[AzKate]

Hi,
Noticed that the 'in the door' bin was not filling up...so something's wrong.

The water dispenses fine. There is a layer of ice in the maker, but it's not being ejected and we can see no obvious reason for it to be jammed. The design of this Ice maker doesn't lend itself to being cleared easily and we don't want to damage anything.

We checked the manual and none of their trouble shooting ideas seems to apply.

Considered trying to melt the ice maker with a blow dryer to see if this would free up something, but not sure that's a good idea either. Any help?

[gogelma]

AzKate,

Here is the best way to trouble shoot a stalled icemaker. Please follow the following steps and let me know what you find.

1. Open the freezer door with the kitchen lights off and push the door switch down. The red light on the emitter should go off; when you release the door switch the red light should show a constant red beam.

2. On the icemaker there is a white "ejector" which rotates around the mold and pushes the cubes out of the tray. Please let me know the position of the ejector. If it is current the fingers should be rotated towards you and pointed upwards at about a 30 degree angle or so. If they are pushing against the cubes and unable to push the cubes out of the icemaker you will need a new module.

3. Turn your icemaker to the off position and wait approximately 1 hour. When you return after the hour turn the icemaker back to the on position and shut the door for 3 minutes. (IDI electronics only cycle every minute) This should activate your icemaker and that same red light that used to be a solid beam will begin blinking if you perform the operation similiar to step number one. If the icemaker is still not ejecting ice reach into the top of the mold and see if the cubes have started to melt. The heater on the icemaker should turn on and begin melting the cubes as soon as the red light starts to blink.

4. Finally, one issue that may help is simply reaching up to your ice maker and wiggling the the ejector. Its difficult to explain why this would work, but there are some contact points connected to the ejector that can occasionally get "burnt" and no longer make contact. Wiggling the ejector can remake the connection if this is the case.

5. If this doesn't work. Try unplugging your unit and plugging it back in. Give it about 5 minutes and see if your icemaker is working.

If none of this works let me know. It could be a bad thermostat or something similiar, but we'll find a way to get your icemaker working.

[AzKate]

Hello gogelma!

Thank you so much for responding. Unfortunately I didn't see your post till this morning, so here's an update of what we tried last night.

My husband unplugged the entire unit and melted out the layer of ice that was there, dried it all off and plugged it back in. He turned it on and left it alone for a few hours...after which we checked it and it had done nothing. There was no new layer of ice in the tray. This morning we turned it off. The water in the door dispenses fine.

I could turn it back on and run through the steps you gave, but I'm not sure if they still apply after our own experiment. What do you think?

And by the way, the red light did not remain constantly on or off yesterday, it intermittently blinks when the door is open, and if I depress the door switch it goes out completely, it still behaves exactly like that today with the ice maker switch in 'off' position. Is a 'blinking' light some sort of signal, versus a constant beam?

Thanks again for your help!

[gogelma]

Yes, the intermittant blinking is a signal with a different number of blinks referring to a different potential issue. Let me know the number of blinks if you get a chance. It will repeat the series of blinks, but you will see 2, 3, 4, or 5 blinks followed by a slight pause and then the blinks again.

Try to wiggle the ejector as I described and see if you can rotate the ejector by hand or if it is pretty well fixed in place. Let me know what you find. If it rotates with hand pressure you have a broken gear. The ejector should be nearly impossible to rotate.

If the ejector is stationary I would place a piece of masking tape over the white stripper (the part that the ice slides down as it comes out of the mold). The goal is to see if your icemaker is cycling. What you want to do is set it up so that the ejector will tear through the masking tape or push it out of the way if it makes a rotation. That way you know whether or not the icemaker is still making cycles. Turn on the icemaker and you can check in about an hour.

Let me know what you find from that and that will really help diagnose what the issue is.

[AzKate]

Okay...the blinking is a series of 2 blinks. I cannot rotate the ejector thingys, they do wiggle not quite a half inch, but not beyond that in either direction without me forcing them, which I won't do. ;o)

I put some tape where I hope it will be obvious to tell if the arms tried to turn, and I'll let you know if I can see evidence of that. So, the arms should continue to turn, even though there is no ice in the mold?

[gogelma]

Ooops I forgot one important thing about the blinks on the emitter. You will need to tape down the little flapper door on the left hand side of the freezer compartment. The two blinks is indicating that the IDI beam is being blocked. Obviously, with the little door open the beam is blocked. You can pretty much hold the little door in place (make sure your arm allows the beam to still have a direct path to the opposite side) and then do the door switch in order to count the blinks.

The icemaker does not really know if it has water or not so it will continue to go around. Occasionally, when an icemaker does not have water in the mold it will skip water fills, but should still run around.

Let me know what you find. It may be best to switch your icemaker to the off position and wait 45 minutes again and then restarting it when you are there. The I/M should start in roughly 1 minute after closing the freezer door. If you get a chance to watch it going around listen to the product closely when the ejector gets to around 12 o'clock. You should hear the water valve buzz for around 8 seconds and then quit.

Let me know what you find. Also, my email is mark_a_gogel@whirlpool.com if you just want to contact me there.

[AzKate]

When I close the little door flap to restore contact with the beam, the light continues to blink twice then pause, it repeats that continuously. If I also depress the door switch, making the main light go out, the blinking light also stops. Will turn off and check as you instructed above after a while. Tape seems undisturbed at this point.

[AzKate]

Apparently the person helping me does not have further suggestions.

Have many of you had to just go ahead and call Kenmore when your ice maker quits?

Any ideas of what it will cost me for them to come and address the situation?

Anyone else with an idea of what may be wrong, or suggestions of finding a reasonable repairman, I'd appreciate it.

[gogelma]

Oh, Sorry, I was waiting to see if when you did the 45 minute wait whether or not the Ejector spun around? Just trying to see if it is your icemaker or your water valve or your emitter receiver boards.

[AzKate]

New info!
I don't know when I last turned the ice maker off and on....but I just went and checked it again, and it was in the 'on' position. I shut the flap door, and depressed the door latch and watched. The ejector arms are turning fine. No water is being dispensed into the tray.

The light now (after shutting flappy door so beam engages) flashes a constant on off, one flash, off, one flash, off. Not in a series of 2 any longer. ?