[sincerity]

Side by side refrigerator/freezer....noticed a cpl months ago the ice cubes were hollow sometimes.....icemaker stopped working yesterday. water is not getting dispensed into the maker...I poured water in manually and it made ice.

I read about switching the two conects on the inlet valve around and pushing the water dispenser and see if it fills up tray...but I took back panel off and saw two valves instead of one...*i think*....I got confused. Should I try to clean the screen (if i could figure out howto find the screen) Now it seems to have a tiny, tiny leak where the nut from copper line meets valve. Not too concerned about the leak yet as it's very minimal.

am I on the right track here? any advice? thanks...btw i've never worked on regrigerators or freezers before...kinda lost..thanks in advance!

[SublimeMasterJW]

Since you can put water in the ice mold and it will kick out a batch then that means a lot of good things. Your ice mold thermostat, your ice mold heater, and your ice maker motor is working. That tells me either you have a bad water valve or the contacts on the icemaker head are burnt. If it was me I would get a cheater cord and put 120 volts to the water valve solenoid and see could I make some water skeet out that puppy. If it did then the next thing is I would try and clean that copper plate that is all burnt up from arcing over time. To do that you carefully remove the main drive gear on the ice maker and clean the contact plate on the back side of it with a bit of sand cloth.

[sincerity]

ok thanks for the reply but here's an update!

turned water off last night and went to bed...woke up early this morning and fixed the leak issue with the supply line...dc it, wrapped with tape and hammered it back down...seems I jarred it loose when i was messing with it...

so as expected the water I poured in there before bed had indeed made ice and dumped it in the bin.....strange thing though after I rehooked waterline....and turned water back on...i heard it doing something...next thing I know there's water in the trays...only just a small amt..not nearly enough to make ice. I did check these trays a few mins earlier and they were dry...so it's just not getting enough water to the trays it seems.

side note....kitchen is above garage...my lovely wife came in late after movies friday night...granted it got down to 15 that night...she didn't close the garage door well anyway the main water lines are protected and did not freeze, although I have a plastic exposed filter and it definately froze but did not break. the only place any of the water lines for the kitchen are in wall are where the copper line penetrates the ceiling of the garage/floor of kitchen...I hope this makes sense. I know the copper line didn't freeze all the way in the kitchen obviously, but I can't say the same for in the garage...I have a feeling it did. very lucky it didn't bust I know. could this have anything to do with the problems because saturday night is the first time I noticed it not making ice...strange coincidence...sorry for length!!

[magician59]

A good place to start troubleshooting your ice maker is to check the water supply line. Turn it off at the source (usually a small valve at the wall behind the refrigerator). Disconnect the line there and with a towel and bucket or tray underneath the valve, turn it on just enough to confirm water flow. Next, reconnect to valve and disconnect from inlet valve on refrigerator. Check to ensure no restriction in the supply line. Post your results.

[sincerity]

ok, I know the water supply line has water because with the main water off...I had to catch water coming from it in a cup...if water had been on I am sure it would've been flowing.

Next, reconnect to valve and disconnect from inlet valve on refrigerator.

this confuses me...can you break it down for a noob? do you mean under the nut I just tightened at the end of the supply line?

[magician59]

Sorry...It's a bit like the line in Princess Bride, "...move that thing...and that other thing!"
There are two valves on your refrigerator. One supplies the ice maker and the other, the water dispenser. It is usually clear when you remove the back panel, which one you need to check; the one whose line goes all the way to the top of the unit is the one you need to check.
Since you have logically deduced there is good water flow to your refreg. valve, the next thing to check is the valve, itself. Take the wires off the terminals to the solenoid that correspond with the line that goes to the top of the unit. Switch the wires from the other solenoid to the one you just disconnected. Now select Water at your dispenser and depress the lever/button for less than seven seconds. See (and hear) if any water entered into the ice mold. If not, you have a bad supply valve.

[sincerity]

great instructions, thank you! I will try this and report back...what if water does flow?

edit**then i guess it's the valve...

[magician59]

Then I would suspect the ice maker itself.

[sincerity]

Ok, got home last night....and the icemaker had made ice! Only problem is it was hollow,and only 3-4 cubes were getting made at a time...I suspect this is a water flow problem? I guess enough water isn't getting pumped into the tray (is this on a time delay as far as how long water flows? or is it a quanity sensor?) Do I need to just clean the valves since both obviously work since some water is coming in?

thanks again