Ice maker water splashes out of fill tube

Refrigerator & Freezer Repair
1

I am working a problem where there is excess water coming into the freezer compartment near the ice maker. I pulled the ice maker and found much ice around the back of the refrig below the water inlet. The white ‘hopper’ (P/N 22 in the ice maker diagram) was clogged with ice. Also, there was a stalactite of ice growing on the styrofoam insulation below the ‘fill gutter’ (can’t see this on the diagram, but it is a white plastic channel (profile of a rain gutter) that fits into the body of the frig. The cold water inlet pipe is attached to it outside the frig, and water flows down this gutter into the hopper.

I have tested the water control valve - it opens and closes without a dribble. BUT, when the valve is open, some water slops over the side of the gutter, and I think that this is the root cause of my problem. I tried turning down the water flow by adjusting the manual water valve at the wall, but at 75 deg closed (90 would be fully closed) there seemed to be no reduction in pressure. Also, our water pressure is within spec.

Any ideas on why I have the splashing? Is the fill gutter replacable? I could maybe get a cover of some sort on the gutter to contain the splashing (turn into more of a pipe) …

Thanks.

Mike

2

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#000000]If the hopper you are referring to was clogged with ice you need to replace the water valve. Because what happens is that there will be a slow leak past the valve causing ice to build up in the fill tube and in the fill cup and you won’t always see the leak. You also need to clean out the fill tube (gutter) and get all the ice out of that.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]