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The automatice ice maker in my KitchenAid side by side is not getting water. Supply hose is empty and does not seem obstructed. Chilled water dispenser still works. What are my next diagnostic steps?
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Hello. First step: remove the white cover from the front of the ice maker assembly. It snaps on but you may have to use a screwdriver in the slots at the bottom of it to get it off. I would put a test meter set to ac voltage on the water valve connections behind the unit so when it cycles, you can tell if your getting the 120Vac to the valve.(If you keep the valve connected during this test you can avoid cycling the ice maker an additional time). Also for reference purposes, the ice maker valve is the one that the water line from the bottom of it goes up the back of the refrigerator. Now you need a piece of wire with insulation on it, stripped on both ends. Jump from "T" to "H" keeping in mind that this is 120Vac that your jumping the thermostat with in order to force a cycle,(don't get shocked!). The cycle will take approximately 3 minutes at the end of which, the ice maker should fill. During this time, watch the test meter. You should see 120Vac reading to it for 7 to 9 seconds. If you don't, the ice maker isn't passing the voltage and the ice maker motor module requires replacement. If you do see the voltage, the water valve is in need of replacement.
Jumping "N" to "V" should cause the water valve to open. Just be sure to work cautiously to avoid personal injury and I hope you find this information useful.
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Originally Posted by: Jerry / APP Team  Hello. First step: remove the white cover from the front of the ice maker assembly. It snaps on but you may have to use a screwdriver in the slots at the bottom of it to get it off. I would put a test meter set to ac voltage on the water valve connections behind the unit so when it cycles, you can tell if your getting the 120Vac to the valve.(If you keep the valve connected during this test you can avoid cycling the ice maker an additional time). Also for reference purposes, the ice maker valve is the one that the water line from the bottom of it goes up the back of the refrigerator. Now you need a piece of wire with insulation on it, stripped on both ends. Jump from "T" to "H" keeping in mind that this is 120Vac that your jumping the thermostat with in order to force a cycle,(don't get shocked!). The cycle will take approximately 3 minutes at the end of which, the ice maker should fill. During this time, watch the test meter. You should see 120Vac reading to it for 7 to 9 seconds. If you don't, the ice maker isn't passing the voltage and the ice maker motor module requires replacement. If you do see the voltage, the water valve is in need of replacement.
Jumping "N" to "V" should cause the water valve to open. Just be sure to work cautiously to avoid personal injury and I hope you find this information useful. This was very clear and instructions were easy to follow. Everything checked out which gave me cause to go back over more obvious problems. On much closer examination, one of the ejector arms was frozen and once freed the unit worked fine. If I hadn't completed the diagnostics, I would never have gone back over other potential causes. Thanks!
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My JTB2188AEB's ice maker has been busting my chops for a while... I knew the solenoid valve worked; I made a pigtail with female tab connectors and hotwired it. Lots of flow when energized. Scratch that off the list, but I couldn't figure out how to check the cycle. Sooooo I'm trolling this forum on "ice maker" and found this post six pages deep. Different fridge & i/m, but apparently the same module running the i/m. Stuck my meter's probes in "N" & "V", jumpstarted the cycle, and got a six second fill cycle. Scratch that from the list.... Pull the i/m out, jam a hairdryer in the fill tube for 10 minutes and out drops a big ice slug. Put it all back together, jumpstart the cycle again and I'm back baby! This should definitely be a sticky for any model that uses this type of module to run the ice maker. Thanks a ton! Ted Originally Posted by: Jerry / APP Team Hello. First step: remove the white cover from the front of the ice maker assembly. It snaps on but you may have to use a screwdriver in the slots at the bottom of it to get it off. I would put a test meter set to ac voltage on the water valve connections behind the unit so when it cycles, you can tell if your getting the 120Vac to the valve.(If you keep the valve connected during this test you can avoid cycling the ice maker an additional time). Also for reference purposes, the ice maker valve is the one that the water line from the bottom of it goes up the back of the refrigerator. Now you need a piece of wire with insulation on it, stripped on both ends. Jump from "T" to "H" keeping in mind that this is 120Vac that your jumping the thermostat with in order to force a cycle,(don't get shocked!). The cycle will take approximately 3 minutes at the end of which, the ice maker should fill. During this time, watch the test meter. You should see 120Vac reading to it for 7 to 9 seconds. If you don't, the ice maker isn't passing the voltage and the ice maker motor module requires replacement. If you do see the voltage, the water valve is in need of replacement.
Jumping "N" to "V" should cause the water valve to open. Just be sure to work cautiously to avoid personal injury and I hope you find this information useful.
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Hello Tedshred, I have to mention, if the fill tube to the icemaker was frozen up, this is an indication that the water inlet valve is leaking internally. In other words, the valve, when closed, has a very small "weepage" that, as the drips are slowly entering the freezer compartment, is freezing in the fill tube before it can drip out of the end of it. If the water inlet valve isn't replaced, the fill tube will freeze up again. It may take a while to happen, but it will. I know you thought you had it fixed, but appliance repair is never as simple as melting a bit of ice. There's always an underlying cause. Part number: AP4071381
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Originally Posted by: Jerry / APP Team Hello. First step: remove the white cover from the front of the ice maker assembly. It snaps on but you may have to use a screwdriver in the slots at the bottom of it to get it off. I would put a test meter set to ac voltage on the water valve connections behind the unit so when it cycles, you can tell if your getting the 120Vac to the valve.(If you keep the valve connected during this test you can avoid cycling the ice maker an additional time). Also for reference purposes, the ice maker valve is the one that the water line from the bottom of it goes up the back of the refrigerator. Now you need a piece of wire with insulation on it, stripped on both ends. Jump from "T" to "H" keeping in mind that this is 120Vac that your jumping the thermostat with in order to force a cycle,(don't get shocked!). The cycle will take approximately 3 minutes at the end of which, the ice maker should fill. During this time, watch the test meter. You should see 120Vac reading to it for 7 to 9 seconds. If you don't, the ice maker isn't passing the voltage and the ice maker motor module requires replacement. If you do see the voltage, the water valve is in need of replacement.
Jumping "N" to "V" should cause the water valve to open. Just be sure to work cautiously to avoid personal injury and I hope you find this information useful. I know this is an older post but I hope someone is still seeing it. I have verified that my water valve is functioning but I am not getting any voltage at the valve even though it appears the control module that has been recently replaced is cycling. Is there a way to verify the connections from the controller down to the valve without just replacing the controller?
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Hello Jstrunks325, First off think about the fact that voltage and neutral have to be present to the icemaker control module in order for it to cycle. This narrows the problem to the wiring between the icemaker module and the water valve. You will need to test for continuity from the tan wire in the harness in the freezer compartment to the tan wire at the water valve, (no voltage should be present to avoid damage to your test meter). This is the wire that carries the voltage to the valve from the icemaker contacts. If the wire tests good, you should then do the same test, (continuity), on the white wire from the icemaker control module harness to the water valve. This is best done with the harness removed from the icemaker motor module. Remove it by removing the white cover on the front of the icemaker and on the side the harness connects to you will see a small square hole in the side where the cover would have covered it. While pressing in on this square, pull on the harness and it will slip out. If the wires test good, it still points to the motor module contacts Part number: AP4359694
. This can be tested for passing voltage with a test meter in the test points on the front of the icemaker motor module, (contacts N to V) during a forced cycle as described in my previous post. At the end of the icemaker cycle, it should read 120Vac for 7 to 9 seconds. If this occurs, you will have to suspect a connection point of the harness or an intermittent connection in the harness. The harness issue could be in the icemaker harness or in the refrigerator harness. Note that depending on the model number, the refrigerator harness is many times inside the refrigerator cabinet insulation and cannot be serviced. If you could provide a model number and a valid e-mail address, I can send you a wiring diagram and some illustrated instruction on the troubleshooting procedures on your specific unit. I certainly hope this helps you to solve your issue.
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turned the refridge off, put direct power to solenoid that sends water to icemaker. Good! Good flow of water.
Took Icemaker out. no ice in it. cleaned with warm water, let sit. Put back in. cycle immediately started, all the way around, but never called for water. (solenoid never kicked on).
Water line is clear. Seems to me, the icemaker is not calling for water. ?? Yes, do I need to replace the entire icemaker?
I do have water out the front door, and the isolated test of the solenoid is successful.
thanks!
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Hello HankBu21,
You should be able to correct this by just replacing the motor module for the icemaker. In some cases, the cost would dictate to replace the icemaker assembly since it is not that much more expensive to replace the complete assembly in comparison with the motor module and the assembly includes the mold, cycling thermostat, and mold heater, preassembled by the manufacturer.
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THanks Jerry!
Out of curiosity, I took it apart. the contact for the one side of the heating element was a bit fried. I fashioned a repair piece of brass from a 22 Caliber rimfire shell, and soldered it in place. Works like a champ.
Many thanks!
Hank
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