We have the GE Monogram and I absolutely love it. Yes, sometimes it is oh so quiet and then it will go through spells where it is horribly noisy. Had the repairmen out several times and they are worthless. What I have learned to do is turn it off when I am in the kitchen and it is loud. It's just a cooler afterall and not a refrigerator, so it doesn't affect the ice already made. Also, this resets the machine and it isn't noisy again right away. Then I turn it back on at night or whenever I am leaving the area. I have been doing this for a year or so and it doesn't seem to be hurting it. I have about 6 months left on my extended warranty. By the way, I forgive it this annoyance because I am so happy with the ice!

Clear ice makers, by design, don't freeze the ice. U-Line does make a combo unit, but it's effectively a beverage center and a clear ice maker side-by-side in the same unit and sharing a compressor. The ice bin in a clear ice unit is insulated, but not refrigerated. The older ice in the bottom of the bin is constantly melting and being replaced with fresh ice. (For this reason, clear ice is also called "wet ice".) This, plus the flushing action after each harvest cycle, requires a drain. All stuff that keeps the ice always fresh, but uses a lot more water. This is why restaurant/hotel ice is so different than the stuff you get from your fridge. Basically, there is no way to put a clear ice machine in a fridge, because it needs to be separate. Also do be aware that clear icemakers are much noisier than regular residential icemakers - this is largely because of the different technique used to make the ice and is not particularly model-specific. BTW, I have the CLRCO2075 (older version of the U-Line mentioned above) and it's moderately noisy but works well. Loud clunk during harvest, no one's getting around that. The water valve is LOUD during fill - definitely the most annoying noise it makes. Circulation pump's pretty quiet, only slightly louder than my Miele dishwasher. Recovery time on the fridge side is great - it maintains temperature in there much better than a "dorm fridge" even though it's a similar size of unit.

Thank you so much for all your thoughtful responses. I'm pleased to say i awoke this morning to see ice had collected in the bucket. Last night, i used a hair dryer (of all things!) to melt some ice that had hardened around and within the black rubber tube that apparently feeds water into the ice tray. Although i'm not entirely certain this will represent a long-term fix, for now at least it seems i may have dodged this home-maintenance bullet. Thank you again for your thoughts everyone, and have a great New Year!

Depends on which machine. Look at the specs.