LG LFC22770SW/01 Icemaker water leaking into ice bucket

Refrigerator & Freezer Repair
1

Brand: LG
Model Number: LFC22770SW/01
Main Symptom: big block of ice cubes frozen together in ice bucket
What happens & when: Looks like some water splashes out of the funnel on the ice maker during the ice cube tray fill cycle.

Error Code (if any): None
Parts or tests already tried:

Watched the original ice-maker cycle before removing it and saw water dripping from above the icemaker during the fill cycle. Wish I had done this before ordering the new ice-maker.

Removed water valve and jumpered 120V to it (WARNING - don’t try this unless you have proper training!!!). I verified the needle valve on the wall water outlet was fully opened and check the flow at the outlet of the external water filter (9 months since last replaced). The water flow started cleanly, seemed to flow well, and stopped cleanly. Tried this 10 or 15 times. I thought this ruled out a problem with the valve leaking or not closing well. Reinstalled the valve and tubing.

Removed the old ice-maker and installed the new one anyway since I had it and thought it still might be a problem with the icemaker. When removing the old one, I noticed some ice either on the funnel part of the ice-maker and/or between the ice-maker and the top of the freezer compartment and thought that might be my problem.

Tried the test cycle on the new ice-maker and the ice cube tray filled with water okay. But it didn’t dump even overnight. Tried the test cycle again. The ice bucket full detector arm moved slightly, but would not descend and let the ice tray dump.

Reinstalled the original ice-maker. Tried the test cycle and it filled correctly and I didn’t see any splashing or leaking into the ice bucket. It dumped the ice okay a few hours later. Overnight it dumped several more trays of ice and all looked good. Then the next day there was a leak and several cubes were stuck together. And then more leaking and more cubes stuck together.

Used a small boroscope camera to verify the water fill tube extended into the funnel area of the ice-maker.

What should I try next?

Could the fill valve (does it have a built in regulator???) be letting water flow through too fast so it splashes off the funnel and leaks into the ice bucket instead of all going to the ice cube tray?

Anything else?

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Photos / video link:

2

The problem was the water valve. I replaced it about a week ago and the ice maker is working like new.

I jumpered the new valve to see the water flow before I installed it. The flow was noticeably lower than on the original valve. I think there is a pressure regulator built into the valve assembly and it had failed on the original valve. With the water pressure too high it splashes out of the funnel to the ice cube tray and into the ice bucket.

3

Thank you for sharing how you were able to resolve this. It is true that water valves have an internal regulator to reduce the pressure flowing through the appliance.