I have a Kenmore side by side and the ice maker stopped making ice. The bad thing about this is that Sears does not have a diagram of my model with the type of ice maker it has. It seems that my unit has an electronic eye that senses when the ice level in the bin is either low or filled. My ice maker DOES NOT have the old fashion arm that will go up and stop the flow of ice when the bin is filled. My question is, Can the sensor be by-passed (Hardwired)? And does anyone have any information regarding this series of freezers? Again the model number for the unit is 106.50584001
The unit you have is made by Whirlpool. The first thing you should try is to get your eyes and hands on the black fill tube on the right hand side of the IM and see if its frozen. If it is, take a hair dryer to it and melt the ice. Check the white fingers and make sure they do not move freely, if they spin around, you are looking at a new module. The unit can be wired to force it into a harvest, but let’s start with the easy stuff first.
Is there a way to check the water flow from the tube once I defrost it. I have the ice maker out and I am free to see and touch the black tube. I want to make sure that I have water flow before I put the unit back in.
PS. The white fingers on the ice make DO NOT spin freely. Thanks
Was the tube frozen? If so defrost it and put everything back together and give it some time. It is best to let it cycle back on itself. If the tube was clear, then I will need you to do the electrical checks.
I checked the black hose and it was not frozen. Water is flowing to the door, however not as fast as it use to. Could there be a clog in the water feed that is not giving any pressure to the ice maker? Any thoughts?
Sorry for the late reply, the water pressure should not be an issue, but more likely a failure of the electronics, the IM module assembly, or even the IM thermostat. Start by tapeing the freezer light switch and the IM sensor closed so the electronics think the door is closed. Take the cover off the IM and look for two holes labels T and H. You can place a jumper wire (use insulated pliers to insert it) between these two points then give it a few minutes to see if it begins to cycle. Another thing to try, unplug the whole IM and look at the wire harness. You should measure 110vac between white and black/white. If you are carefull and you have the 110vac, you can touch a jumper wire between black/white and the tan wire and the fill valve will turn on (be quick or you will get everything wet). Let me know what you find out.
These checks require interaction with live power and the use of a meter in a confined space. If you are unsure of your abilities or are uncomfortable doing these tests, DO NOT DO THEM! Being shocked by your refrigerator has little enjoyment potential.
Technician Brian
Sorry to intrude but I’m having a similiar problem as posted below. I have checked between black and white and I’m only getting 99.8 to 100 volts. Any thoughts??
Well, well, well. I removed the IM and tested for power by using my VAC meter. I get nothing. I know the VAC meter works cause I tested it in a normal outlet. It looks like I am not even getting power to the unit, but I am getting power everywhere else. Where do I go from here? (I did tape the door light and ice sensor switches closed):mad:
If you have nothing at the IM connector, looks like a sensor board failure. Check a couple more times just in case the sensor ‘wakes up’. If nothing, remove the three screws on the sensor board, remove the board and jumper between the black wire and the black/white wires next to each other. You are bypassing the sensor doing this and should then read 110vac at the IM connector. Reconnect the IM, jumper between ‘T’ and ‘H’ and the unit should start a harvest cycle. Remove the jumper after the fingers have dropped below the white stripper fingers and see if everything else works. If all works, your sensor boards need replacing.
When placing jumper wires, remember to be careful and pay attension. The wire connector to the sensor board has live voltage all the time the refer is plugged in.
Can you point me in the right direction? Where would this sensor be located? I don’t have a parts list, or a unit diagram which shows where it is. I will test it, just let me know where it is. Thanks
Sorry about that. The receiver board is behind the panel on the right side. Remove the three screws and you are there.
Well I guess I found the problem. When I removed the three screws, which also acts like the on/off switch for the ice maker, I found a nice round black mark on the inside wall of its compartment. There is also a nce black mark on the sensor board, which to me indicated that some how this shorted out. Any nice guess on how much one of these sensor boards will cost? I will try to replace tis 1st to see if this fixes the problem.
Okay, afer some research I found that this board can cost over $60. If this is the case then can I just follow your directions and jumper the black/white and black wires at the sesnor and just reconnect the IM to make ice. Will by passing the sensor allow water to flow into the IM? Thanks
Yes it looks like anyplace I look, the sensor board set is over $60, but if you want the ice maker to work, it is a cheap fix. You can jumper the wires to test it, but without the sensor boards the IM will never stop running, and will not know when the door was opened (safety feature) so I would not consider it a permanent fix. I have replaced plenty of these boards, $124 for the part and $137 for labor. It’s up to you. Be careful which ever way you go, voltage hurts.
[COLOR=#333333]Hello Brian, long time no talk. Well I replaced the IM motherboard and the unit is harvesting ice. However the water tray is not filling up as far as it use to. I check the supply to the refrigerator and it is working fine. (Good pressure) I also removed the water filter, which was very old, and I get the same results. It seems that the water is flowing thru the whole system very slowly. Even the water dispenser on the door is slow. Could there be a buildup of calcium in the line? If so, what is the best way to flush it out? Or do you have any other suggestions? [/COLOR]
Glad to here you have ice now. As for the slow water, the only parts common to the dispenser and the IM are the line to and from the filter and the valve assembly itself. I would not suspect a buildup inside the system because really there is nothing to build up to. You said you removed the filter and nothing changed, so I am guessing you ran the dispenser with the filter in bypass. If having the filter out didn’t improve the situation, the only possible problems would be the source connection and the valve assembly. If your water connection is to a valve on your wall, that is probably OK, but if you are using a pierce valve, that is most likely your problem. If those are OK, the valve is next. You can make small adjustments to your IM by taking the module cover off and look for a little while plastic screw sticking out on the right side. This is the fill adjustment and can give you some (not much) adjustment to the length of time the IM fill valve is turned on. But if you are getting slow water at the dispenser, I would check out the inlet and valve.