[slomo242]

I am a bit stumped here so I hope someone can help... A few weeks ago my original icemaker blew out a lot of smoke and died with its tray full of ice. When disassembled there was a burn mark where the heater element contacts the metal conduit/tracing inside of the motor housing just as the power comes in from the wiring harness. It seemed as though the heater element somehow failed, could not make the ice in the tray loose, the motor never tried to rake the ice out. After doing some reading here and other places I decided to just replace the whole icemaker assembly. It arrived, I installed it and nothing... it does not try to harvest ice or fill the tray with water.

At this point I went on the net and was able to find the Whirlpool/KitchenAid in door ice system manual. In it I was able to find several diagnostic tests and an explanation of the ice making system. After reading the manual it seems as though the only controls for the ice making system are the mechanics of the icemaker assembly (which control harvesting ice after the tray gets warmed, raking the ice, then telling the valve to fill the tray with water), and the emitter/receiver boards in the walls of the freezer which decides when to harvest ice.

Further reading of the manual led me to run two tests:

1) unplug the fridge, wait, then replug it, then open the freezer door: the LED on the receiver blinks three times then repeats - this indicates that the emitter/receiver boards and the relay are OK and to check out the icemaker

2) open the freezer door, press the light switch three times, close the door, open it: this gives a five second steady light indicating that the emitter/receiver boards and the relay are OK and that the icemaker is being sensed

Other tests I ran are shorting the "T" and "H" terminals on the icemaker motor housing to start a harvest - but nothing happened, and shorting the "V" and "H" terminals to open the water valve - but nothing happened either.

This led me to test the voltage at the connector that gets plugged into the icemaker wiring harness as it comes out of the freezer wall - nothing.

So there is no power going to the icemaker!

What is my problem? The emitter/receiver boards say they are OK, but there is no power at the icemaker, and I assume that my new icemaker is OK...

So what do I do? Get new emitter/receiver boards even if they say they are OK? Is it a wiring problem? Am I missing something?

Any help would be most appreciated...

[WildWillie]

I have the same problem. My guess is the relay? Did you fix yours?

[jpjackson@bellsouth.net]

I replaced the icemaker and the water intake valves/solenoids. Still nothing. Repairman said the problem is with the tan wire from the icemaker to the solenoid, and since it is imbedded in the insulated wall of the refrigerator, it cannot be repaired.

[richappy]

For slomo242, if you get no voltage to the icemaker when the flapper door is closed, allowing the LED to illuminate the receiver board, you probably have a bad pc receiver board. AP3137510 It blew out when the icemaker blew.

[WildWillie]

I feel a little foolish. My uncle told me when I was a kid that it aint the electrons that failed. It's the mechanics (the hardware). In other words, if you are going to place a bet here. Bet that the ice maker failed. It's loaded with mechanics. Circuit boards have a much higher reliability.

What failed on mine was the dial on the end of the ejector shaft. (It is the dial that says not to turn it manually.) The clip that secures the dial had broken. If you don't touch the dial you'll never know that it is detached. Give it a gentle tug. It should resist.

Also, if the circuit card does not detect the ice maker (and since the little fingers under the dial weren't making contact) the optics card will signal a failure. It's the ice maker that has failed!

One more thing. The ice maker should be replaced as a unit, not one part at a time. It isn't worth your time to fool with the stupid thing every six months.

I used PartPeddler on ******** for parts, PartPeddler.com

[jpjackson@bellsouth.net]

Originally Posted by jpjackson@bellsouth.net

I replaced the icemaker and the water intake valves/solenoids. Still nothing. Repairman said the problem is with the tan wire from the icemaker to the solenoid, and since it is imbedded in the insulated wall of the refrigerator, it cannot be repaired.

I tested the broken wire theory by running an electrical wire of the same gauge from the tan terminal of the icemaker to the tan terminal on the icemaker water inlet valve solenoid, and that resolved the problem. Since I could not imbed the wire in the wall, I routed it to the rear left corner, taped it down with white electrical tape, out the door, and under the refrigerator. It's not even noticeable, and it beats buying a new frige and/or carrying ice from another frige in my laundry room to dump into the ice dispenser of the KitchenAid.

[richappy]

I ran a wire down the drain tube on one, worked just fine.