<img src="/images/uploads/2008/02/ice.jpg’ alt=‘Ice’ class=“alignright” />I discovered today (and I should have known but I’d never bothered to think about it before) that my refrigerator has no less than three computers inside of it—possibly more. With those kinds of brains you’d think it could do my taxes and help my kids with their homework. Instead, it’s having difficulty just trying to make ice. It’s an idiot savant of refrigerators.

The ice maker alone has two of those computers and consists of an electrically controlled water valve, an infrared emitter, an infrared receiver and control module, an electric motor and control module, a heater, an air blower, and lots of plastic. That’s not even counting the ice dispenser which is a whole nother ball of wax. Each component is unrepairable, disposable and costs between $50 and $150.

For ice.

I’m no luddite, but today I was seriously questioning if my automatic ice maker really makes my life any better. I don’t have any traumatic memories about making my own ice as a child. When I recall filling ice cube trays I don’t recoil in loathing at the terrible burden it was. I doubt if I’ll include “making ice” in my list of miserable chores when I tell my kids how much easier they have it than I did when I was their age.

But my ice maker. Even when it’s working you’ve got to dump out the bin ever couple of weeks because the ice gets funky, and the chute jams, and then it unjams just when you don’t have a glass underneath it, and the water filter needs replacing every 6 months.

Bah. Maybe I am a luddite. Can I blog from a cave?

Comments

1. knwd on 2008-02-11 06:42:14 wrote: A good friend of mine owned an appliance shop, and when we were buying appliances for our new house, he told us that the vast majority of their repair issues come from ice makers. Apparently, it’s a problem with all manufacturers. Since my friend is a compulsively honest salesperson, he recommended that we buy a fridge without an automatic ice maker. (He also told us that stainless steel appliances are overpriced.) One of my husband’s great joys in life is ice on demand, without the inconvenience of filling or trying to pry ice cubes out of the trays, so we ignored his advice and got a fridge with an ice maker. So far, we’ve had good luck, but I won’t be surprised when our luck runs out.

2. Elaine on 2008-02-11 11:24:37 wrote: We had a fridge with an auto icemaker when I was a kid. The fridge way outlasted the icemaker, plus the connection leaked messed up our parquet floor. Now I’m grown and I buy bagged ice. I think most people here in Arizona do. McDonalds: 69 cents a bag.

3. toyfoto on 2008-02-11 14:43:12 wrote: The ice maker (seconded now by the water dispenser) is the bane of my existence.

4. JeffW on 2008-02-20 14:47:25 wrote: Having gone the first 10-12 years of our marriage with old frig’s that didn’t have ice-makers, getting a nice new frig 2 years ago with ice-maker and even crushed ice via door dispenser, I come down on the side that says life just isn’t worth living without it. ;-) Ice trays and buying bags of ice is for those poor souls who haven’t yet experienced the joy… (of course that joy turns to hatred fast enough when it breaks and the joy is withheld from me) Though I’d agree that appliance repair, and lack of repair, sucks. We’re lucky to have a good appliance repair place near us that can come out, or can order parts for me to fix things. Check around, maybe there is one near you. Small shops are best in general, though places like Sears can order most parts for their lines.

5. John on 2008-02-20 15:08:30 wrote: I spent a couple of hours troubleshooting it that day, going through the diagnostics from the repair manual, and ordered replacement parts online. It was making ice again within an hour after receiving them. Now that it’s working again, I don’t know how I lived without it for so long. I heart my ice maker. :-) In retrospect, a lot of the misery that comes with modern appliances is caused by a lack of understanding. On the other hand, if I know how something works and can fix it, it doesn’t bother me nearly as much when it breaks. And now I’m in that happy place with my ice maker.