New "Smart" Fridge

[billt460]

So the icemaker finally went on our 18 year old Kenmore Fridge / Freezer. (Ice maker froze into a solid mass of ice). They wanted $350.00 for a new one installed. Too much for such an old unit.

So off to Lowe's we go and buy a new Whirlpool. We bought a middle of the road model side x side, with water and ice in the door. In 48 hours it only made 3 trays of ice. (The freezer temp was -10F). My dog needs more ice in weather like this.

I called Lowe's and talked to a guy in the appliance department, thinking the unit had a bum ice maker. He told me it has sensors, that have to "learn" how much ice you need. He told me the more ice we used, the more it would make. I'm thinking as he's telling me this, he's been smoking something funny that used to be illegal.

Older ice makers had an arm. When the level of ice in the bin pushed the arm up, it quit making ice. Pull the arm down and it made more. ON or OFF. Simple. So we kept using all the ice it made, and ran the auger until it was empty. Usually emptying it out before bed....

Sure enough, after a week it started making ice like crazy. Talk about over complicating something. I never heard of an appliance you had to "fool" in order for it to work the way you want it to. I shudder to think how much a new ice maker cost on this thing. Now it will fill up the bin overnight.

 

[levi]

So the icemaker finally went on our 18 year old Kenmore Fridge / Freezer. (Ice maker froze into a solid mass of ice). They wanted $350.00 for a new one installed. Too much for such an old unit.

So off to Lowe's we go and buy a new Whirlpool. We bought a middle of the road model side x side, with water and ice in the door. In 48 hours it only made 3 trays of ice. (The freezer temp was -10F). My dog needs more ice in weather like this.

I called Lowe's and talked to a guy in the appliance department, thinking the unit had a bum ice maker. He told me it has sensors, that have to "learn" how much ice you need. He told me the more ice we used, the more it would make. I'm thinking as he's telling me this, he's been smoking something funny that used to be illegal.

Older ice makers had an arm. When the level of ice in the bin pushed the arm up, it quit making ice. Pull the arm down and it made more. ON or OFF. Simple. So we kept using all the ice it made, and ran the auger until it was empty. Usually emptying it out before bed....

Sure enough, after a week it started making ice like crazy. Talk about over complicating something. I never heard of an appliance you had to "fool" in order for it to work the way you want it to. I shudder to think how much a new ice maker cost on this thing. Now it will fill up the bin overnight.

We recently bought one like yours, apparently. A Whirlpool side by side with ice and water through the door. First few days the ice volume was pretty low. Didn't think we were gonna like it. But just as you experienced, it seems just fine now. Didn't ever consider it might have a computer chip "learning" our usage.

Our old unit had an arm, too, that the ice level pushed up to turn it off.

And I bet you're right on the cost of replacement if ever needed. Progress, Huh?

 

[Lubener]

That is a good reason where strong consideration be given to repairing an older appliance. Your 18 year old fridge may have outlasted your new "smart" fridge.

 

[Kira]

It's paradoxical.
The more functions an assembly is designed to perform, the less well it'll do any of them. Consider getting a free standing ice maker. When it breaks down it'll likely be easier and cheaper to repair than a downsized unit shoe-horned into a fridge.

An ice making contraption in a fridge will sooner or later be too expensive to repair.
Any data on how often the arm on older ice makers breaks? just askin'
Unavailable chips are the new shorthand for "relent and just buy a new one" just like "insurance regulations" meant "Get out and don't watch us".

And my personal favorite, "We got to the Moon 53 years ago and ......."

To the OP: How does your dog use ice? Is he a bartender?

 

[BornSlippy]

That is a good reason where strong consideration be given to repairing an older appliance. Your 18 year old fridge may have outlasted your new "smart" fridge.

If you can find the parts. I had a door hinge break on a Whirlpool front load washer. Washer was right around 5 years old and the hinge was no longer available.

 

[JustinH]

that was the reason we bought a normal fridge with an icemaker arm in the freezer.

Our last fancy fridge, everything broke on it.

 

[billt460]

To the OP: How does your dog use ice? Is he a bartender?

He is very active. And out here the outdoor temps are very high this time of year, and dogs can dehydrate easily. If I keep ice in his water bowl, he drinks a lot more. Dogs are like us, they don't like to drink warm water.

 

[billt460]

that was the reason we bought a normal fridge with an icemaker arm in the freezer.

Those are getting all but impossible to find these days. Especially with the supply chain mess. Lowe's had very few models available. Most were backordered from the manufacturer, with no set delivery date available. You basically have to pay everything up front, then wait. They told us it could take up to 6 months or more.

The one we ended up getting was at their L.A. warehouse, and still took 8 days to get. Everything that was available in the store were all $3K+ models, with TV screens on the door so you can see what's inside. 2 freezer compartments. Cold juice dispensers, and they were HUGE. Simple is getting harder and harder to find on ANY appliance today.

 

[levi]

That is a good reason where strong consideration be given to repairing an older appliance. Your 18 year old fridge may have outlasted your new "smart" fridge.

My old fridge was a Maytag @ 14 years old. Without warning it just stopped working.

Had an independent repairman check it out. Compressor had locked up. $900+. Just didn't make sense to me to sink that kind of money into an older unit.

Either way, youse pays your money, youse takes your chances.

 

[JohnnyG]

These ice maker sensors are simpler than the old arm type. The sensor is actually a solid state thermostat. The ice maker portion gets colder than the rest of the freezer and after water is measured into the chambers, it will kick out ice when the temperature gets down to 15° F.
I forget how the high level is determined, but I think it's an infrared sensor or something.
Most likely, the system just had to balance out the freon charge in that area to start working correctly.

 

[dishdude]

Less moving parts are usually a good thing.

 

[benjy]

smart people buy dumb-simple appliances etc, like cars more gizmos can be more issues IMO, KISS keep it simple stupid, not so easy these days!!!

 

[billt460]

smart people buy dumb-simple appliances etc, like cars more gizmos can be more issues IMO, KISS keep it simple stupid, not so easy these days!!!

Not all the time. I tried that when we moved into our current home. The washing machine they left us was a non working POS. My wife found that out the first time she tried to use it. It filled with water and just stopped after that. (You could smell something electrical burning).

We needed a washer bad, so we went to Lowe's and bought an inexpensive, basic top loading Whirlpool model. It was simple and inexpensive, and what she wanted. That was 3 years ago.

The problem with it, is it had no sensor to detect an out of balance load. If you didn't distribute the clothes properly, (and sometimes even if you did), the machine would start shaking and walking when it went into spin cycle.

This happened enough times to where I was worried it could knock over the resin tank of our water softener, causing a nightmare. We dealt with it for almost 3 years until enough was enough.

A few months ago we went back to Lowe's and purchased a new, high end Maytag front loading washer and matching dryer with all the bells and whistles. (The heating elements were going south on the old dryer, and it was taking forever to dry a load).

Moral of story, we should have done that right off the bat, instead of going the cheap route. The new washer dryer will not spin an out of balance load, and they run so quietly you can barely hear either unit. And it dries the clothes in less half the time.... But it's like learning the flight deck of a 737.

Sometimes these days you have to deal with a more complicated appliance to get a good one that does what you want, or expect. Lowe's didn't offer any simple washer models, other than the crap we bought, and had issues with.

 

[billt460]

It's been a couple of weeks now, and it's making more ice than it ever has. But I still don't think it's as fast at making ice as most of the other units I've had over the years.

Granted in this hot weather we're using more ice, but it still should be able to keep up, and fill the bin overnight... It doesn't. It helps to "trick it" into making more ice by activating the auger several times a day, and right before bed at night. Even if just for a second or two, in order get a few ice cubes.

It has the ability to drop a tray full of ice every 80 minutes. At least that's the fastest I've heard it drop ice, while keeping track of the time between drops.

I believe that it somehow "records" how many times the ice auger is activated, and increases ice production because of it. I can't prove that. But I can hear more ice dropping if we activate the auger more. If the unit just sits, it seems to make less ice.

Mind you that all of this nonsense is supposed to be an "improvement", over simply making ice.

 

[Ungsten]

that was the reason we bought a normal fridge with an icemaker arm in the freezer.

Our last fancy fridge, everything broke on it.

Same here. I don't really understand the need for an internet connected fridge anyway, especially given the things I've heard about smart fridges, both in this thread and from people I know personally.

 

[Vil_Riker]

We got a Bosch a couple of years ago. The ice tray can be removed and used as freezer space. You can turn the ice making function through the app or with a button in the fridge.

Needless to say, it doesn't have an arm and it functions with a sensor. And it will try to keep the tray full - the more ice you use, the more it makes. So I don't see the point of the fridge "learning your habits".

 

[GrtArtiste]

I have lived my entire life refilling plastic ice cube trays as needed. I also wash dishes by hand, even though I have a dishwasher that has not been used more than 60 times in 26 years. Some things are too simple to be made complex and expensive. YMMV.

 

[k1xv]

I can understand the logic behind the smart "on demand" ice maker.

On our 20 year old Kenmore made by Whirlpool, if we don't use much ice, all the cubes in the bin freeze onto one solid mass that has to be removed, and we have to start all over again.

Is the refrigerator controllable by smart phone app?

 

[Hermann]

KISS

 

[IndyIan]

I am curious how much the new fridge was? and warranty length?
Part of me is kind of wishing our simple top freezer fridge would die, as finding stuff at the back on the bottom shelf is a bit of a pain in the right knee sometimes, but I guess its also a reminder to keep stretching! I do like the bottom pull out freezer drawer. We don't even bother with ice cube trays very often, just for special events in the summer.