icemaker debug

[RustyShackleford]

My icemaker stopped working. It is in a Kenmore refrigerator, about 25 years old. There is no water (or ice) in it now. I guess a clogged water line is the most likely culprit. Any other hints or ideas ? Thanks !

 

[blujacket]

Is the tube that fills the ice maker frozen? Your lucky if you get 6 yrs. out of an ice maker. Most are teflon coated and peel off, leaving bare metal for cubes to stick to, thus breaking the motor head gearing. What's your model# ?

 

[heat seeker]

What blujacket said. It's fairly common.
Also, make sure water is actually getting to the icemaker. The shutoff valve or the line to the machine may be clogged.
My ice maker will not function if the freezer door is open, it's connected to the light switch, another possible problem area.

 

[seige101]

As others have said check to make sure the water line is not frozen.
Also check that the solenoid valve is opening the line to let water in the fridge.

Have you tried defrosting the freezer just to make sure it's not something frozen?

 

[TMonter]

I've had the feed tube line freeze up once on our Kitchen-Aid (Whirlpool) fridge and all I had to do was thaw out the feed tube with a hair dryer to get it working. Do you have a model number to share on the unit? Might be able to track down a schematic and look fro the likely causes.

 

[woodgeek]

My tube clogs sometimes, and then it clears itself eventually (I assume b/c of sublimation). Some folks use a hairdryer to fix?

My icemaker finally bit it after 7 years. Ordered a whole new assembly for ~$60 off the internet, and it was a 5 minute fix. Most of the sub-assemblies were pricey too, I didn't want to keep guessing which part was broken and waiting a week for delivery on each cycle.

 

[RustyShackleford]

Thanks all. Googled around, and folks said to pull the plastic cover off the controller, and jumper the T and H testpoints. If nothing happens, which it didn't, it means the controller is dead. Looks like I can buy controller for $57, but can't find a complete unit which I'm sure will work. This one looks like mine and fits a blue gazillion part number:

http://www.amazon.com/Refrigrator-Automatic-Ice-Maker-Kit/dp/B00067YLK2

... but my 626603 is not among them.

I am thinking I'm due for a new fridge (my is 25yo and probably terribly inefficient) soon, so silly to put money into this. But I'm also planning a major kitchen remodel in the not too distant future, so don't want to buy the fridge yet. Maybe I should just buy some ice trays, but I love plentiful ice in the summertime ...

 

[TMonter]

Have you tried looking online for the fridge model number for the right part? Remember that you'll never recoup the costs of a new fridge in power savings any time in the next 20 years so fixing it may be a good solution.