Dave's
Dictionary of
Appliance Terms
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11-volt
control
– older ranges used this system to control oven temperatures and sensor
– type surface units. Employed an 11 volt step-down transformer and
hot-wire, 11 volt relays. GE’s ‘P7’ system was one was the most
widely used, but Frigidaire also built this system. It was supposed to
provide more accurate temp control, but in actual practice, oven
temperatures were about as accurate as those using a common hydraulic
thermostat. Not seen today, due primarily to advances in IC circuitry and
cost. Fun systems to service, and I miss them.
3-phase
motor
– used widely in front-load washers today, these motors are efficient,
and provide variable speed with the proper electronic controller.
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ABS
– the tough plastic used in refrigerator liners (and football helmets!)
Adaptive
Defrost Control (ADC)
– as opposed to a ‘clock’ type refrigerator defrost timer, this
defrost system uses a microprocessor on a small circuit board to control
how often a frost-free refrigerator goes into its defrost cycle. Adjusts
defrost frequency over time, based on several factors: time since last
defrost, door openings, duration of previous defrost cycles, etc. More
efficient, but also more prone to problems than a simple timer.
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Agitator
– The part of a top-load washer that does the work of washing laundry.
Uses vanes, paddles, and augers to provide the necessary water turbulence
to remove soil and suspend it in the wash water/detergent solution. These
days, most agitation is done with oscillation, but years ago, Frigidaire
manufactured a highly efficient wash agitation system using vertical
agitation. Their agitator was made up of several cones, mounted above one
another, that provided extreme turbulence and water ‘turnover’,
resulting in reduced wash times and very good results. This was an
expensive system to produce, however, and is no longer available in the US
to my knowledge.
(see also ‘nutator’)
Here's a typical agitator, shown in 'exploded' view: |
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Agitator
dogs
– Several manufacturers use a ‘dual action’ washer agitator, with a
top ‘auger’ section that rotates independently from the bottom. This
helps ‘pull’ laundry down into the water, and provide better
‘turnover’ in large loads. The top section is ratcheted in continually
one direction as the bottom portion oscillates back and forth, and the
small pawls that engage the ratchet teeth are called ‘dogs’. The most
popular system uses a set of four of these, made of soft plastic. and they
provide extra turbulence in the top half of the load when washing large
loads. The most common ones look like this: |
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Agitator
post
– Again, speaking of top-loaders here, this is simply the post to which
the agitator is mounted, and through which its drive shaft passes.
Agitator
seal
– a rotary seal pressed into the top of the agitate post, to prevent
water from leaking down the shaft into the transmission.
Agitator
Vane –
one of the blades of an agitator, primarily on the bottom section, that
acts as a paddle to provide the necessary water turbulence.
Air
damper
– used in refrigerators, to control the amount of airflow, usually
between freezer and refrigerator compartments
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Air
gap
– 1) dishwasher device in the water fill line that prevents backflow of
soiled dishwasher water into the potable supply 2) a device used in
dishwasher drain lines, mounted to and protruding above the sink, to
prevent sink gray water from migrating back into the dishwasher.
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Air
temperature
– in refrigeration, especially air conditioning, this is an important
thing to measure. When working with refrigerators and freezers, we’re
more interested in package temperatures, because they don’t fluctuate so
widely or so quickly as air temperature.
Auger
– 1) upper portion of a top-load washer’s dual action agitator (see
agitator) 2) the large ‘screw’ that forces ice to the front of a
refrigerator’s ice dispenser bin, and out the dispenser door. |
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Auto
dry
– clothes dryer cycle that responds to moisture left in laundry, as
opposed to the timed cycle, which runs for x minutes regardless of
moisture level or laundry load.
Auto
leveler
– here I’m referring to the rear feet on most clothes washers, which
use a simple mechanism to ‘firm’ themselves to the floor when the
washer’s installed. With most brands, the washer’s front feet are
leveled left to right, then the machine is tipped forward slightly and
dropped back down, which ‘sets’ the rear feet.
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