the Simply-A-Blast

Update: We got the replacement one from Amazon (thank God for Amazon and their ease of refunds and replacements) and this one works perfectly!!! We definitely got a dud the first time. The whole family has been enjoying snow cones every night. Our only problem now is keeping enough snow cone syrup in the house. I probably should also say we reached out to the manufacturer when the first one didn't work and they took 3 days to respond and then said the blade could have moved during shipment and just to loosen the screws and fix it. Not really what you want to hear when you get a new product (sorry it's kindof broken but u can try and fix it) but we couldn't even try bc the screws were stripped on the machine. Anyways bottom line is Amazon was awesome and the replacement machine is working great and I would highly recommend to anyone.Snow cone machine arrived and my kids were so excited. We got everything unboxed and setup to make our first batch. Filled it with ice, held down the lever to apply slight pressure, and pressed the motor button. The blades were turning but no snow coming out. So we tried to apply more pressure and got nothing but water from the heat of the blades spinning but not actually shaving the ice. We emptied it all out and gave it time to cool off, watched videos to make sure we weren't missing a step, went and got a bag of ice to see if that would work better. Nothing helped. We have requested an exchange via Amazon so hoping the new one actually works but after reading the most recent reviews it looks like we aren't the only one who has had this problem. I did notice all the positive reviews are from over a year ago (or more) so makes me curious if the company's product quality has fallen through the years. Fingers crossed the new one gets here and works perfectly. If it does then I'll change my review, but I will say it sucks to wait 5 days to get this only to have to wait another 5 more days to get the replacement. I have a couple of disappointed kiddos to say the least.

Sorry for the novel, but I would like to write a full review and try to address some questions people had about this machine.1. It comes with a door. The door is plexiglass and the other three sides are glass.2. When the machine arrived, it required some simple assembly. The shaft from the motor that drives the blades was very, very loose. It needs to be secured with the included alan wrench. It is extremely easy to do. If the blades ever need adjusting, that too is incredibly simple. If you watch the YouTube video, it looks like a pain. I assure you, it's not. The factory settings for the blades were spot on and did not require adjusting.3. Will this shave ice? YES! If you freeze water inside of a plastic cup, it will shave it and leave virtually no ice, just light fluffy snow.4. If you use crushed ice, it will shave about 75% and leave the remaining 25% as small ice fragments.5. The machine is quiet. I was surprised by how quiet it was. It is about the same noise level as a dishwasher.6. It is heavy. That is the only negative I have found. That and it has no handles to make transport easy.We bought this because I was sick of the small units breaking down on me. We have it for home use but friends are wanting to use this at parties they have and we are more than happy to lend it out. If we encounter any problems, I will post it right away.

Worked well the 1st 5 times it was used, after that it started spitting out metal shavings into the ice. I can't tell where it's coming from but the unit no longer shaves ice it just hums when you push down on the lover and it spits out large chunks of ice after you hold the lever down For a couple minutes. It would be a good value for the price if it worked longer. I have a party rental business and this thing broke before I even remade the money back that I spent on it.

Not very good machine it doesn’t work properly the part on top to push the ice it’s to small everytime the ice comes on top of the part like the part is to small the drain plug doesn’t drain the water I would not recommend to buy this machine find something better

After checking the cost of renting a snow cone machine for several days for an upcoming event, I realized I could purchase a new, good quality unit for about the same price as a rental. After comparing various manufacturers and models, I settled on the Paragon Simply A Blast. It seemed like the best value for the features that it offered.The unit arrived well packaged in a sturdy box with plenty of foam cushioning in the corners, and was easy to set up. It was ready to go out of the box, with the exception of attaching the pusher to the grinding assembly, a matter of removing and retightening one bolt.This is a heavy unit and is definately not portable. It weighs about 50 pounds and there are no handles or convenient spots to grab it on the bottom to carry it around. The two sides and the "back" -- the side away from the operator, are glass panels and the front side is open. The glass does add to the weight -- polycarbonate panels would make it lighter, but also more expensive.I will probably purchase a door kit, as ice does splatter around when it shoots down into the tray. Some ice does fly out the open front side and goes onto the operator and onto the floor. Not a big nuisance but it could be if you were running it all day and didn't have an apron on.Also included is a useful owner's manual, an allen wrench for adjusting the blades to make finer or coarser ice, and a plastic scoop for making snow cones.Overall, I like this unit a lot and have plans for lots of ways to use this to make some extra money on the side after the big event is over that I purchased it for.