Manually Starting the Harvest Cycle in the Whirlpool-Built Modular Icemaker

by Samurai Appliance Repair Man on October 24, 2009

in Ice Maker Repair

The Whirlpool-built modular icemaker is used in just about all refrigerators made today, regardless of brand. One notorious exception is the crappy IM6 icemakers used in GE-built refrigerators. Why they didn’t just go with the field-tested Whirlpool-built units is a seedy story of corporate sleaze and extortion now playing in a theater near you!

Any-freakin-way, one of the basic diagnostic things you’ll do on these Whirlpool-built modular icemakers is to manually start the harvest cycle. This is useful for finding out reasons why the icemaker isn’t working. For example, it may not start the harvest cycle at all: bad control module. Or you may find that water never comes in: could be a frozen fill tube, bad water inlet valve, bad water supply.

“O mighty Samurai,” you ax, with stars in your eyes, “how does a neophyte on the path of higher Appliantological wisdom accomplish this miracle of initiating the harvest cycle of which thou speakest?”

An astute question, my fine, young apprentice, and elegantly phrased. Behold the revelation of the mystery:

Manually Starting the Harvest Cycle in the Whirlpool-Built Modular Icemaker
(click for larger view)

To initiate the harvest cycle: use an insulated length of wire with about a half inch stripped off each end. Insert each end of the wire into the test points marked T and H, as shown above. You’ll see the icemaker rake arm begin to move. In just a few seconds– if you listen real close-like– you’ll hear a faint “click,” that means you can pull the jumper wire out and the harvest cycle will continue all by itself.

Ahh, Grasshoppah, can you snatch this pebble from my hand?

To learn more about your ice maker, or to order parts, click here.


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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }

rjbourassa January 28, 2011 at 1:57 pm

Pls forgive what is probably a dumb question. My kitchenaid side by side refrigerator/freezer has this ice maker and has the ice bucket mounted on the inside of the freezer door. As such, the control module sits right against the left side of the freezer. Am I correct that I have to remove the ice maker in order to access the test points to start the harvest cycle? Is there any way to start it without removing the ice maker first?

thanks very much!

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