Broken ice maker

I have a kitchenaid fridge with the drawer freezer and the icemaker quit. The making unit was dry of water. I tried the jumper wire and got no clicks or rotation. I removed it all and checked for ice blockage in the feed line. The water dispenser in the fridge is workimg fine. Freezer door switch makes the light on and off.

Would replacing the ice dispenser unit be a good next step (about $40) before thinking about an expensive repair?

Funny, I’m locked in hand to hand combat with my ice maker right now as well!

If the ice making unit is dry then you aren’t getting water from the water valve.

Test the ice maker water valve coil by putting a multi-meter on the terminals. You should get continuity through the coil. If not, water valve shot.

On SOME water valves, you can further test the coil by moving the water dispenser valve coil over to the ice maker valve. Then press the water dispenser button and you should get water to the ice maker if the coil is good. If no water, again valve is shot.

Also, verify that any sensor switches are working. Some unites have a “ice bin in place” switch that won’t let the ice maker make ice if the bin is taken out. Test switches.

So test the water valve first. If the water valve is bad, then it’s most likely the ice maker unit itself. Easy change out, but verify the valve first.

Grouse

Best way to keep fish is on ice-if you are in the market for a new fridge, get the ice maker (my 2 cents)

Electricity is not my forte – you gotta dumb it down for me. I have a voltmeter and I know it can tell me if there is a connection (if i touch the ends together or to the same wire it registers).

How do I check the valve? All I can get to in the freezer is the maker unit which I can remove, and I can use a stick to see the line has no ice in it. My unit has the U shaped metal bar that switches off when it is pushed up by ice.

The thing that concerned me about the unit itself is that the maker didn’t rotate or click when I put the jumper wire where I was supposed to.

Here is a video to help.

To find the water valve, follow the water supply line behind the fridge. The item it connects to is the water valve, but you need to make sure you test the right coil as there will be 2, one for the drinking water and one for the ice maker.

As previously said on some models you can test the icemaker coil by swapping over the wire plug from the drinking water coil.

Grouse

Thanks all – I will get to it soon. I’m overdue to swing by the store and update my volt meter – mine still has a physical arm to take readings.

This is not the time to have no ice, and my chest freezer and freezer are bursting at the seams with the pig in there.

tindall wrote:

Thanks all – I will get to it soon. I’m overdue to swing by the store and update my volt meter – mine still has a physical arm to take readings.

That old analog meter will still work for what you need. I still have a couple of analog meters, the don’t make them like they used to.

Good luck.

Grouse

Well I finally got around to this. Took the coil/valve unit out and tested it – the red coil had continuity, the yellow didnt. Figured it would be easy peasey, got a new unit hooked it up, nothing. Checked the new coils and they tested the same way. Got angry thinking about having to call a guy $70 in and ordered the whole ice making unit from Amazon. Swapped it, waited a tense hour for it to cool down and now I have ice.

Still came out cheaper than a service call and I learned some stuff. Still curious why the coils tested that way (it is wired in some sort of series).

For good measure, my microwave stopped heating the next day.