Undercounter Units · 315I · 315IP
Sub-Zero 315I and 315IP: Service Notes on the Older Undercounter Ice Maker
Service notes, and nothing beyond that. This page does not say whether to keep a 315I or let it go; it sets out what the machine was built to have around it, and what goes wrong once it does not.
LA Sub-Zero Repair Pros works on these units across the Westside and the West Valley — (310) 919-2538.
Written byElena Sandoval
- Role
- Refrigeration technician — cabinet, door and seal work
- In the trade
- 24 years in the trade
- Certification
- EPA 608 certified
Where the water goes
A 315I drains by gravity: a tube pitched down from the outlet at the back to the sewer, horizontal runs falling a quarter of an inch in every twelve. The 315IP has a pump built in and lifts its water a storey. Poor drainage shows not as a leak but as ice melting in the bin faster than the machine replaces it.
What West Valley water does to it
About three quarts go in each cycle, and roughly a quart of that rinses the reservoir and leaves down the drain: overfilling during harvest is how the design stops mineral concentrating. Hard supply defeats that in the end and scale builds anyway. A softener is not recommended for an ice maker, so cleaning rather than treatment is the answer.
What actually fails on this series
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Scale through the reservoir and the bin liner
Malformed cubes first, then cubes that stick together, then a machine working harder for less. The published clean puts an acid cleaner into the reservoir with the unit running about two hours.
Quoted once the machine is open, because how far the scale has travelled decides the job.
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The inlet water valve is not delivering
Cubes too small, cubes white at the bottom, a reservoir never filling to depth. The manual sends you to the supply and the inlet screen before the valve.
Ice maker, water valve or supply line $300–$840
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No air moving at the grille
Either the fan motor has failed or the condenser is completely blocked. On this generation the manual asks for the condenser to be vacuumed two or three times a year.
Evaporator or condenser fan motor $310–$680
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Frozen up, with ice stuck on the evaporator
The unit runs and nothing lands in the bin. Worth checking: the supply and its filter, the inlet valve, the hot gas valve, and a harvest time set too short at the timer.
Harvest time and cube size are set inside the control box and are a technician's adjustment, so this is put right on the visit rather than priced from a list.
Ranges are bands, not quotes. You get a firm figure for your own unit after the diagnosis and before a part is fitted, and the $89 visit comes off it.
Asked about the 315I · 315IP
Is the acid clean something an owner should be doing?
Part of it. The ice maker cleaner contains acids and can burn, so gloves, ventilation and reading the bottle come first, and anyone unsure should leave it. What is definitely not an owner job is cube size or harvest timing: the manual reserves both for a technician. LA Sub-Zero Repair Pros, (310) 919-2538.
Would a water softener fix the cubes?
Sub-Zero says no, and says it plainly: softeners are not recommended for ice makers, and where water is very hard the softened supply can give white, mushy cubes that stick together. Deionised water is out as well, and reverse osmosis is acceptable only with post treatment. Regular cleaning is what the manual asks for instead.