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GEmerson  
#1 Posted : Monday, July 7, 2014 5:20:53 PM(UTC)
GEmerson

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Last month my Whirlpool Gold wouldn't stop making ice so I ordered an ice level power control board kit and installed it. After the installation, the icemaker stopped making ice all together. The water dispenser works so I know that valve operates. I jumped the other valve for the icemaker and it works too. So something is not calling for water to be sent to the icemaker. Any suggestions on what to do from here?
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rschleicher  
#2 Posted : Wednesday, July 9, 2014 9:00:40 AM(UTC)
rschleicher

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I usually don't believe in "coincidences" or simultaneous double-problems, so it seems possible that something about the board replacement didn't go right, in some way.

In any case, it would be good to check that you 1) have power to the ice-maker unit, and then 2) manually force a harvest.

If you "jumped" the ice-maker water-fill valve via the test points on the ice-maker (by jumpering between the N and V test points), and this resulted in water flow into the ice-maker, then it also indicates that there is power being provided to the ice-maker (which can also be verified by measuring the voltage between the L and N points, which should show AC line voltage (115 Vac, or thereabouts). (Note, you might have to tape down the "door open" switch to have power to your ice-maker - not sure if this is model-dependent or not.) If you saw water coming into the ice-maker, then it also rules out a frozen or blocked water line.

Do you have the kind of Whirlpool ice-maker that has the optical/LED indicator in the switch that detects the freezer door is open? My old refrigerator had this, but my current one doesn't, so I am going by memory a bit, but there are plenty of posts here on what to look for in terms of what to look for (looking for LED pulses, etc.). Search for "Whirlpool ice-maker optics diagnostic".

You may also want to manually induce an ice-harvest cycle, which is done by jumpering the T and H test points together. (Again, the door-open switch might need to be taped down.) Once the ice-maker mechanism starts moving (assuming it does), remove the jumper. You may or may not get a water fill at the end of the cycle. If the manual method doesn't produce a cycle at all, then the ice-maker assembly is probably bad. But at the same time, if you never get an automatic ice-harvest, but the forced harvest seems to work, it can also indicate a bad ice-maker assembly (in this case, a likely culprit is the thermostat inside of the ice-maker sub-assembly, that is not letting the automatic harvest start). But the cost of a new ice-maker sub-assembly isn't much higher than getting just the thermostat, and it is also a bit less work to replace the whole ice-maker. I think that a bad thermostat was the problem that I recently had with my ice-maker. I was getting no automatic harvest (and hence no water into the ice-maker at the end of a harvest). The water fill could be manually generated by jumpering, and jumpering the H and T leads started a harvest. In my case, the ice-maker kept rotating, multiple times, without ever triggering a water-fill. To stop it, I had to cut power to the refrigerator. This seemed a bit weird to me, but in the end the problem was fixed by replacing the ice-maker assembly.

There are also plenty of videos showing the replacement of different vintages of Whirlpool ice-makers, dependent on age, refrigerator configuration (side-by side versus french door, or whatever), as well as ice-maker part number.
GEmerson  
#3 Posted : Wednesday, July 9, 2014 9:49:10 AM(UTC)
GEmerson

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I did induce a manual harvest and the prongs moved around but no water was admitted to the tray. I have the LED optics and the diagnostic indications appear appropriate - two flashes with the freezer door open and a solid light when the door switches are closed with nothing blocking the beam. I cant seem to find a complete icemaker assembly to replace the whole thing if necessary. Or could I just have gotten a bad ice level/optics board and just return that for another?
GEmerson  
#4 Posted : Wednesday, July 9, 2014 2:16:18 PM(UTC)
GEmerson

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When I checked the icemaker this afternoon it was dead. No Power. No LED indications. I unplugged the fridge and plugged it back in after 10 seconds. The LED started flashing and the icemaker appeared to go into harvest mode. Test across L and N = 110v. The prongs kept going around and around slowly (making clicking noises at intervals of travel) for more than 2 minutes until finally the LED went out and power dropped out by itself. No water was ever admitted.

I did the reset again. Process starts all over with prongs going around so I untaped the door switches and closed the freezer. Checked later and LED is still flashing when door opened (2 flashes) and prongs have stopped straight up. No water in tray. Any ideas from here?
rschleicher  
#5 Posted : Thursday, July 10, 2014 3:50:46 PM(UTC)
rschleicher

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This actually seems similar to what I saw when I forced a manual harvest. The ice-maker prongs kept going around multiple times, and no water was ever let in. I wasn't totally sure of my diagnosis, but suspected the thermostat inside of the ice-maker. I replaced the whole ice-maker, and that solved the problem. I can't say for sure that your problem is the same, though. (I am just a homeowner, strictly amateur....)

My fridge was only 1.5 years old (Jenn-Air french door type, built by Whirlpool). I looked on online parts sites for my refrigerator model, found the official Whirlpool part number for my ice-maker, and then to double-check, I googled that part number, and found videos showing replacing it. I suspect that your ice-maker is a different part number, based on age.

I found my ice-maker for prices that ranged from only $40 (including shipping), to as much as $70. Certainly check out the store linked to this site, although perhaps there are better prices at other places.
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