Blue Air BLDN-280A 16" Countertop Nugget Ice & Water Dispenser with 10 lb Storage

They are the same 16" countertop nugget platform — same 282 lbs per 24 hours, same 10 lb bin, same R-290 air-cooled system. The -OS suffix designates Blue Air's optical-sensor version, which dispenses touch-free when an infrared sensor detects a cup. The BLDN-280A listed here is the standard-dispense model, and it is the one to specify unless a hands-free requirement, such as an infection-control policy, pushes you to the sensor build.

The 282 lbs per 24 hours figure is measured to AHRI Standard 821 at 70 °F ambient air with 50 °F incoming water. Push the machine into a 100 °F room on 90 °F supply water and output drops to 200.6 lbs per 24 hours. Plan around the hot number if the dispenser will sit near a cook line, a dish area or in an unconditioned space, and remember that the operating limits are 45–100 °F ambient and 45–90 °F water.

It is, because this is a dispenser rather than a bin machine. The BLDN-280A is built to make ice more or less continuously and hand it straight into the cup, so the 10 lbs is a working buffer, not a reserve. That is what keeps the cabinet down to 16" wide, and it means the ice served is minutes old rather than hours. If you also need a standing reserve for catering or bar prep, pair it with a separate head-and-bin machine.

A 3/8" nominal ID water supply line running between 10 and 100 PSIG, and a gravity drain of at least 3/4" ID in hard pipe, PVC or equivalent. Supply water must sit in the 45–90 °F band. Nugget evaporators are sensitive to scale, so a plumber should look at your water quality before the machine goes in — the auto drain mode helps by clearing the reservoir instead of leaving water to sit.

Blue Air calls for 6" (15 cm) of clearance at the rear, at both sides and above the cabinet, both for air circulation and so panels can be pulled for maintenance. Do not drop this dispenser into a tight millwork cutout without that air path; an air-cooled condenser starved of air is the fastest way to lose production. The filters are removable and washable, and cleaning them is the single highest-value bit of routine maintenance on the unit.

A standard 115 V, 60 Hz single-phase receptacle, with a minimum circuit ampacity of 7 amps and a maximum fuse or breaker size of 15 amps; the acceptable voltage range is 100–130 V. It ships with a 9.8 ft (3 m) cord and molded plug, so no hard-wiring is involved. Shipping weight is 161 lbs (73 kg), which is worth knowing if it has to be lifted onto a counter or onto the optional BLDS-16-32 stand.