[Pittfan]

Hi everyone. First off, great site and thank you for reading my post! I did do some searches on here before posting this new post. I hate to start a new thread with something that has been done before, but I just felt that my problem was slightly different, and would appreciate some help with it.

I have a Frigidaire Refrigerator that came with the home that I purchased in 2008. The fridge was made in 2000. I am guessing that the ice maker is the original one that came with the fridge. When I purchased the home, there was a plastic bag that was stuck in the "teeth" of the ice maker. Also, there was no water supply running to the ice maker. I used a piercing type water valve (under the sink) to give a water supply to the ice maker. Then a long plastic tubing to run to the fridge. After some help from this website, I replaced the water valve on May 20, 2009. The ice maker was working well enough for me.

In May of 2010, I got married, and apparently the ice maker was making enough ice for me, but not for the 2 of us. So, I figured that the ice maker was just slow in producing ice. Recently, we left town for the weekend. Just before we left, I emptied the ice cube catcher bin, and when we returned, there was no ice at all (yes, the ice maker was turned on). So, I removed the ice maker completely, and noticed that the filler tube was completely blocked with ice. I removed the filler tube, ran some warm water through it, and reinstalled everything. There now seems to be a bit of ice at the tip of the filler tube.

Also, for the past several months, I have noticed that there has been an ice build up in the bottom of the ice cube catcher bin. As well, the ice cubes that are made, like to freeze together in the bin. I have placed a thermometer in the freezer, and it maintains 4 degrees ferinheight.

There ice cubes (ever since I have owned the fridge) have been irregular in shape. Sometimes only pieces will fall to the bin. This past weekend, I adjusted the dial to increase the amount of water being delivered to the ice maker "tray". The first attempt, the water overflowed. I have since adjusted it a bit, and will find out later today if I need to adjust it some more.

For a little more background I thought I should add that here is no frost buildup in the freezer.

Thanks for any insight!

Jason

[Jeff / APP Team]

I would try the adjusting like you are doing. If the problem continues then you will need a new valve. Here is the part number for you.
Part number: AP2115552

Ice maker replacement parts for FRIGIDAIRE FRT22INLHW4 Frg(v3) / Refrigerator | AppliancePartsPros.com

[Pittfan]

I appreciate the quick response Jeff!

Just to update everyone..... I got home from work this afternoon, and found a frozen solid chunk of ice in the bottom of the ice cube catcher bin. There were some small and large (irregular) ice cubes among the chunk of ice. The chunk of ice was about 1 inch thick. All must have collected from today (over an 8 hour period) because there was nothing in there when I left for work this morning.

So, I cleaned the bin out and placed it back in the freezer. Upon checking down in to the ice cube maker mold, there is only a very small amount of frozen water. Not enough to form a regular ice cube. I am going to let the ice maker compete a cycle, and see how high the next water level becomes.

I am guessing here, but it sounds like to me that there is an uneven amount of water being pumped in to the ice cube maker mold. Apparently there was some overflow today, along with some ice cubes that were not made to full (irregular with some little pieces). Since there doesn't appear to be a "floater" that tells the pump to start/stop pumping water to fill the ice cube mold (for creating the ice cubes), there must be a signal that is sent to the pump. By adjusting the dial to create larger cubes / smaller cubes, that must send the signal down to the water supply valve. Am I wrong?

With all of that being said. I replaced the water valve in May 2009. Do they normally quit within 2 years of operation? I purchased the water valve via this website:

Water Filter Mart .com Part number: 218859701

Which cost about $23. Perhaps "you get what you pay for" applies here.

Thoughts?

Thanks!
Jason

EDIT: Also, the filler tube was not plugged with ice. There was only a very small amount on the very tip of the filler tube this afternoon.

[Jeff / APP Team]

It sounds like the valve is leaking out. I would recommend ordering a new valve from Appliance Parts Pros to fix this problem. Use the part number listed above.

[Pittfan]

Is there a way to test the water valve? If it is leaking, should I see air in the plastic tubbing running up the back of the fridge to the ice maker? Or, is there a way to put the water valve under "pressure" to test it's operation?

The reason that I bring up these questions is that I am on board with this being the problem. Since I am getting inconsistent water delivered to the ice cube mold, then something is faulty in the water supply. But, I replaced this part in May 2009. I figured I would get a longer life span out of the part. However, I am unsure of the supplier, as this is the only time that I have ever purchased from Water Filter Mart .com. It's possible that they have cheaper parts, because of the quality of parts they are supplying. I don't want to bad mouth them, but I would like to hear from anyone that has had this type of experience using them. It's also quite possible that they are a great company with great prices.

Last night, the ice maker produced no ice, and there was no water/ice in the bottom of the ice cube bin catcher. The filler tube is also free from ice. Meaning to me that there was no water pumped up the back of the fridge to the ice maker.

Thanks!

[Jeff / APP Team]

The only way to test is to cycle the icemaker and see if the water shuts off immediately of continues to slowly come in. With it being intermittent you may have to do this a few times. Also when you removed the cover to adjust the icemaker, did you see any broke teeth on the gear of the icemaker? This could stop it during fill and bring in to much water. Let me know what you find.

[Pittfan]

I did not see any teeth missing on the plastic gears. I will run it through some cycles after I get home from work today. I'll just remove the plastic tubbing from the back of the freezer, and let the tubbing run down in to a bucket to collect the water.

Is the pressure important? As in if I should see a good stream coming out, or if just water coming out is good enough. Also, how can I manipulate the cyle to take place more frequently?

[Jeff / APP Team]

Just make sure it is a steady stream of water. To advance this icemaker you will turn the large gear clockwise about 1/4 round. Should start going on it's own after that.

[Pittfan]

Thank you for the help. I will post later on the results.

Btw...... Like I said before, great website! While I can't be working on my fridge right now, being away from home, I am able to do some reading on what other people have been experiencing with their appliances.

[Pittfan]

Well, it appears that the water valve was to blame, as you stated in your first post Jeff.

I came home this afternoon, and once again, nothing was in the ice cube bin catcher. And as a bonus, when I first got home and opened up the freezer, the ice cube maker was starting to cycle (ok, trying to cycle) a batch of ice. So, I disconected the clear plastic tubbing that was running in to the freezer from the back of the fridge, and put it in to a bucket. Nothing. The water vavle didn't move or make any type of noise.

Before I considered it competely dead, I decided to take the testing a bit further. I hooked up the valve directly to a 110v feed. Still nothing. I even took the valve apart as much as I could to see if anything was clogging it, or if there was any sign of "distress". Still nothing. So now I am going to order the valve, and I plan to post how things turn out after installing the new valve (which I hope lasts more then the 2 years).

Thank you for the help Jeff.

Jason