Thread: ice cube madness

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I have a fridge\freezer with an ice maker. The automatic ice maker
> storage got high and a single ice cube got
> placed behind the large storage tray, it has sat there for a while,
> but started getting smaller, now it is
> almost nothing.
>
> What causes this cube to get smaller in an environment that appears to
> stay the same?

Sublimation. Evaporation from the dryer air around it. Happens to snow also.

Sublimation

http://www.wonderquest.com/ice-sublime.htm


s


<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I have a fridge\freezer with an ice maker. The automatic ice maker
> storage got high and a single ice cube got
> placed behind the large storage tray, it has sat there for a while,
> but started getting smaller, now it is
> almost nothing.
>
> What causes this cube to get smaller in an environment that appears to
> stay the same?

On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 02:20:39 -0700 (PDT), [email protected]
wrote:

>I have a fridge\freezer with an ice maker. The automatic ice maker
>storage got high and a single ice cube got
>placed behind the large storage tray, it has sat there for a while,
>but started getting smaller, now it is
>almost nothing.
>
>What causes this cube to get smaller in an environment that appears to
>stay the same?

In addition to sublimation as mentioned in other replies, the
environment is not 'stay the same'. The defrost cycle, done on a daily
basis raises the temperature of the freezer some and things in certain
locations where not well cooled can approach freezing temperatures.

On Mar 18, 4:20*am, monkey_cart...@yahoo.com wrote:
> I have a fridge\freezer with an ice maker. The automatic ice maker
> storage got high and a single ice cube got
> placed behind the large storage tray, it has sat there for a while,
> but started getting smaller, now it is
> almost nothing.
>
> What causes this cube to get smaller in an environment that appears to
> stay the same?

Same reason water evaporates in an environment that appears to stay
the same. Solids can evaporate into gas. Dry ice is famous for doing
that.

PD

"PD" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
On Mar 18, 4:20 am, monkey_cart...@yahoo.com wrote:
> I have a fridge\freezer with an ice maker. The automatic ice maker
> storage got high and a single ice cube got
> placed behind the large storage tray, it has sat there for a while,
> but started getting smaller, now it is
> almost nothing.
>
> What causes this cube to get smaller in an environment that appears to
> stay the same?

Same reason water evaporates in an environment that appears to stay
the same. Solids can evaporate into gas. Dry ice is famous for doing
that.

PD

==============


"Famous" is right! I saw some dry ice on Letterman's show last year.

S. wrote on Tue, 18 Mar 2008 06:12:23 -0500:

SB> http://www.wonderquest.com/ice-sublime.htm

SB> sublimation

SB> <[email protected]> wrote in message
SB>
news:[email protected]...
??>> I have a fridge\freezer with an ice maker. The automatic
??>> ice maker storage got high and a single ice cube
??>> got placed behind the large storage tray, it has sat there
??>> for a while, but started getting smaller, now it is almost
??>> nothing.
??>>
??>> What causes this cube to get smaller in an environment
??>> that appears to stay the same?

As many people have said the cause is sublimation. Have you ever
examined the ice-cube tray after a vacation? It will probably be
quite apparent that the cubes are smaller than when you went
away.


James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

On Mar 18, 5:20*am, monkey_cart...@yahoo.com wrote:
> I have a fridge\freezer with an ice maker. The automatic ice maker
> storage got high and a single ice cube got
> placed behind the large storage tray, it has sat there for a while,
> but started getting smaller, now it is
> almost nothing.
>
> What causes this cube to get smaller in an environment that appears to
> stay the same?

re: What causes this cube to get smaller in an environment that
appears to stay the same?

Ice Mites - Small, almost invisible creatures with constant teething
problems. By eating the stray ice cubes that end up outside of the
storage bin, they keep their gums numb. It's a survival instinct - if
they didn't numb their gums, there would be this constant moaning from
your freezer, resulting in detection and probable elimination.

In desparate cases, when the ice cubes are removed by the human on a
regular basis (resulting in few, if any, strays) the mites have been
known to use their ice grabbing tenticles to create a small hole in
freezer bags, allowing in just enough moisture for frost to form on
the stored object. This gives them another source of ice to numb their
gums.

"DerbyDad03" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:c7ef4862-d8[email protected]..
On Mar 18, 5:20 am, monkey_cart...@yahoo.com wrote:
> I have a fridge\freezer with an ice maker. The automatic ice maker
> storage got high and a single ice cube got
> placed behind the large storage tray, it has sat there for a while,
> but started getting smaller, now it is
> almost nothing.
>
> What causes this cube to get smaller in an environment that appears to
> stay the same?

re: What causes this cube to get smaller in an environment that
appears to stay the same?

Ice Mites - Small, almost invisible creatures with constant teething
problems. By eating the stray ice cubes that end up outside of the
storage bin, they keep their gums numb. It's a survival instinct - if
they didn't numb their gums, there would be this constant moaning from
your freezer, resulting in detection and probable elimination.

In desparate cases, when the ice cubes are removed by the human on a
regular basis (resulting in few, if any, strays) the mites have been
known to use their ice grabbing tenticles to create a small hole in
freezer bags, allowing in just enough moisture for frost to form on
the stored object. This gives them another source of ice to numb their
gums.

===================

They don't want us to know about this mite issue.

They. You know who they are. Them. The same "they" who own the patent for an
engine that develops 400 horsepower and gets 85 mpg.

On Mar 18, 5:47*am, "Edwin Pawlowski" <e...@snet.net> wrote:
> <monkey_cart...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>
> Sublimation. Evaporation from the dryer air around it. Happens to snow also.


The same process keeps your freezer "frost free".

[email protected] wrote:
> I have a fridge\freezer with an ice maker. The automatic ice maker
> storage got high and a single ice cube got
> placed behind the large storage tray, it has sat there for a while,
> but started getting smaller, now it is
> almost nothing.
>
> What causes this cube to get smaller in an environment that appears to
> stay the same?


It's either due to sublimation or the cube is resting near
an area that heats up in the self-defrosting cycle.

gloria p

"James Silverton" <[email protected]> wrote

> As many people have said the cause is sublimation. Have you ever examined
> the ice-cube tray after a vacation? It will probably be quite apparent
> that the cubes are smaller than when you went away.
>

My inlaws didn't use ice cubes. Before going over there for whatever
occasion, I'd remind them to refill the trays. It would be very
disappointing to go for dinner and find tiny little dehydrated cubes.

nancy

In article
<[email protected]>,
[email protected] wrote:

> I have a fridge\freezer with an ice maker. The automatic ice maker
> storage got high and a single ice cube got
> placed behind the large storage tray, it has sat there for a while,
> but started getting smaller, now it is
> almost nothing.
>
> What causes this cube to get smaller in an environment that appears to
> stay the same?

Other's have addressed your concern, but since you brought up ice cubes,
maybe I can hijack the thread for a moment and invite speculation on an
odd experience I had many years ago.

In a standard plastic ice cube tray in my freezer, one of the cubes grew
a vertical icicle. Probably 1/2" to 3/4" long, and perfectly icicle
shaped, i.e., a long, narrow, pointed shape, roughly symmetrical but
with typical irregularities.

I did keep it, but sublimation apparently ate it up after about a week.
Never seen it happen again, and never heard of it happening to anyone
else.

On Mar 18, 9:49*am, DerbyDad03 <teamarr...@eznet.net> wrote:

>
> In desparate cases, when the ice cubes are removed by the human on a
> regular basis (resulting in few, if any, strays) the mites have been
> known to use their ice grabbing tenticles to create a small hole in
> freezer bags, allowing in just enough moisture for frost to form on
> the stored object. This gives them another source of ice to numb their
> gums.

On this note, it's been observed that if you want to freeze meat or
fish or shrimp and have it be just as good months later, a good
technique is to put the food in a ziplock bag and then fill the bag
full of water before zipping the bag shut. Freezer burn is due to
sublimation of the water in the food, and by the method just
described, the added water does the sublimating rather than the food.

I tried this trick with same-day shrimp acquired in South Carolina in
June, and I thawed the last 2-lb bag for dinner in January, and it
tasted just like the shrimp cooked the first day.

PD

On Mar 18, 11:55*am, Smitty Two <prestwh...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> In article
> <c03e94c6-6c37-475e-a52c-08b91335a...@f63g2000hsf.googlegroups.com>,
>
> *monkey_cart...@yahoo.com wrote:
> > I have a fridge\freezer with an ice maker. The automatic ice maker
> > storage got high and a single ice cube got
> > placed behind the large storage tray, it has sat there for a while,
> > but started getting smaller, now it is
> > almost nothing.
>
> > What causes this cube to get smaller in an environment that appears to
> > stay the same?
>
> Other's have addressed your concern, but since you brought up ice cubes,
> maybe I can hijack the thread for a moment and invite speculation on an
> odd experience I had many years ago.
>
> In a standard plastic ice cube tray in my freezer, one of the cubes grew
> a vertical icicle. Probably 1/2" to 3/4" long, and perfectly icicle
> shaped, i.e., a long, narrow, pointed shape, roughly symmetrical but
> with typical irregularities.
>
> I did keep it, but sublimation apparently ate it up after about a week.
> Never seen it happen again, and never heard of it happening to anyone
> else.

http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/s.../icespikes.htm

What's an 'ice cube tray' ? <G>

s


"James Silverton" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:L4QDj.12753$hP3.1528@trnddc02...
>
> As many people have said the cause is sublimation. Have you ever examined
> the ice-cube tray after a vacation? It will probably be quite apparent
> that the cubes are smaller than when you went away.
>
>
> James Silverton
> Potomac, Maryland
>
> E-mail, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

Smitty Two <[email protected]> writes:

> In article
> <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] wrote:
>
>> I have a fridge\freezer with an ice maker. The automatic ice maker
>> storage got high and a single ice cube got
>> placed behind the large storage tray, it has sat there for a while,
>> but started getting smaller, now it is
>> almost nothing.
>>
>> What causes this cube to get smaller in an environment that appears to
>> stay the same?
>
> Other's have addressed your concern, but since you brought up ice cubes,
> maybe I can hijack the thread for a moment and invite speculation on an
> odd experience I had many years ago.
>
> In a standard plastic ice cube tray in my freezer, one of the cubes grew
> a vertical icicle. Probably 1/2" to 3/4" long, and perfectly icicle
> shaped, i.e., a long, narrow, pointed shape, roughly symmetrical but
> with typical irregularities.
>
> I did keep it, but sublimation apparently ate it up after about a week.
> Never seen it happen again, and never heard of it happening to anyone
> else.

http://au.answers.yahoo.com/answers2...8191515AARSEiP

In article
<[email protected]>,
Smitty Two <[email protected]> wrote:

> In article
> <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] wrote:
>
> > I have a fridge\freezer with an ice maker. The automatic ice maker
> > storage got high and a single ice cube got
> > placed behind the large storage tray, it has sat there for a while,
> > but started getting smaller, now it is
> > almost nothing.
> >
> > What causes this cube to get smaller in an environment that appears to
> > stay the same?
>
> Other's have addressed your concern, but since you brought up ice cubes,
> maybe I can hijack the thread for a moment and invite speculation on an
> odd experience I had many years ago.
>
> In a standard plastic ice cube tray in my freezer, one of the cubes grew
> a vertical icicle. Probably 1/2" to 3/4" long, and perfectly icicle
> shaped, i.e., a long, narrow, pointed shape, roughly symmetrical but
> with typical irregularities.
>
> I did keep it, but sublimation apparently ate it up after about a week.
> Never seen it happen again, and never heard of it happening to anyone
> else.

***{The same question was raised last year at about this time. That
post, including my response, is copied below. --MJ}***

In article <[email protected] .com>,
"Paul Cardinale" <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Mar 19, 4:11 pm, Dan <d...@nospamstuff.com> wrote:
> > My brother was making ice cubes in my fridge for 1792 (Whiskey). One
> > cube grew an upward rod that ended in a point, about an inch high. My
> > brother likes to see things like this as signs that our dead dog is
> > sending a signal, but I told him it probably has something to do with
> > impurities in the water. Can someone explain this?
> >
> > Dan
>
> Yes. The explanation as to why your brother sees things that way is:
> he is a woo-woo.

***{I've seen those spikes myself. They rise up out of the centers of
ice cubes. The likely reason is that the cube freezes from the outside
in. That means there is a reservoir of liquid in the center of the cube
as the outside freezes. Since water expands as it freezes, the liquid in
the center gets squeezed tighter and tighter, and eventually pushes out
through the point of least resistance. That point is usually at the top
of the cube in the center. Only in that way can the pressure be
relieved. Naturally, as water oozes out, it freezes around the edges of
the opening so formed. Result: a little volcano type of structure arises
there. That's how the spikes are formed. --MJ}***

************************************************** ***************
If I seem to be ignoring you, consider the possibility
that you are in my killfile. --MJ

[email protected] wrote:
>
> I have a fridge\freezer with an ice maker.

Eco-terrorist. Each of your ice cubes obtained through the death of a
Third World baby.

> The automatic ice maker
> storage got high

Baggie your weed adn wrap in aluminum foil before freezing.

> and a single ice cube got
> placed behind the large storage tray, it has sat there for a while,
> but started getting smaller, now it is
> almost nothing.
>
> What causes this cube to get smaller in an environment that appears to
> stay the same?

Frost-free freezer. Look it up.
Never store peroxydicarbonate free radical initiators in a certified
chemical refigerator frost-free freezer - they explode.

--
Uncle Al
http://www.mazepath.com/uncleal/
(Toxic URL! Unsafe for children and most mammals)
http://www.mazepath.com/uncleal/lajos.htm#a2

On 2008-03-18, Brawny <[email protected]> wrote:

> The same process keeps your freezer "frost free".

Not really.

Your freezer remains frost free due to a mechanical process. The defrost
timer completely cuts off the refrigeration unit at regular intervals and
then a fan comes on and blows above-freezing-air from the refrigerator
compartment across the freezer coil vanes which melts the accumulated frost.
This happens for about a 15-30 min period every 12-24 hrs (depending on
make/model). Defroster timer failure is the most common cause of
refrigerator malfunctions. It's an easy fix. Just replace the timer, which
is usually a plug-in module for easy swap out.

nb