My Hoshizaki ice machine runs all the time but barely makes ice. What is wrong?

That pattern usually points to two things: scale on the evaporator plate or a hot-gas valve that will not harvest right. Hard Bay Area water builds scale on the plate, which slows the freeze and shrinks the cubes, so the machine runs long and produces little. A hung hot-gas valve either skips harvest or dumps thin ice. We watch a full cycle, descale or clean as needed, and meter the valve coil to sort which one it is. Both are common and both are worth fixing on a KM cuber.

How fast can you get to my restaurant if the ice machine is down?

We are based in San Ramon and run the East Bay and South Bay daily, so most commercial calls in our area get same-day or next-day service. A down ice machine in a restaurant or bar is a priority on our board, not a routine appointment. Call (925) 999-4095 with your model and serial and we will route the nearest truck and tell you what we are bringing.

Is it worth repairing an older Hoshizaki KM cuber or should I replace it?

Usually worth repairing. Hoshizaki builds the KM series to run a long time, and most no-ice faults are one part, a valve, a pump, a sensor, or just heavy scale, not a failing machine. A new commercial cuber runs several thousand dollars installed with the bin and water hookup. Most KM repairs land well under that. We diagnose the exact cause and quote it in writing first so you can make the call with a real number in front of you.

Do you do preventive maintenance so the machine does not go down again?

Yes. On the hard water in this region a Hoshizaki needs descaling and a condenser clean on a regular interval, or scale will choke production again within months. We respect the Hoshizaki maintenance schedule and offer a flat-rate twice-yearly service contract for restaurants and bars in the East Bay and South Bay. Keeping the water side clean is the single biggest thing that keeps a KM cuber off the repair list.

HOSHIZAKI COMMERCIAL ICE MACHINE · LOS ALTOS HILLS

Hoshizaki commercial ice machine repair in Los Altos Hills? We fix it.

A Hoshizaki KM cuber that stops making ice, or makes half its rated batch, is rarely a dead machine. These run a long time when the water side is kept up, so a no-ice or low-ice call almost always traces to one part: a hung hot-gas valve, a worn water pump, or scale choking the evaporator. We find the one fault and fix that, not the whole unit.

$75 diagnostic (waived with repair)
Same-day best effort
CSLB #1136642

Call (925) 999-4095

Why this happens

What we look for first.

Scale on the evaporator plate (Bay Area hard water). Municipal water across the East Bay and South Bay runs hard, and mineral scale builds on the KM evaporator plate faster than the manual implies. As the plate fouls, the cubes get cloudy and small, the harvest takes longer, and daily production drops 20 to 30 percent off the rated number. Left long enough the unit short-cycles and the bridge between cubes never clears. We descale the evaporator and water system with the proper acid, inspect the plate coating for damage, and put the machine back on a cleaning interval so it does not come back in three months.
Hot-gas valve hung open or stuck closed. The hot-gas valve drives the harvest cycle by warming the plate to release the slab. When the coil fails or the valve sticks, you get one of two pictures: the unit runs continuously and never harvests, or it harvests early and dumps thin ice. This is our most common no-ice call on the KM series. We isolate the valve, meter the coil resistance, and replace with the OEM part. Aftermarket coils on these do not hold up, so we do not use them.
Water pump motor worn or seized. The recirculating water pump wears its bearings around year seven on the KM units. Early symptom is a noisy pump at startup, then the machine produces but throws a high-amp condition intermittently and eventually quits filling the plate evenly. The impeller usually cracks once the bearing goes. We replace the pump assembly rather than just the motor, because a cracked impeller will take out a new motor in short order.
Water inlet, float, or fill problems. No water to the plate means no ice, and the cause is usually upstream of the freezing system. A clogged inlet screen, a failed water-inlet valve, or a stuck float in the reservoir all starve the pump. The machine may run a full freeze cycle on too little water and produce a few hollow cubes or none. We check inlet pressure, clean or replace the inlet valve and screen, and verify the float and reservoir level before condemning anything downstream.
Dirty condenser or condenser fan fault (air-cooled units). Air-cooled KM machines sitting in a hot kitchen or a tight back bay pack the condenser coil with grease and dust. When the coil is blocked or the condenser fan motor fails, head pressure climbs, the freeze cycle stretches out, and the unit either makes soft ice or locks out on a high-temperature safety. We clean the condenser, confirm the fan spins free and pulls correct amperage, and check the bay for airflow clearance so it is not pulling its own warm exhaust back in.
Control board or harvest-cycle sensor fault. The KM control board runs the freeze and harvest timing off thermistor and float inputs. When a sensor drifts or a relay on the board burns, the machine mistimes the cycle: harvesting too early, freezing too long, or stalling between cycles with no fault that points anywhere mechanical. We meter the sensor inputs and check the board outputs against the cycle before we condemn a board, since a cheap drifted thermistor mimics a bad board far too often. If the board is truly bad we source the correct part by model and serial.

How we diagnose and fix it

The walk-in workflow.

01
Pull the model and serial, confirm air-cooled or water-cooled, and read any error code or status light on the control.
02
Watch a full freeze and harvest cycle: does the plate fill evenly, does the cube bridge form, does the slab release on harvest.
03
Check the water side first, inlet pressure, inlet valve, screen, float, and reservoir level, since no water means no ice.
04
Meter the hot-gas valve coil and the water pump for resistance and amperage, the two most common KM no-ice parts.
05
Inspect the evaporator plate for scale and clean or descale the condenser, then verify the condenser fan amperage on air-cooled units.
06
If water, valve, pump, and condenser check out, read the control board sensor inputs and outputs against the cycle, then quote the confirmed part in writing.

Serving Los Altos Hills

Los Altos Hills: response and coverage.

Los Altos Hills sits on the Peninsula. We work it on planned Peninsula days. Same-week scheduling.

Neighborhoods we cover regularly in Los Altos Hills: Westwind Barn area, Page Mill corridor, Adobe Creek. Beyond those, our service area in Los Altos Hills covers the city limits.

Los Altos Hills kitchens mix Sub-Zero and Wolf in the 90s and 2000s estate remodels with newer Thermador, Bosch, and Fisher & Paykel in tech-driven rebuilds. Outdoor U-Line wine and beverage centers are common in pool-side kitchens.

Pricing and warranty

What it costs. What we stand behind.

$75

Diagnostic visit. Waived when you book the repair with us.
Typical

A descale and full cleaning service typically runs about $250 to $450 depending on machine size and how badly it is scaled. A hot-gas valve, water-inlet valve, or thermistor with the part installed usually lands in the $300 to $600 range. A water pump assembly runs roughly $400 to $700. Condenser fan motor replacement on an air-cooled unit sits around $350 to $600. A control board is the expensive piece and can reach $700 to $1,200 by model and serial, which is why we rule out the cheaper parts first. We diagnose, then put the exact part and labor on paper before we start.
Warranty

You get a parts and labor warranty in writing before any work starts. Consumable items like cleaning service and inlet screens carry around 90 days, and major components such as the hot-gas valve, water pump, condenser fan motor, and control board carry 1 year. We list the part, the price, and the labor up front so you know exactly what is covered before we open the panel.

FAQ

Hoshizaki Hoshizaki ice machine in Los Altos Hills questions.

My Hoshizaki ice machine runs all the time but barely makes ice. What is wrong?

That pattern usually points to two things: scale on the evaporator plate or a hot-gas valve that will not harvest right. Hard Bay Area water builds scale on the plate, which slows the freeze and shrinks the cubes, so the machine runs long and produces little. A hung hot-gas valve either skips harvest or dumps thin ice. We watch a full cycle, descale or clean as needed, and meter the valve coil to sort which one it is. Both are common and both are worth fixing on a KM cuber.
How fast can you get to my restaurant if the ice machine is down?

We are based in San Ramon and run the East Bay and South Bay daily, so most commercial calls in our area get same-day or next-day service. A down ice machine in a restaurant or bar is a priority on our board, not a routine appointment. Call (925) 999-4095 with your model and serial and we will route the nearest truck and tell you what we are bringing.
Is it worth repairing an older Hoshizaki KM cuber or should I replace it?

Usually worth repairing. Hoshizaki builds the KM series to run a long time, and most no-ice faults are one part, a valve, a pump, a sensor, or just heavy scale, not a failing machine. A new commercial cuber runs several thousand dollars installed with the bin and water hookup. Most KM repairs land well under that. We diagnose the exact cause and quote it in writing first so you can make the call with a real number in front of you.
Do you do preventive maintenance so the machine does not go down again?

Yes. On the hard water in this region a Hoshizaki needs descaling and a condenser clean on a regular interval, or scale will choke production again within months. We respect the Hoshizaki maintenance schedule and offer a flat-rate twice-yearly service contract for restaurants and bars in the East Bay and South Bay. Keeping the water side clean is the single biggest thing that keeps a KM cuber off the repair list.

Nearby cities

Hoshizaki hoshizaki ice machine repair near Los Altos Hills.

Also in Los Altos Hills

Other repairs we do in Los Altos Hills.

Ready to book the Los Altos Hills call?

Tell us the model and the symptom. We will quote it.

Call (925) 999-4095