GE Ice-maker?

[Davej]

I just obtained a GE refrigerator with an ice-maker which I'm probably not going to use. Do I need to disable it in some manner? Thanks!

[gfretwell]

Lift the wire bail up until it locks. That turns off the unit.

[Davej]

Ok thanks, what will it do if this gets knocked down accidentally? No water supply is connected.

[gregz]

It will just make noise when it cycles. My water supply is not working, and never got to fixing it.

Greg

[gfretwell]

You can unplug it.

If you are sure you will never want it, pull it out and sell it on Ebay.

Personally I like having ice available without screwing with ice cube trays.

[Ed Pawlowski]

You can remove it in a matter of five minutes and have more freezer space. Note the model number and sell it for $75 or so as many brands use the same icemaker.

Personally, I'd not want to live without one again. We use a lot of ice.

[Jim Elbrecht]

You can take it completely out in 5 minutes, as others have said. And, as others have said--- if you hook it up you'll never want to live without one again.

My wife insisted on one a dozen years ago. I thought it was a waste money. Now it's one of those things she gets to bring up when we're discussing relative intelligence of men & women.

Jim [the other big one is a child gate at the top of the stairs if you have a toddler in the house.]

[George]

Same here. We would never own a fridge without an icemaker.

[trader4]

And once you have one that delivers CRUSHED ice out the door, well, I can't live without that!

[Stormin Mormon]

I'd take it out, and store it separately.

The simple disable, is to pull the wire "bail" up until it clicks. This is "vacation mode". It may also have electric rocker switch to turn it off.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

.

[Stormin Mormon]

Might power the water valve now and again, and might turn the gears as it tries to eject the ice which isn't there.

You might also get a visit from Monty Python's Flying Circus, department of unconnected appliances.

Christ>

Ok thanks, what will it do if this gets knocked down accidentally? No water supply is connected.

[DerbyDad03]

Why do you want to disable the ice maker? It really is a great feature, as other's have said.

Running a water line, even with a filter, is usually pretty simple, especially if you use a needle valve to tap into a nearby cold water line.

If you wanted to upgrade from a needle valve, you could try a SharkBite Tee and shutoff. They're a bit more expensive, but very easy to install.

A Tee and an Angle stop as shown here should work for you:

I installed a "5 year" drinking water filter which, based on it's usage rating, could really last 10 years since I only use it for the ice maker.

[Mikepier]

Check if there is an ON/OFF switch inside the icemaker area. Mine does.

[DerbyDad03]

Mine doesn't have a manual on-off switch, but it is wired through the light circuit.

When the freezer light is on (door open) the ice maker turns off. The theory is that the user might pull the ice tray out at the same time the ice maker wants to dump it's load. Turning the ice maker off whenever the feezer door is open prevents that.

If the OP's ice maker works like that, he could simply leave the freezer door open. ;-)

[krw]

...on the front.

[DerbyDad03]

I've read articles that say that in-door ice and water dispensers reduce the amount of insulation that can be put in the door making the units less energy efficient.

Obviously that would have to be balanced with how often the door (or doors) are opened to get ice or water from inside the unit.

As for me, I have an in-the-freezer ice maker and a filtered drinking water dispenser at the sink.

[krw]

Right. I've read that they're actually more efficient because the door is opened less often. We use a lot of ice. I almost always have a glass of ice or ice water about.

After having crushed ice available, I'd never be without it again. I was thinking about a separate ice maker, but don't think I have space for it.