the Arctic Blast

EDIT 07/23/09: Another month and another trade event. I made approximately 500-600 snow cones at this event and the machine performed perfectly without any problems at all. This machine is certainly well built and will serve you well. I can't recommend this machine highly enough. ORIGINAL REVIEW FOLLOWS: I bought this unit for a three-day trade event and it performed perfectly. I easily made back the purchase price of the unit without issue, so the price point on this item is wonderful. The motor is strong and it crushes ice quickly if left at the factory setting. I found that the ice is a bit coarse for some people as calibrated at the factory, so I adjusted the blades to produce a VERY fine snow. The finer snow absorbs the flavorings much better than coarse ice and has a more "Italian Ice" look to it. The instruction manual for the unit does not tell you how to adjust the blades, so I will tell you now: 1. MAKE SURE THE UNIT IS UNPLUGGED! 2. Lay the unit on its side, with the door facing up. 3. Use the hex wrench that came with the machine to loosen the blade assembly set screws. This is done be reaching into the hole that the ice falls from when grinding, rotating the assembly, then finding the set screws. You will need to rotate the assembly again when the screws are loose or they will make contact when you try to remove the cutter assembly. 4. Push the cutter assembly off the shaft and into the ice chute. Be careful not to cut yourself on the sharp blades. 5. Use a flat-head screwdriver to loosen the two screws on each blade. 6. Move the blades IN to shave the ice finer or OUT for a course, crushed ice. 7. Tighten the screws and reassemble the unit. You will need to experiment a bit to get the perfect shave/crush, but it is worth it. Things to note: The ice tray does not drain very well, so you might want to prop up the end opposite the drain in order to help water flow to the drain. I also backed the drain out until the plastic portion that goes into the pan was flush with the inside of the pan in order to help it drain better. You WILL spill water all over the place when you try to clean the tray if you don't use some towels to dry it before attempting to remove it, as you have to lean the tray considerably to get the drain to come out of the case. Another suggestion is to put a plug in the drain when you are removing the tray, otherwise water will certainly pour out if you don't soak up water from it. The motor seems to be very strong and I expect it to run for quite some time. I made hundreds of snow cones without any issues and the machine performed perfectly the whole time. The product information doesn't mention it, but there is a decal on the front of the unit that says "Sno-Cones." The decal looks nice and helps advertise your product. Overall, I would give this unit an 8.5 out of 10. Highly recommended.

We purchased this machine to use for our parties especially childrens parties. This machine is rock solid, easy to use and makes sno-cone's with ease. FYI, we never used this type of machine before and honestly it doesn't matter if you did or didn't. It's pretty self-explanatory. Just do yourself a favor and buy good syrups. We used the Hawaiian Shaved Ice brand based on various recommendations and were they a hit!! Back to the machine, Paragon makes this machine like a rock. It's very stable and solid and clean up is a breeze but similar to other reviewers if you wish to use the drainage feature (hole in the back) get a longer hose and prop up the back of the tray to allow the water to flow out the tube. Otherwise, it just collects in the tray. This was of no consequence to us as we just tipped the tray and it's such a small flaw to an otherwise great machine!!

Great Machine. I did an event where we were doing three or four cones per MINUTE, for hours on end. Solid! PLEASE READ PRIOR TO INSTALLING ROTATING CUTTING HEAD: As it was delivered to me, there were only two things to assemble. One: put the plastic door on the hinge. Two: install the circular cutting head (which has the two blades on it.) I noticed when I first fitted it in and tightened it down, it was touching the adjacent ice flume walls. Clearly, something was wrong. If I had run the motor in that state, undoubtedly, I would have produced metal shavings, owing to the misalignment of the cutting head - it would not have been seated properly on the drive shaft. What buyers need to know is that the drive shaft for the circular cutting head has ONE FLAT SIDE to it - the rest is circular, as you would expect a drive shaft to be. The key to not rubbing is making sure that the two screws on the circular cutting head are being screwed into the FLAT part of the drive shaft. I found it easiest to just rotate the drive shaft until the flat part was on the bottom, and then with my right hand, to slide the circular cutting head onto the drive shaft, with the screws at the bottom. Then, you ease your head into the big ice box, look up, and tighten the screws with the long hex key provided by the manufacturer. Unrelated note: I found that one Walmart bag of ice produces 30 cones.

This machine came with the blades too far apart but it was easy for my husband to fix them. It shaves the ice nicely. I was very dissapointed in how small the box was. It was my fault for not paying closer attention to the dimensions but I had been looking at the economy version which was nice and wide so I assumed this was at least as wide since the other one is said to be the economy version. Over all it is a good machine but I really think it should be much wider as I would not have bought this one had I paid closer attention. I would have bought the other one.

We've only used it once, but so far we love it! We made a mix of water and sweetened condensed milk and froze it. When we shaved it, it was just like snow cream! We also tried ice cubes from the freezer and the consistency was the same - nice fluffy shaved ice. The plastic liner tray is very nice an pliable - easy to remove and clean. The entire system is very east to clean. It arrived on time and was packed very well. The only concern that I see will be how to keep the ice cool when your using the machine outside. We're looking into keeping jell packs under the tray and maybe packing the packs around the outside. We're also looking into a collapsible cart to make it a little easier to transport - it is a bit heavy, but we knew that when we purchased it. We wanted something sturdy that made fluffy ice, so unfortunately that's the price to pay to get it.

I did a lot of research before buying this machine and it seemed like it got great reviews. When I received mine, it had obviously been returned by someone else and then sent to me. Never a good sign. But it was a Christmas present for the kids, so I hoped for the best. Unfortunately, it did not work. The motor ran fine, but it wouldn't shave the ice. The blade probably needed to be adjusted or something, but I did not want to take it apart. The kids were so disappointed and it was really heavy and a pain to repackage and return. I wish Amazon would not resell items that other people return for being defective.

This machine is a beast. I've used it all summer long for 2 years with zero problems. Very well built. Everything I've seen from this company is very high quality and built right here in Iowa. I recently purchased the spin magic 5 cotton candy machine and it's just as solid.

Purchased this to use as rewards at a school. Motor is a little loud but not obnoxious. It takes a lot of ice to make the sno-cones. Not too heavy to move when necessary. Easy to clean up after use. Would have to have a couple of people assisting if using for a larger crowd.