20 year old Kenmore refrigerator ice maker bad water valve coil took a crap

[sam_sam_sam]

I got lucky that when I got home and was about to get some ice out of the ice dispenser I hear and see water running down the outside of the ice dispenser what the heck is going on here

At first I thought that the ice dispenser mold was cracked so I brought a new ice maker because this one has been in there for about 10 years now

Well I put the new one in and wait and I wait for the water valve to open and let water in no such luck well there is a way to check the function of the motor and the water valve on this ice maker just need a jumper wire “L” to “V” to check the water valve “N” to “M” to check the motor

Well I have no water valve function but I have the water dispenser working and luckily the coils are the same just a different color so you do not plug the wrong wire to wrong valve well now I have the ice maker working again ( I do not recommend anyone doing this unless you are aware of what could go wrong with trying this procedure I have worked on this ice maker in the past for other customers and myself I just do this just to make sure that there is nothing else wrong with this refrigerator I would not recommend leaving it this way for a permanent fix by no means)


I need to order a new replacement water valves so I can push the refrigerator back in to it properly place and be done with it

Sense I have had this refrigerator I have replaced the ice maker twice before and I keep them for parts and testing purposes and I have a repaired one that I took two ice makers and made a working one but when I get the new water valve I will put the new ice maker in

The reason I replaced the first one was because the ice was getting stuck in the mold because of water deposits and it not recommended that you clean them because the nonstick coating will come off so I just replace it the second one was taking longer than normal to make ice because the temperature sensor was going bad so I switched temperature sensors around so I have a working unit again however it is also has water deposit on it but not real bad yet

[redwire]

Re: 20 year old Kenmore refrigerator ice maker bad water valve coil took a crap

This is a mechanical failure in the water solenoid valve?
I think mineral deposits, rust flakes in plumbing jam the valves or maybe they just wear out. Should have a mesh filter upstream maybe.
Or is it like the Frigidaire fridge ice maker/water dispenser problems due to bad diodes, like in this thread: Re: Frigidaire Refrigerator Model FFHS2612LS0 diodes it uses DC on the valves.

My buddies Miele washing machine, he comes home and the side door is open as usual, but the tub (side) filled with water and dribbling out onto the floor. Fill solenoid was not shutting off 100%, leaking.
Does it have a water leak sensor, or firmware look at the float sensor to alarm? NO.

[sam_sam_sam]

Re: 20 year old Kenmore refrigerator ice maker bad water valve coil took a crap

Yes there is a problem with the water valve for the ice maker sometimes the ice cubes are not fully shaped right I have a double water value coming to replace the original one but the ice maker is 35 watts and the water dispenser valve is 20 watts so you can not generic water valve in it

[sam_sam_sam]

Re: 20 year old Kenmore refrigerator ice maker bad water valve coil took a crap

Now my ice maker is back to normal after replacing the water valve so this project is finally completed and working properly now

[sam_sam_sam]

Re: 20 year old Kenmore refrigerator ice maker bad water valve coil took a crap

Well now the ice dispenser switch holder which has round plastic rods that hold the micro switch to power the auger motor broke off and nothing was holding the switch in place

Small circuit board stand-off cam to the recuse and save the day which allows me to get the switch mounted back in the right place for it to work properly again

[redwire]

Re: 20 year old Kenmore refrigerator ice maker bad water valve coil took a crap

Whatever happened to using screws? Maybe it gets hit hard by people, my buddy throws a party and everyone is drunk and usually busts that or the ice maker inside the freezer that flips to fill a hopper.

[stj]

Re: 20 year old Kenmore refrigerator ice maker bad water valve coil took a crap

using rods through microswitches has been common for decades.
the problem as i see it is that they did it in a cold enviroment where the plastic would have less flex

[sam_sam_sam]

Re: 20 year old Kenmore refrigerator ice maker bad water valve coil took a crap

using rods through microswitches has been common for decades.
the problem as i see it is that they did it in a cold enviroment where the plastic would have less flex

Yea but remember that this refrigerator is around 20 years old now and I use the ice dispenser several times a day at a minimum sometimes more often than that

I am not surprised that this has happen to it and in fact I am surprised that this refrigerator has lasted this long as it has I guess because I have a device on it that if the power blinks it keeps the refrigerator off for about 5 minutes before it starts running again I have only replaced the compressor starting relay once senses I have had this refrigerator once while it was under warranty I had to have the freezer fan replaced because it became nosier but really have not had too many issues with it other than the ice maker a few times and just recently the water valve

[sam_sam_sam]

Re: 20 year old Kenmore refrigerator ice maker bad water valve coil took a crap

Well I put the Kenmore refrigerator out to recycle center and bought a new one because they had a very good price and no sale tax ( at Lowe’s ) on a Frigidaire side by side with the old fashioned compressor not the inverter type which I did not want this type of compressor I have read to many complaints about them

I figured that I was on borrowed time with the one I had and it was starting to give me issues

I did remove the new ice maker that I had just replaced a couple of months ago