Dave's
Dictionary of
Appliance Terms
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Ice
dispenser
– Refrigerator mechanism that, well, dispenses ice. Most can provide
whole cubes or crush it on the way through. Also dispenses chilled
water.
Icemaker
– Here’s a device that has spoiled me rotten! Before we had ours, we
juggled 5 ice trays and a storage bin and always seemed to be running
out of ice cubes. No more! And the good news is, most modern units are
very reliable. Don’t be without one! In case you live in Alaska (just
kidding!), these little machines make ice cubes and drop them into a
bin, 24/7.
Icemaker
bail
– Usually a piece of stainless steel wire that senses the level of ice
cubes in the storage bin, turning the unit off when the bin gets full.
The icemaker raises this bail during every ‘harvest’ cycle, the
lowers it again, and if it contacts ice, turns off a switch that shuts
down ice production until it is lowered by ice usage.
Icemaker
fill level
– Most overlooked cause of icemaker problems. Whenever any change is
made to an icemaking system – new unit installed, fill valve replaced,
etc, this must be checked and adjusted. I use a baby bottle to check
fill level, since we measure cc’s of water and baby bottles happen to
be graduated in cc’s. I covered this procedure in a newsletter
back-issue, and there’s an article on the website covering it. But
basically you want to adjust the icemaker to fill with around 140 cc’s
per cycle. This amount varies a little bit between icemaker styles, but
not by much.
Icemaker
fill tube
– This little plastic tube, sometimes with an aluminum extension
attached, angles down through the back of a refrigerator’s cabinet,
into the back of an icemaker. Water enters through this tube and fills
the icemaker’s cube mould.
Icemaker
module
– Newer icemaker ‘brains’ can be replaced as an assembly, making
repair quick and easy. Compared to older icemakers, whose switches,
gears, and cams were replaced individually, this does save time. These
are les reliable, however – that’s the trade-off.
Icemaker
mold
– The actual ‘cube tray’ that forms the ‘cubes’ into their
shape (not actual cubes, but now I’m sounding like a geek!)
Idler
– A roller and spring that supplies tension to a belt. Used in dryers,
and some belt-drive washers.
Igniter
– A gas appliance component that, well, ignites the gas flame. These
days they’re made of a carborundum compound that glows when voltage is
applied.
Impeller
– We can call this a fan blade that moves liquid, usually water in our
applications.
Insulation,
fiberglass
– Used in your attic, and also in old refrigerators and freezers.
Susceptible to moisture absorption, which is not a good characteristic
for refrigerator insulation. Was often packaged in large plastic bags
before being assembled into refrigerator or freezer walls, to help keep
it dry.
Insulation,
urethane
– A very efficient, widely used foam insulation that is injected into
a cabinet in two chemical parts, expanding to fill voids very well. A
closed-cell foam, which means it’s waterproof – a huge advantage
over earlier insulation types.
Interlock
switch
– Attached to door and lid mechanisms to prevent us from hurting
ourselves, these are used in microwave ovens, some locking washers (all
front-loaders), trash compactors, and some newer appliance access
panels.
Inverter
– Electronic circuitry commonly used to convert DC voltage to a form
of AC. Limited use in microwave ovens to replace the high voltage
transformer, which is much heavier. (When you pick up an inverter
microwave oven, you’ll think you’re lifting a toaster oven!) More
expensive to produce – at least at this writing, so not yet widely
used. In my experience, not nearly as long-lasting and reliable as a
transformer system, either.
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