GE Icemaker

[B]

I have a GE side by side refrigerator/freezer that is about 6 years old. Yesterday the ice maker stopped working. Usually I can hear when it "calls" for water after dumping the ice cubes, but it is no longer doing that. It has just stopped making cubes. Before I call for service, I'd like to try to fix it myself, but I've never really done anything like this. Does anyone have any ideas what may be wrong and what I could do to try and fix this myself? I'm getting water thru the water dispenser, it just seems that there is no water going to the ice maker. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Jim Elbrecht]

Did you bump the switch?

Tells you how to run a diagnostic test on your GE, too.

Jim

[Ed Pawlowski]

Most all icemakers are from the same factory. You can find information to diagnose at

or

Aside from the PITA to reach into the freezer to work, they are fairly simple to repair or replace. Sad thing is, once you've had an icemaker, it is difficult to live without one.

Step one is to be sure you did not lift the bail wire that shuts it off. Easily done by accident.

[Vic Smith]

Every year I rent a condo in Florida for 2-3 weeks vacation. Big GE side-by-side with the ice/water dispenser. I like it. Consider it a luxury. But I don't have to fix it. Everybody I know with them has to get them fixed sooner or later. Lucky for folks here if they can fix them without a service call. That's what this group is about.

When I get home from Florida I completely forget about the icemaker. Twisting an ice cube tray is about as easy as it gets. Filling it and putting it in the freezer isn't much harder. When company is coming we just load up some zip-locks with cubes. Anyway, I don't have any difficulty at all living without one. Some things don't get past K.I.S.S. for me, and an icemaker is one.

--Vic

[Robert Neville]

It's not unusual for the water fill pipe to freeze close. You might try using a hair dryer on it for a few minutes and see if that thaws it open.

[tom]

I'm certainly no expert but I did watch the tech replace our ice maker under extended warranty on our side by side Frigidaire. He basically unplugged a multiple connection plug, unscrewed a couple screws that held the unit in place, lifted it out, replaced it with new unit and plugged it in. It probably didn't take 5 minutes. The water connection on back of fridge was like a small spigot and wasn't even connected to ice maker. Assuming I could find the right part I would certainly try this operation myself in the future.

[Stormin Mormon]

A couple other folks have good ideas. Other thought, is that the freezer needs to be "some" coldness to allow the ice maker to work. Has your ice cream gone soft?

Water valve has two valves -- so, if the water dispenser works, the ice maker side can be broken.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

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[trader4]

Knowing how they typically work could be helpful too. The arm switch being low closes a switch that turns it on. A motor starts rotating that moves the mechanism and also moves a timing switch arrangement. The timing switch turns on a heating element that melts the cubes that are in the tray enough so that they will slide out. When the motor moves further it starts to push the cubes out. When they are out it turns on the solenoid valve to let water in. When the ice cubes get below freezing a temp sensor ends the whole cycle. The tray is now full of cubes again.