This entry was submitted by Bradley P. Miller and edited by Rob Spiegel.
About three and a half years ago, we purchased a new counter-top depth Bosch refrigerator. It was a full-featured model with ice maker, through-the-door dispenser, and touch-panel controls. About two years after purchase, I found a small piece of plastic in the bottom of the glass I was drinking from. Perplexed, I examined the dispenser and the ice maker to find where the plastic came from. Nothing.
So, I dismissed it -- until the next day. I was at work when my wife called and said the refrigerator had spit up on the floor. I came home and found water dripping from the dispenser. Inside, the freezer looked like an ice cave. Frozen water splattered from the ice maker hung everywhere. The tray was full of ice, the timed dump function would rotate the tray, but no ice came out. Then the water came on to fill what should have been an empty tray and water splattered everywhere.
I removed the ice maker but could not figure out what was failing or where the mysterious plastic piece came from. The plastic piece was even a different color (off white) than the tray and rest of the assembly.
Time for the Internet. I found an article by someone who had the same problem and ended up replacing the ice maker. OK. I ordered a replacement ($165). When it arrived, I was able to compare the old to new. I discovered where the small plastic piece came from. It was a tab at the rear of the tray that stressed over time and broke. Seems the tray is rotated 90 degrees from a front drive unit and the tab gets stopped halfway around, causing a twisting action and dumping out the ice. The tab discoloration is probably due to the stress and deformation over time. Well, the replacement has the same design –- no improvements. I am coming up on two years with the replacement maker. Want to bet I will be replacing it in the near future?
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Most icemakers have a heater that melts the interface between the ice that has formed in the tray and the tray. If the ice tray fails to dump it is usually due to failure of the heater. The broken plastic tab was probably due to the failure of the ice to come loose from the tray. In the end the icemaker would have to be replaced but there is no guarantee that the heater will fail again in 2 years. I have had icemakers to last 20 years and one that failed (due to a bad heater) in a year.
In Austeralia, a fault like that is covered under warranty. CONSUMER AFFAIRS states that a product must be suitable for the purpose it is intended and must last a reasonable length of time. For a TV it is 3 years and a fridge is 5-7 years.
What is a counter-top fridge? There are small refrigerators that fit on a counter, but typically these don't have icemakers or are of the store display variety. Neither seems applicable to this article. Some consumers have counter-DEPTH refrigerators. I am interested in knowing the type of refrigerator to determine the economic practicality of continuing to spend money on new ice makers.
Ice makers, yes, but don't forget about the cars, Rob. Seems automakers are getting a bit lazy when it comes to designing the latest models in recent years. From CD players that eat CDs simply because you need to change the battery, to impossible to get to oil pans, seems readers may want to stick with the model they bought in '92 rather than upgrade.
Of all the Made for Monkeys submissions, one of the most common involves ice makers that fail. The results are often comical. They typically involve ice and water on the floor or unintended ice sculptures in the freezer.
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