Grok on these mind-expanding, interactive breakdown diagrams of various appliances so you can see how they’re put together. An indispensible troubleshooting and repair aid!

Air Conditioning

Dehumidifiers

Dishwashers

Disposals

Dryers

• Gas Whirlpool Style, Lint Filter on Top
• Gas Whirlpool Style, Lint Filter in Door
• Gas Maytag Style
• Gas GE Style
• Electric Whirlpool Style, Lint Filter on Top
• Electric Whirlpool Style, Lint Filter in Door
• Electric Maytag Style
• Electric GE Style

Freezers

• Chest Freezer
• Upright Freezer

Ice Makers

• In Freezer
• Free Standing

Microwave Ovens

• Counter Top
• Built In

Ovens, Ranges, and Stoves

• Gas Free Standing
• Electric Free Standing
• Gas Cook Top
• Electric Cook Top
• Gas Walloven
• Electric Walloven

Refrigerators

• Side by Side
• Freezer on Top
• Freezer on Bottom
• Freezer on Bottom

Trash Compactors

Washing Machines

• Top Load Maytag Style
• Top Load Whirlpool Style
• Top Load GE Style
• Front Load Maytag Style
• Front Load Frigidaire / GE / Kenmore Style

Troubleshooting the Whirlpool Modular Icemaker

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

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:

(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.

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

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

Notes:

[1] Replacement means you’re replacing an existing icemaker in a fridge that already had one. Add-On means you’re installing an icemaker kit in a fridge that never had one. Add-on kits come with the water valve and ice bin, replacement kits do not. You can use an add-on kit for a replacement but you can’t use a replacement kit for an add-on.

[2] The style of plug refers to the type of icemaker electrical receptacle that you can see on back wall inside your freezer.

[3] Kit comes with both a flat and round receptacle plug.

[4] This is the type of water installation kit recommended by manufacturers. Uses only genuine copper tubing with a drill-type saddle tap valve. For more information, see this page.

[5] The defrost timer is built into the flex tray icemaker. If you just want to get rid of the flex tray icemaker in your fridge, you’ll need to install this replacement defrost timer kit or your fridge won’t run. You’ll have a hard time finding a replacement flex tray icemaker because they suck so bad. If yours is busted and you can’t fix it, you’re better off without it.

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

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

1. Make sure the water supply is greater than 20 psi. If too low, the water valve won’t seat properly and it’ll “weep.” Common causes of low pressure are gunked-up saddle tap valves, kinked water supply line, and using a reverse osmosis filter to supply water to the icemaker.
2. Check between the valve diaphram and valve seat for sediment. If found, do not attempt to repair, buy a new valve.
3. Check to see if the black, flexible portion of the fill tube is wrinkled, twisted, or kinked which can cause ice dams that block the fill tube.
4. Find out if the water has been shut off while the icemaker has kept on cycling. This, too, can cause the fill tube to freeze up.

If all the above checks out and you’re still getting fill tube freeze-ups, there’s still one thing left to try.

It turns out that the manufacturer’s have been scratching their heads about this, too, and have concluded that the new fill tube air slit design helps prevent this problem. Buy your replacement fill tubes for your fridge through the links below:

• Frigidaire
• Maytag
• Whirlpool

Well al-l-lrighty then.

Still confoosed, Grasshoppah? Browse all the FAQs on ice maker repair. To learn more about your icemaker, or to order parts, click here.

The root problem is that the freezer just gets too warm. Ice at the bottom of the augur bucket melts just enough to add a thin layer of water around the augur screw assembly. The water then re-freezes and immobilizes the augur screw. Now, if you go and use the ice dispenser, the mighty augur motor starts to turn the augur screw and… breaks the drive mechanism. You’ll usually end up needing one of these:

And it may well happen again due to a screwup in the design of the refrigerator which lets the freezer get warm enough to cause all this mess in the first place.

You could also try replacing just the augur screw– not a user-friendly repair, see this topic in repair forum for details on that.

So, whoever’s gonna buy GE appliances again, raise your hand. Bueller? …Bueller?

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

The ice bin augur
in my GE fridge is stuck.
See GE recall.

What are the manufacturers thinking when they put out this overblown garbage? It’s as though they had a bunch of electrical engineers sitting around one day and said, “Oh, I know! Let’s design an icemaker that uses a bunch of flimsy, expensive electronics to replace a function that could be done more reliably and less expensively by a simple mechanical feeler arm!” Brilliant.

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

• Cam
• Hold switch

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

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

So, this guy’s icemaker broke. His solution? Why, buy a whole new refrigerator!

There are as many different ways of installing an icemaker water supply line as there are people doing it. Some are good, most are marginal or just plain wrong. Here’s a handy list of reminders on the correct way to install a water supply line from the source to the water inlet valve on the refrigerator:

1. You’ll find all kinds of el cheapo plastic tubing kits out there in the hardware sections of Wal-Mart or wherever but 1/4″ copper tubing is the gold standard.
2. Connect the water line to a frequently used cold water line so you’re sure to use only fresh water to make your ice cubes.
3. If you have a choice between a vertical or a horizontal water line to tie into, always pick the vertical line.
4. Use a horizontal line if and only if a vertical line is not accessible.
5. On horizontal water lines make your connection on the top or sides of the pipe, never on the bottom. If you install the saddle tee valve on the bottom of the pipe, you’re pretty much guaranteeing a future plumbing job because that valve will get crudded up with scale, rust, whatever. Additionally, the accumulated crud in the saddle tee valve will restrict water flow and pressure causing other problems like frozen fill tubes. This picture shows you how to properly install the valve:
   
6. The self-piercing valves included in many kits are trouble waiting to happen. Always use a drill-type saddle-tee valve when connecting to the water supply line–avoid the self-piercing saddle valves.
7. Be sure to leave enough coils of copper tubing behind the refrigerator so that you can roll the refrigerator out from the wall when you you need to work back there.
8. If you’re installing a new icemaker in your fridge, these how-to pages will help: Page 1 and Page 2.

You can learn more about your icemaker and order parts here.

In most refrigerators, the icemaker is a completely independent appliance that just happens to live inside the freezer. The one exception to this is the gawd-awful flex-tray icemaker that has the refrigerator’s defrost timer built into it making it an integral part of the fridge. All icemakers work with a water fill valve which supplies household water to the icemaker. On most refrigerators, the water fill valve is located down in back, in the compressor service compartment. On Sub-Zero refrigerators and other built-in models, the water fill valve is in front, behind the grill at the floor. This illuminating and inspiring Appliance Tip of the Day will answer all your burning questions about the humble, yet ever-so crucial icemaker.

Q. How do icemakers work?

A. All icemakers are based on a fundamental thermodynamic property of water where, below 32ºF (or, for those of you trapped in a communist country, that’s 0ºC), water becomes a solid that we Ameedicans call ice and those infernal godless Swedes call früzen glaza.

You want the boring answer? Ok. First, the icemaker signals the water fill valve to open and allow water to flow into the icemaker tray. Note that the water is not “pumped” in–the only pump in your refrigerator is the compressor and you don’t wanna be drinkin’ what it’s pumpin’, you dig? The water fill valve simply opens and lets water flow in under household water supply pressure. The amount of water that comes into the icemaker is controlled by the icemaker itself.

Once the tray is full, the water sits there until the thermodynamic state change from a liquid to a solid occurs (that means “until it freezes” but it was more fun to say it thata way). When the water tray thermostat senses the ice tray has reached a certain temperature, it starts the harvest cycle–that’s when it dumps the ice into your bucket. This keeps on going until so much ice mounds up that it raises the metal arm on the side of the icemaker. Then the icemaker stops until you use up some of the ice.

Here’s a bonus Fun Fact to Know and Tell: icemakers won’t make ice if the freezer temperature is above 17ºF (that’s -8ºC for you pinko-commies). So, if your icemaker stops making ice, the first thing to check is the freezer temperature because it could be an early warning that there’s something wrong with your fridge, such as a defrosting system failure.

Q. Why do my ice cubes smell or taste bad?

A. Impurities in the water, dirty fridge, old ice…these are just a few of the reasons your ice can smell or taste foul.

Try cleaning out your freezer once in a while. You’d be amazed at the oozing crud you’ll find lurking in there underneath all that frozen stuff that’s been in there for years. Sanitize the inside of the freezer with an antibacterial cleanser. Throw out all those old fad diet food packs that taste like the bottom of my shoe and all those semi-melted pop-sickles and cans of orange juice concentrate. As a bonus, you’ll probably find you won’t get sick as often.

Use a filter to clean up the water–garbage in, garbage out. Here’s a newsflash: all water has some impurities in it, even water that tastes fine when you drink it. But when you freeze this same water into ice cubes, these impurities are magnified and can become noticeable, sometimes disgustingly so. So, even if the water in your house tastes good when you drink it, this same water can make stinky ice. Come git you a water filter.

Q. How long can I ignore changing the water filter for my icemaker?

A. This really depends on the strength of your body’s immune system. You see, as the filter removes the impurities from your water, it not only becomes saturated with those very impurities, but it is transformed into a veritable metropolis for bacteria. These little creatures multiply and grow to such an enormous extent that they actually begin to clog up the filter with their dead corpses. New little bacteria babies begin living and feasting on the rotting corpses of their fallen parents and cousins, clogging the filter, causing low water pressure, and the resulting hollow ice cubes. At this point in the filter’s life, millions of dead and living bacteria, the mixture variously called scum or puss, normally not visible but in extreme cases may cause the ice cubes to appear cloudy, begin sloughing off and traveling with the water to your icemaker. As you use the ice, you ingest these little creatures where they attempt to make their new home deep inside your intestines. The results could range from simply bad tasting ice, to a feeling of a sour stomach, to mild nausea, to violently vomiting up the entire contents of your stomach along with much bile and other slimy secretions.

For optimal ice quality and minimum health effects, change your icemaker water filter at least every six months.

Q. Why won’t my icemaker make ice?

A. I dunno–mine works fine so I’m all set, thanks. But you might try reading through the diagnostic guide in the icemaker diagnostic section. I know, I know, I’m always telling you to read stuff. Sorry about that. I’m still waiting for Microsoft to come out with those new electrodes that you shove deep into your skull and then plug into your computer so you can download stuff from the internet directly into that fermented brown mush ‘twixt your ears. Hope you don’t get one o’ them nasty viruses. Ahh-CHOO!

Q. Can I add an icemaker to my refrigerator/freezer?

A. Ya sure, ya betcha! Picking out the right kit for your fridge can be a little confusing so let this venerable Appliance Tip of the Day be your guiding light through the maze of choices. As a special bonus to my loyal grasshoppers, brand-spankin’ new icemakers are on sale now through August 22, 2004–come git you one!

And, hey, if you need help installing your new icemaker and even a new water supply line for it, we got installation help for you ratcheer, Hoss.

For more pearls of wisdom on icemakers, click here.

If you own a Maytag or Amana refrigerator with an ice and water dispenser in the door, keep reading. Amana and Maytag have used a Y-connector in their refrigerator water supply tubing. This connector brought two water lines into one, and is located right after the fill valve. The Y-connector can be in the icemaker or chilled water lines, or both. This connector has had problems with leaking and, even worse, breaking and is now no longer available.

To eliminate this potential flood hazard from your fridge, come git you this Maytag valve kit or this Amana valve kit. Problem solved!

First thing is to make sure you’re using genuine copper tubing for your water supply to the icemaker. Next, refer to this page to help you with the finer points of icemaker water line installation.

In-line water filters installed on your icemaker water supply line can remove bad taste and scale from your ice as well as protect the water inlet solenoid valve, saving on annoying and costly repairs later on. But did you know they should be changed every three to six months? Yes, my icy grasshoppers, it is true.

As the filter removes the impurities from your water, it not only becomes saturated with those very impurities, but it is transformed into a veritable metropolis for bacteria. These little creatures multiply and grow to such an enormous extent that they actually begin to clog up the filter with their dead corpses. New little bacteria babies begin living and feasting on the rotting corpses of their fallen parents and cousins, clogging the filter, causing low water pressure, and the resulting hollow ice cubes. At this point in the filter’s life, millions of dead and living bacteria, the mixture variously called scum or puss, normally not visible but in extreme cases may cause the ice cubes to appear cloudy, begin sloughing off and traveling with the water to your icemaker. As you use the ice, you ingest these little creatures where they attempt to make their new home deep inside your intestines. The results could range from simply bad tasting ice, to a feeling of a sour stomach, to mild nausea, to violently vomiting up the entire contents of your stomach along with much bile and other slimey secretions.

Most refrigerators today with ice makers or water through the door have water filters built in, which is much more convenient than installing one in the water supply line from your water source. Your refrigerator water filter is most likely located either inside the refrigerator cabinet, near the top or in the grill at the bottom of the unit. Use this handy list to find the filter you need for your fridge:

• PureSource Filter – for Frigidaire refrigerators equipped with PureSource water filtration systems.
• SmartWater Filter – for GE Water by Culligan filtration systems.
• Water Filter Assembly – for Whirlpool models where the filter is inside the refrigerator.
• Ice and Water Filter – for Whirlpool, KitchenAid and Kenmore refrigerators where filter is in the front grill.
• Handi Plumb Filter – for ice makers that were added on to any brand of refrigerator.

If you don’t see yours listed above, come browse the complete selection of icemaker water filters.

Ok, go buy your icemaker water filter now and don’t forget to change it at least every six months.

If the freezer temp is good, then you’re better off replacing a 20 year old ice maker. You can find your replacement ice maker kit here.

You bet I do! The place to start for information on this is right here. If you need the tubing kit, which comes complete with the saddle tap valve for connecting to your water supply, you can buy one here.

Easy job, take you about 30 minutes and then it’s Margaritaville!

In-line water filters can be installed on any refrigerator. They’re easy to install and they literally snap in-place in the 1/4″ water supply tubing behind the fridge. The filter kit comes with instructions and all the fittings you need to install it. After a while, the filter becomes saturated with icky stuff so it should be changed every six months–read more about that here.