Icemakers and Vintage Reefers...

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danemodsandy

danemodsandy

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The dream of a new (well, old) house is getting closer to reality, and I want a vintage reefer and range. But - and there's always a but - I love my icemaker, and that's a problem, because '50s reefers usually didn't have an option for that. This brings up two questions:

ONE: I seem to recall that somewhere, sometime, I saw a little dorm refrigerator-sized freezer with an icemaker built into it, but I can't recall where or when or anything. Does anyone know of such a unit? Seems to me that something like this could be easily hidden away in a pantry, out of sight of the vintage stuff.

TWO: Are there options for installing an icemaker in a vintage reefer? I think I recall rickr saying something about putting an icemaker in an older Kelvy or something like that. Does anyone have any ideas or advice on this?

Thanks!
 
Yes, such a thing existed. It was a standard freezer type ice-maker in a freezer chest. Beauty of it is, ice can't take on reefer odors it was a manual defrost thingie for energy efficiency.

Of course there is the type that functions like a commercial ice-maker that dumps cubes into a non "refrigerated" bin, but not very practical for small and occasional demand of a private residence.
 
Servel fridges were the first to have icemakers, starting in about 1952. Servels are gas fridges, so if you find one, you need to make sure it is properly inspected for safety and properly installed (i.e. - ventilated).

They were bought out in the late fifties, I forget by which company, mainly to acquire the icemaker rights and icemakers were then available in electric fridges.

Servel might have licensed icemakers to other companies before they were bought out, but I'm not sure.
 
Stand-Alone IceMaker

As an option you can always get a stand-alone icemaker and stash it away in a closet somewhere. I have a 1993 Kitchen-Aid icemaker that's in my utility closet that I use during the spring and summer. During the winter months i turn on the built-in icemaker in the 'fridge.

The 'fridge is a '91 Whirlpool, but the icemaker is a 1970 Kelvinator ;-) Still truckin' after all these years! Thing's been through 3 refrigerators now and still going strong!
 
Sandy do you have room for a second fridge? That is the best way to go. I have another fridge in the basement. Remember, no matter what vintage fridge you get, the really cool looking old ones do not have much space in them, and usually do not have shelves in the doors. That is jsut the way it goes. To me having the cool looking fridge is worth the effort to run to the basement for ice from the newer friges icemaker. I also went over this with my partner before buying this fridge to make sure he was cool with it too.
 
I've seen mention here on AW of very capable and viable 50's vintage refrigerator freezers that had the ice maker option. However, I suspect finding one where everything still works on it--like the ice maker--may be a challenge. There was a thread a while back about the design of the ice maker and that Servel's was chosen by one of the major manufacturers and became the standard. I can't recall which company it was but someone here will know.

Ralph
 
Subzero and Viking both make small undercounter built in refrigerators which can be fit with custom panels to make them very inconspicuous. Some are all refrigerator, some all freezer, and some split between a little upper freezer compartment and lower refrigerator compartment. The latter two can be fit with regular icemakers. All of these are pricey new, but can be a bargain used. Try calling around to used appliance stores that make it a point to handle Subzero or Viking products.

A couple of years ago my neighbor was having an old O'Keefe and Merrit range (original to his house) refurbished during a major remodel. Once the range was done he went by to inspect it before putting it in storage for the duration of the remodel, and happened to see a full size Subzero in the shop. It was priced at $500, including a warranty from the shop. He bought it, spent $100 for a new grille and had his cabinetmaker make custom panels. It was twenty years old but still works great, and with the new grille is nearly impossible to tell from a new one that costs around $4000.
 
Clear Ice

Once you have clear ice you never go back.... I picked up a KA clear ice maker at Lowes a few months ago on clearance. It can be either freestanding or undercounter. It makes ice very fast. The first batch when empty in about 45 minutes. Drinks and cocktails just taste so much better with clear ice.
A friend insisted I bring the ice to his Christmas party after experiencing clear ice. Its something you never pay attention to, but all commercial ice is clear ice.
 
Clear Ice

My ancient KA icemaker makes clear ice in the little 3/4" cubes. It's just fantastic! I'm with you...once you've had it, you never go back. Absolutely no taste whatsoever, no minerals, nothing! With regular tap water! I love my KA. Even better that it was free! Only needed a water valve and some TLC and it was back to new. Previous owner replaced all the "guts" at a cost of $1500 to them.....when all it needed was a $35 water valve.
 
Thanks, Folks!

Wow, what a wealth of choices! Thanks to the links provided, I've found several options. There is the dorm reefer-size unit I remembered, with a Whirly-style icemaker inside. There are also portable countertop units that you fill with a pitcher. The dorm-size unit is pretty exorbitantly priced at over $800, the countertop units are much cheaper at less than $200. However, you have to fill the countertop units with a pitcher - they're not plumbed in, which is sort of like re-inventing the ice tray on a fancier scale, LOL.

At any rate, I've got options now, which I didn't before, and for which I thank everyone. P.S.: Rick, I hear you about the modest amount of freezer space in older units. Part of the plan is to have a separate freezer somewhere.
 
Yes Servel was bought by Whirlpool in about 1955-56

and the Ice Magic Ice maker you get in a modern Whirlpool fridge (I am talking about the icemkaer that is not in the door) can be traced back to the origianl Servel Icemaker design right down to the half moon shape of the cubes. FYI Whirlppol made gas fridges ubser its own name until the early 1960's
 
Don't forget Yahoodee

During the 10 years I worked at the appliance store I got to see just about every type and brand of refrigerator ice maker that was ever made. The Servels were the first to have an ice maker both in their gas and electric boxes. They sure wanted you to know that the refrigerator had an ice maker since in large gold metal letters it spelled out AUTOMATIC ICE MAKER on the freezer door. When you opened the door there was more gold lettering at the top of the freezer...AUTOMATIC ICE MAKER. The front of the ice maker itself was gold, and it was pretty hard to miss since it took up at least a third of the small freezer. The ice maker had it's own seperate instruction booklet and was fun. Servel explained that "Yahoodee," the elf-like little man that lived in your refrigerator and turned the light on and off was also responsible for making the "Ice Circles." Each page showed Yahoodee performing some task like filling the ice tray, "harvesting the Ice Circles" (the cubes were wet when they emerged from the tray and since the freezer was not frost-free it was necessary to suspend them and allow them to dry while the tray refilled) and then storing the cubes in the bin. Yahoodee warned you not to "hoard Ice Circles" because like old men, as they aged they grew white "beards" AKA frost. I have one of these owner's booklets somewhere and I will try to dig it out and post a pic or two.

When our neighbors got their new coppertone RCA Whirlpool bottom freezer with ICE MAGIC there was no mention of Yahoodee, just a simple explanation of how the ice maker operated and a plea not to call the service tech because you heard unusual sounds coming from the freezer. I assume they were not talking about a little man.
 
Matt:

"You can slap an icemaker in any fridge. Just wires and water."

Does anyone know someone who has done this successfully? Sounds reasonable, but I'd love to know more before drilling into, say, a 1950 GE.
 
Vintage appliances scare me. Often, they are overbuilt. It is easy to take something apart. Much harder to put it back together. I've learned the hard way. Nevertheless, you can put modern ignition systems/ice makers/motors/fans in vintage appliances. Some are purists, they only want original parts. I respect that. However, I have no problem retro-fitting with modern parts. Matt
 

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