GE profile artica Owner's Manual page 69

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How icemakers work—understanding the fundamentals

The basic parts of an icemaker:

❚

Motor

❚

Ice mold

❚

Water valve

❚

Heating coil unit

❚

Auger and ice bucket

The ice-making cycle:

1. A switch opens a solenoid water valve and lets in just enough water to fill the plastic ice mold.

2. The icemaker has a built-in thermostat which monitors the temperature level of the water in the molds.

(The cooling unit in the refrigerator does the actual work of freezing the water, not the icemaker itself.)

When a temperature around 9°F is detected, the thermostat closes a switch in the electrical circuit.

3. Closing this switch turns on the heating coil underneath the icemaker. As the coil heats up, it warms

the bottom of the ice mold just enough to loosen the ice cubes from the mold.

4. There are plastic notches in the icemaker housing that match up with ejector blades. The blades pass

through these notches and push the cubs into the ice bucket.

5. Just before the cubes are ejected, the shut-off arm lifts up. After the cubes are ejected, the arm falls

down again. When the arm reaches its lowest resting position, it throws a switch in the circuit which

activates the water valve to begin another cycle. If the arm can't reach its lowest position, because there

are stacked-up ice cubes in the way, the cycle is halted to prevent an overflow of ice cubes.

6. The motor turns on at this point, rotating the auger. The auger scoops the ice cubes up and pushes them

to the front of the icemaker.

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