago, and decided to use only distilled water, as i think i had calcium build up on old unit. The new one has worked flawlessly all this time. I believe the difference is because i use distilled water. I highly recommend this for all users. I have a great water supply, but the opal is very finicky. It is worth the extra trouble and negligible expense to buy distilled water. The difference in reliability has been remarkable.

So far i love this ice machine. It took me a long time to actually order it because of the price, but i finally gave in and am so glad i did.
If your an ice eater this ice machine is for you!! It has a nice soft fluffy airy crunch. I don’t chew ice but if i did i’d be eating this ice all the time. I do however love nugget ice in my drinks and this make them so perfectly.
The unit itself is very pretty. I love how it looks. It does make some sounds but nothing too loud or annoying. It is in the manual as to what sound you may hear and what the machine is doing when it makes those noises.
All in all it’s great

This ice machine is something else. The type and taste of the ice is exactly what we were looking for…however it does growl at us from time to time. The se t up instructions were a little lacking but after set up, it works pretty good. At the weirdest time the machine makes loud grinding noises. We can never figure out what’s causing all the ruckus but turning it on, waiting about 5 minutes then turning back on seems to reset it. The longer it operates, the less it’s been growling…so far!

I like he machine overall but it does have quirks. Sometimes it has to be unplugged and reset. The color coding for the lighting helps but can be confusing when troubleshooting

The first one i bought didn’t work. Amazon was great with the return. The second one i got works well most of the time. The filter clogs up easily even with the reverse osmosis water that we use. When it works well it’s great!! When it’s not it is a pain. I don’t think that it produces the amount of ice that the description states. I fills the bin about 3 times a day.