What's wrong with my icemaker?

Factual Questions
1

TL;DR
My ice-maker doesn’t make ice. I had it replaced under warranty a couple a years ago when it was new, but now the new ice-maker is doing the same thing the old one did–not make ice. I have discovered a well-placed slap can get it to cycle. Sometimes the slap will be effective for days, other times, it will only work for a single cycle. What’s wrong?

The details:
I have a standard, Freezer on top, 20.5 Cu Ft Frigidaire refrigerator. It was purchased new in 2013. It has the standard ice-maker that makes those crescent-shaped “ice cubes”. Not all that different from the first refrigerator my family bought that had an ice-maker in 1965. Old technology, nothing fancy. No through the door “convenience” or crushed ice. Just a plain, old, ice-maker.

Well, the original ice-maker quit working a couple of months after we bought it. No problem, I thought, it comes with a one-year warranty. As we were moving, I didn’t address it right away (mistake). When I did call about getting it fixed, I was informed that the warranty is with Frigidaire, not Lowe’s (where I bought it) and Frigidaire told me that they consider the ice-makers to be third-party equipment and are only covered for 90 days. WTF?

I went to Lowe’s and complained directly to the Manager and he agreed to replace the ice-maker. They came out within a week, put in a new ice-maker and even leveled the refrigerator (the initial installation was a bit “wobbly”). I was satisfied.

That was two years ago. About a month ago, the ice-maker stopped making ice. In messing with it, I found that if I raise the little “bar” that turns it off and on (you know, the little bracket that checks to see if the bin is full), it would sometimes cycle, producing a batch of ice. On further investigation, I found that all I really need to do is slap it* smartly on the side (by the little “bar”) and it will achieve the same effect (or is that the same “impact”?).

Often, after a little of this “persuasion” it will behave and produce multiple loads of ice an fill the bin overnight. Sometimes, it will only cycle the once. Sometimes, even slapping it around doesn’t help and it won’t do anything unless I wait a few hours and slap it again, when it will respond.

Now, the fact that two ice-makers seem to have had the exact same problem tends to make me believe the problem is not in the ice-maker, but in the refrigerator. I’ve taken the cover off the ice-maker and do not see any plugs or wires that could be not making a good connection. I am not sure how to proceed, but I am fairly confident that if I call Lowe’s to fix it, they will charge me for another new ice-maker and it’s installation, but won’t do anything about the problem, so that would be just wasted time and money.
*This is a trick I learned from my grandfather in the 1960s. Giving troublesome electric appliances a slap would often get them to behave. The trick was knowing where to slap them and how hard.

2

Icemakers are incredibly simple.

There is a motor, which lifts the bail, and turns the ejector fingers.
There is a thermostat, which starts the cycle if the bail is down, and the temperature is below freezing (usually below 10°F).
There is a heater, which heats the ice tray and allows the fingers to eject the ice cubes.
There is a switch, which activates the flow of water to fill the tray.

So:

  1. Fill tray.
  2. Wait until temperature is below 10°F
  3. Turn on heater.
  4. Wait until temperature is above freezing.
  5. Eject Ice cubes.
    Lather, rinse, repeat.

Some icemakers have a timer to adjust the fill level.

If your’s isn’t operating, it can only be a few things:

  1. Bad thermostat, or freezer temperature too high. <- Freezer temp is critical!
  2. Bad bail switch.
  3. Jammed ejector fingers <- check that tray is not overfilled, freezing it solid!
  4. Bad motor (unlikely).
3

This happens to my icemaker in a Kitchen Aid refrigerator, and from a quick Google search it looks like we have the same ice maker.

Fortunately, these are incredibly easy to remove from the freezer. If you take yours out, remove the cover, and take the four screws out and square controller out, you’ll see that there is a large plastic wheel that is driven by a small gear watched to a motor. You’ll also see some copper busways that send power to the fill valve and heater. What you don’t see is the copper rings on the back side of that large plastic wheel. You’ll also see some plastic tabs that hold the plastic wheel in place. Remove this wheel to expose the copper rings and you’ll probably see some black marking on the copper rings where arcing occurs as the circuits make and break as the wheel turns. Take some sandpaper, remove the black markings, and put everything back together. It’s not a difficult job at all.

The deposits on the copper from the arcing is enough to disconnect power to the motor, which causes the icemaker to stop working. Clean up the copper and it should work again.

In fact, sometimes simply removing the icemaker and bringing it up to room temperature works, and I suppose that the thermal expansion is enough to cause the copper to make electrical contact again. But light sanding always works for me.

4

Missed the edit window.

A closer Google search shows that we may not have the same icemaker controller. If not, not sure what to do to fix it.

5

If the controller looks like this, then you have the same as I do. The copper is behind the white plastic wheel.

6

Check the small filler tube just above the tray. This tube sometimes gets froze up preventing the tray from filling with water, therefore stopping the maker from making. Check this tube to make sure it is not clogged with ice. I once had a tube clog up and had to use a hair dryer to thaw it out. Worked fine afterwards.

7

No, the fact that two ice-makers seem to have the same problem is not an indication that the problem is in the refrigerator. It is an indication that the problem is in the design of the ice maker. I had a problem with the ice maker in a frig that I owned years ago. Warrantee replaced ice maker. It lasted about 6 months and failed. I removed the icemaker and repaired it, got it working again for about 5 months. After repairing it several times I just left it off. The ice maker controlled the defrost cycle. If the ice maker hung up the frig could not go into defrost. So we just left it off and made ice the old fashion way.

8

A lot of brands use this type of motor. It’s the same as in my Whirlpool. You can take the cap off the end of the ice maker while it is still installed, get a short piece of insulated wire and bare the ends and stick it in the holes indicated and it should cycle. Don’t shock yourself!

If it doesn’t you have another bad motor.

9

+1

10

My Samsung is probably a totally different design. It still has the same problem though, and the cure is to turn it right off for an hour or two.

11

hi Really? It doesnt make ice?

12

If that is addressed to me. It works for months without problems and then just stops. After the container is emptied which takes a week or so, I turn it off at the wall for two hours and then back on. This usually seems to do the trick, although I have had to repeat on one occasion.

13

Thanks for the replies. It all helps.

beowulff
The freezer temperature is 5F. I’ve checked it with two different thermometers. I understand this is important, but 5F should be adequate to make any ice-maker operate.

The “bail switch” seems to be called a “Refrigerator Ice Maker Fill Switch” (at least, by Sears). It is possible this is bad, I guess, but what are the odds that two consecutive ice-makers would both have a bad switch.

Jammed Ejector Fingers. Nope. The ice ejects properly. Size of the “cubes” is fine (I found the specification for how much water should be in each fill, 100cc +/-5cc. I weighed 6 newly-ejected cubes and got 101 grams. Pretty close).

Bad Motor. As you say, not likely. It works fine when I slap it. And, again, odds two units would both have bad motors?

Also, when I slap the unit, it will usually eject the ice immediately. That is, I can hear the motor begin to turn and I can hear the ice fall within 30 seconds or so. There is no delay for heating. I suspect the heater turns on at the same time the motor turns on; it does not wait for the temperature to raise above freezing.

Dag Otto
Great response. Unfortunately, that is not the unit I have. The one I have is slightly different. Here is a schematic of it.

All Others
Thanks for the input. It is appreciated. I can get a new unit for about $45 on eBay, but if that really isn’t the problem, it that will not be the solution. Honestly, I have had maybe a half dozen refrigerators in my lifetime with ice-makers and this is the only one that has given me this kind of trouble.

To repeat what I said in the OP, the maker functions properly when I slap it. I just wish it would continue to work well without being slapped. It apparently made no ice last night. This morning, I gave it a slight slap and it immediately began to cycle.

14

A speculation - perhaps the temperature is a problem in the other direction. Perhaps at the ejection step, the ice doesn’t get warmed enough to eject - it sticks. Slapping it knocks it loose.
If this is the case, making your freezer just SLIGHTLY warmer might fix it.

15

Could have a loose wire in the connector from the refrigerator to the ice maker. In the schematic, the ice maker connector looks to be #12 with a circle around it. If the part that that plugs into has a loose wire, or a slightly wonky connector lead, it would cause problems on both ice makers. Smacking the refrigerator may be enough to get the circuit connected again.

16

OK. A resolution, of sorts.

On Black Friday, I found myself in Lowe’s and I found a place where they had discounted merchandise in the appliances section. Low and behold, they had ice-makers of my exact make and model. They were discounted 50%, meaning an icemaker that retailed for $49.95 was being sold for $25. They had a few to look over. I found one that had no signs of ever being installed (most of them had scratches around the screw holes used to mount the ice-maker in the freezer). So, I took my chances (it was marked, as all of the discounted ones, “AS IS”, so if it didn’t work, returning it would not be an option). In installed it and it works just as it should. I now have a full bin of ice, something we haven’t had in months.

And, yes, I was prepared to deal with the circumstance of it being DOA. I am fairly certain, from the responses I received here, and my own trouble-shooting, that there has to be a loose connection in the wiring harness. The wiring harness is sealed, however, so I would have to cut the vinyl open to get at the wires; something I wasn’t prepared to do if it meant a strong likelihood of killing my only ice-maker. Now, however, I have a working ice-maker, so I don’t have to worry about it. If the new one should quit after a year or so, like the last two have, I can cut open my old one and re-wire it. I am banking on the fact that I was more careful during the installation than the others who tried to install it so that I did not harm the harness to the point that it will stop working.

Either way, I have ice (just in time for winter!).