i have a 15-year-old 22cf GE Profile side-by-side that is apparently working just fine. not so the above-mentioned ice maker.
it developed a very rude water leak earlier this week and ruined about all of the frozen foods before i discovered it. fortunately it hadn’t been leaking for too long, or i might have had other issues to deal with - including my potential electrocution! :eek:
i was able to shut off the waterline and empty the water from the bottom of the freezer without incident. i’ve kept a close eye on the appliance since then and it seems to be chugging along just fine.
however, my question to the dopers is, at 15 years of age, is the fridge worth keeping and having the ice maker repaired (i have no idea how much it will cost or who is going to do the work at this point. i’m just fishing for opinions from other homeowners who may have encountered this problem) - or should i bite the bullet and get a new one?
I think I may have had the same GE frig. Also had problems with the ice maker, but never had a leak. I had the ice maker repaired once while it was under warranty and decided to get an extended warranty that paid off when the ice maker died again. The frig lasted 25 years before we replaced it when we remodelled our kitchen. A non-warranty repair will probably cost you something in range $80 - $120. If I were you I’d at least get some estimates for the repair and compare it to the replacement cost (look for something on sale!). If the frig is otherwise good and the repair cost is tolerable, I’d do the repair. Or you can do without ice.
Agreed, it should only cost about $100 to replace the icemaker.
The bigger question is whether or not its worth even putting a buck into. Energy efficiency on older refrigerators is poor by today’s standards. In addition, over time the magnetic seal loses it’s seat and is a big waste of cold. One test is to close your fridge with a dollar bill in the seal. If you can easily pull the bill out, it’s past its prime.
Waitaminnit! If the problem is water flowing into the ice maker when the ice maker isn’t calling, then the solenoid is stuck partially open/won’t close.
Let’s get all of the data available before we begin to diagnose.
There is a third option: buy ice cube trays, and manually make ice cubes. Probably a couple bucks. You’ll might want to do this anyway, so you don’t have to rush into buying a new fridge. Then you can see if you can live with it.
I have an old side-by-side that I got for free with an ice maker that has never worked. I don’t even have it hooked up to water. I just occasionally dump a bag of ice into the ice maker holder and it dispenses fine.
I actually got tired of that and only do it for parties…for my own use, I use ice cube trays. Easy peasy.
This is correct. I’ve repaired dozens of icemakers and at least 75% of the time the problem is the solenoid valve. Usually the issue is too little water, but sometimes it’s too much. The other possibility with this symptom is that the ice maker motor is running slow or has bad switch contacts and is leaving the icemaker valve open too long. A new solenoid valve is ~$30 and a new icemaker is ~$100. Professional repair services will be additional.
As to whether to repair or replace, while a new fridge may be more efficient, it will take a long time to save enough electricity to offset the energy that goes into building an entire refrigerator. OTOH, GE’s are not my favorite brand of refrigrerator, especially the side-by-sides (a real pain in the ass to work on, IMO). But I’d still fix the icemaker as long as the refrigerator itself is in good working condition.
My (Whirlpool) refrigerator is 24 y.o. and has the original icemaker, but I’ve replaced the solenoid valve 4 times.