Ice maker

[JoshC]

This massive POS ice maker of mine is about to get a bomb strapped to it! I've had to replace it once because it took a crap. This new one, which has been in for a quite a while but i've recently just turned the water on to it is leaking. Well not really leaking but over flowing. I had a service guy here and he showed me a screw to adjust to control water level but it's not working. You can see the screw in the side shot picture which i was told to adjust, but i can't seem to bottom it out or take it out, it just keeps turning. Some please help me before i throw this thing off a cliff!!!

[BrooklynBay]

Did you price a new one? The last one I replaced for somebody cost about $50, and is not hard to install. The repair guys have huge minimum service calls. The major companies often get guys in training which don't know anything, and end up breaking something while repairing something else. It's possible that the electric solenoid which fills this thing has something holding it partially open. You could take it apart, and try to clean it out. It might still be good, but don't waste too much time with it if it is very old.

[JoshC]

The fridge itself is only 5 years old and this icemaker is only about a year old. That solenoid, is that one with the water lines running to it? I see what your saying but it doesn't run constantly. I watched it fill the ice maker twice last night. The first time the water valve under the cabinet was wide open (1/2") and it over flowed pretty good. So i adjusted that little screw on the side that splits the black and brown trim. I heard the ice dump while i was watching tv so i ran in there with my little screw driver in hand and i had also turned the valve back about half way, i thought maybe it was shooting to much water with to much pressure at once. So it filled and started over flowing again and i started to crank on that screw and that's when i noticed it did not have an end to it. You can see the water froze on the bottom of the maker that was the result of the over flow.

The service tech i called a was a little 2 man operation and this guy was in his 50's probably. Really helpful and he explained to me what he was doing and all that. I had called them out first because my fan had went out causing the fridge to quit, ruining everything in the freezer which included a whole deer i just had cut up last fall

[BrooklynBay]

I once saw a fan get stuck because somebody overfilled their freezer, and spilled something over where the fans rests. It froze, and stopped working. Another time a friend of mine bought a new refrigerator, and the fan didn't work. It turned out that the fan fell out during transport because the set screws holding it weren't tight enough from the factory.

[Turdle]

Usually it is a timing gear inside the unit. There is a "D" hole whichs strips out, the shaft no longer turns, and unit is locked in that mode---

[JoshC]

What are you refering to Jon?

[Turdle]

Originally Posted by JoshC

What are you refering to Jon?

Intermittent bad behavior from an ice maker.

[MountaineerGreen]

I've run into the problem that you are having a couple of times. It really doesn't have much to do with the stuff in the freezer. Its the water valve that is down near the back and bottom of the fridge. Both mine and my Aunt's would occasionally overflow, filling the freezer with water. It can easily be diagnosed as a problem with the unit in the freezer, because of the symptoms.

The valve doesn't seal off completely, dripping a little bit of water into the freezer at times. The fill tube that runs through the wall of the freezer will usually accumulate ice if this is happening. Water will collect in the bottom of the tray, the "fingers" run through the water and ice builds up on the end. At some point, it collects thick enough to hang up and hold the gear driven mechanism up. It often happens at the fill cycle, sticking the valve open and flooding the freezer.

When I have that problem, I disassemble the ice maker in the top of the freezer, clean the ice that has built up on it. I clean the tube that runs through the freezer wall as well. Replace the valve, it solves the problem every time.

[JoshC]

I see what you are saying. I've replaced that valve too, but not at the same time. I may need to do it again. What gets me is that i can watch it fill the tube up, the tube inside my freezer, into what looks like a little collection point for the water and it literally fills up almost like shooting a pressure washer into a bucket, but not quite so drastic. It's messy, so from that "bucket" it drains down into the cube trays and then that's when it over flows, all at one time. The water shuts off after it thinks it's full, but it's just running to long before it thinks it's full. See what i mean??

[gijoecam]

What's probably happening is that the channel the water flows through is what's freezing as the valve leaks. The tech I talked to when I was having issues a couple months ago told me almost word-for-word what MountaineerGreen posted. The valve leaks ever-so-slightly, the water dribbles down the hose onto the trough that directs the water from the hose to the tray, plugging it up, and then when the icemaker cycles, the water comes a-gushin' over the top. (Wasn't my problem though). But for your symptoms, as he mentioned, it sounds like a valve issue, not an icemaker issue.

Now, if, it's running normally, just overfilling, there's an adjustment screw for that, as you well-know. Make sure you're adjusting it in the proper direction. (Experience talking). The key is going to be figuring out if you have an ice dam forming in the 'bucket' due to a leaking valve, or if the system is working normally, just overfilling.

FWIW, list price on the icemaker for my Frigidaire was $95, but once I had the model number, I typed it into an Ebay search and found one for $13, and one for $15. I now have a spare sitting on the shelf in the basement in case mine dies again!

[JoshC]

I believe i have the problem you described in your second paragraph. Like i said in my first post, i was told that the screw to adjust was in that picture, but i wasn't sure, that's what i was hoping someone could tell me cause i tried to adjust it when it was actually flowing water and it didn't seem to do any good and it didn't seem to have an end!

[gijoecam]

Does that unit have an on-off switch? What kind of fridge is it? Can the on-off switch be used to manually force the icemaker to cycle? Most icemakers have a specific volume range they need to operate properly, and that spec will probably be listed on the schematic for the unit. My schematic was taped-up underneath the fridge in a plastic jacket on the right side behind the toe kick plate.... Not sure if yours will be in the same place or not.

To set mine, I laid the icemaker down in the ice tray and caught the water coming out of the nozzle with a beaker, then poured it into a graduated cylinder I borrowed from work. IIRC, I needed like 42-44 mL or something like that. Mine wasn't even in the ball park when I first connected it. It would take two cycles before there was enough of an ice cube in the tray that it didn't all melt when the heater kicked on!

-Joe

[JoshC]

I do not know of an on/off switch. It's an amana fridge, about 5 years old. As far as a schematic i don't know.

I don't think i'll be able to pull the ice maker out to catch the water like you were saying because it has a pigtale that will only plug in when the icemaker is in place.

[Premier]

Ruined a whole deer?! I would kill the fridge.

[JoshC]

OMG, it was so nasty, didn't catch it until the freeze got to room temp.

[gijoecam]

Hmmmm.... I can give you the number of a guy that fixes appliances around here... he's the guy that told me about all the tricks on my fridge. His name is Jim and he seems to be willing to help just about anyone. He'll talk you through it...

Jim's Appliance Service
(734) 242-8122 | 4784 Stadler Rd Monroe, MI

He was pretty willing to help talk me through my problem... gave me all the goodies to look for. He should be able to help.

-Joe

[JoshC]

If i mention your name will he know who i'm talking about?

[JoshC]

I meant to reply back here the other day. I have ice, woohoo!

I turned on that little screw for about a minute and i also pinched the 1/2" supply valve waaaay back and either one of those or the combination of the two fixed. We haven't had automatic ice in years! Thanks for all the help!

[GJarrett]

If I can hijack this thread (sort of); I've got the opposite problem. My icemaker doesn't cycle hardly at all and makes almost no ice. It might cycle one tray per day; maybe less.

How do I speed up my icemaker? Do I turn that little screw on the side; and if so, which way - clockwise or counterclockwise? About how many turns?

[gijoecam]

The screw on the side is for the water volume. Turning it won't change the time for the cycle.

There is no 'setting' for the cycle. The system is much simpler than that. The tray has a temperature sensor. After the tray fills, the water/ice remains at 32 degrees until the ice freezes solid. Once the ice freezes solid, then the temperature of the tray drops. When it reaches the sensor trigger temperature (IIRC, mine was 25 degrees, but don't quote me on that), the sensor closes, which starts the cycle (unless the arm is raised due to the ice tray being full). Once the cycle starts, the motor runs around, triggering the heater switch, moving the cams for the arm and ice cube fingers, and triggering the fill switch in that order. Once the cam gets back around to the start point, it's waiting for the switch to trigger again.

Now, the hard part about troubleshooting the system is that it takes so long to get it to cycle, and you need to catch it in the act. The first thing to check is how cold the freezer is up in that area. Typically they locate the icemaker in the coolest part of the freezer, but if, for some reason, yours isn't working, it could be that the freezer is too warm, or the temperature sensor in the tray is bad.

If it's not filling the tray all the way, that could be part of the problem. It's 'making' ice, but only adding a small amount of water every time until the cube is big enough to be scooped out by the fingers. (After I replaced mine, it took three or four tries to get the fill switch adjusted properly)

Another issue could be the arm that tells it the tray is full. If that sticks, it'll prevent it from making more.

It's also possible that, like mine, the motor has gone bad, and it just doesn't have the power to move the cubes, or the switch for the heater has gone bad, not releasing the cubes from the tray once they're frozen. Without being there to poke and prod it, replacement is probably the easiest route.

On that note, as I mentioned in post #10, Ebay is your best friend for those kinds of things. Found my icemaker on there for $13 for one, and $30 for the other, while a new one from a dealer was $95. (I kept the old one, and have a spare brand new in the box sitting in my basement just in case. We use ours a LOT!!)

Hope that helps...

-Joe