Fridge Ice Machine Not Working. Help Needed

[bobafett]

Hello,

I have a 7 year old KitchenAid Superba which has worked fine until recently the ice machine stopped making ice. The water portion still pours out water.

I think the water inlet tube is frozen. I turned off the freezer/fridge (unplugged it) for a few hours. This didn't help the situation.

The copper water line into the back of the fridge is fine (it isn't frozen and isn't leaking). The fridge is functioning fine otherwise. The freezer switch inside the freezer is turned to the "On" position.

Then I thought I would check out water tube inside the freezer. In order to do this I removed the motor/ice tray:




The water tube is the black tube on the top right of this image.

The motor/ice tray component is here in case you are wondering and it appears fine although I haven't cracked the plastic case to inspect the motor yet:





I have inserted a blunt plastic straw instrument into the water line:








Wasn't sure how deep the straw should go in. I didn't want to force it so this is as far as I could insert it (my thumb marks the depth). I assume it should go in a lot further. There was a little bit of ice on the tip of the straw as I removed it.




I am assuming the problem is that the water line is frozen.

I have already turned off the fridge (unplugged it) for a few hours which didn't work. Any other ideas? Thinking about sticking a blowdryer on the hole for a while to see if the ice melts. Not too keen on chipping away inside with a sharp instrument (screwdriver?) as I do not want to damage it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[bobafett]

I cant post images until I have a higher post count.

Darn. Irritating.

[Dan O.]

I have a 7 year old KitchenAid Superba

I'm afraid that is not enough information to identify the appliance in question. What is needed is its exact model number as the forum instructions requested be supplied. If you post it we can at least look it up to see what appliance design you're dealing with.

Forum Instructions > Please include Make and Model # in post

I am assuming the problem is that the water line is frozen.

The icemaker 'fill tube' that goes through the cabinet could be frozen closed anyway.

I have already turned off the fridge (unplugged it) for a few hours which didn't work.

No, it would usually take more that to defrost anything in the freezer since the freezer will maintain sub-freezing temperatures for hours even when not running.

Any other ideas?

Remove the fill tube and put it in a glass of hot water? Squirt hot water into it? Use a hairdryer... being careful not to melt any plastic in the area of course?

JMO

Dan O.
www.Appliance411.com
The Appliance Information Site
=D~~~~~~

[bobafett]

My apologies. Here is the model number:

KSRA25FKSS00

How do I remove that black rubber water tube? Nothing obvious -- didn't want to pull on it as I may break it.

No manual that came with the fridge -- came with the house.

[bobafett]

Originally Posted by Dan O.

Remove the fill tube and put it in a glass of hot water? Squirt hot water into it? Use a hairdryer... being careful not to melt any plastic in the area of course?

Please correct me if I am wrong but these solutions are only short term fixes aren't they? Won't the tube just freeze up again (which seems to have happened to numerous other people with a similar problem to which they have to re-blowdry the fill tube).

[Dan O.]

the model number [is] KSRA25FKSS00.

How do I remove that black rubber water tube?

It's usually from the rear but I don't know for your exact model. You can see what that tube looks like at the link below.

LINK > KitchenAid KSRA25FKSS00 Icemaker Fill Tube

correct me if I am wrong but these solutions are only short term fixes aren't they? Won't the tube just freeze up again

That would depend on what is causing the tube to freeze closed (if it even is the current problem) and whether the cause is isolated and corrected.

JMO

Dan O.
www.Appliance411.com
The Appliance Information Site
=D~~~~~~

[OTM Doc]

Bobafett,
The ice bin full flap/arm will also cause your problem. It does not allow the water inlet valve to pick to let water flow into the icemaker. The valve could also have a problem. You really need to use the wiring diagram and a meter to troubleshoot it properly. Play around with the flapper/switch and see if water flows in after that.

[Dan O.]

How do I remove that black rubber water tube?

I found this about another refrigerator model. It might be similar to yours?

To remove the water fill tube:

a) From the rear of the unit, disconnect the upper water line from the fitting.

b) Slowly pull the end of the water fill nozzle out of the top of the interior freezer liner, then continue to pull the rest of the tube out of the liner. It will require some force to remove the first foot or so of tube from the liner.

NOTE: If the fill tube has water frozen inside, it will be necessary to melt the ice before removing the tubing, otherwise the tubing will tear when it is removed.

To reinstall the new tube:

Insert the end of the tube into the hole of the freezer liner and push it through as far as the nozzle will allow. To prevent a water flow restriction, do not twist the tube and nozzle assembly. Pull the end of the tube at the rear of the unit to take up any slack.

NOTE: The end of the tube may get caught on the fitting at the back of the unit. If this happens, position the tube in the center of the hole with a small screwdriver, and push the tube the rest of the way through from the front.

JFYI

Dan O.

[bobafett]

Originally Posted by OTM Doc

Bobafett,
The ice bin full flap/arm will also cause your problem. It does not allow the water inlet valve to pick to let water flow into the icemaker. The valve could also have a problem. You really need to use the wiring diagram and a meter to troubleshoot it properly. Play around with the flapper/switch and see if water flows in after that.

Noted. Thanks. But how do I know that the faulty part is the flap/arm detector?

[bobafett]

UPDATE: so I used a hairdryer to melt some of the ice -- there wasn't that much ice so I am not sure if that was the problem. The water inlet tube is now ice free.

Interestingly, when it became ice free some icewind was blown into the freezer for a few seconds.

I reinserted the motor and I turned the ice machine "on".

Nothing has happened. I read somewhere that it takes 24 hours to refill the ice. So I guess I will wait 24 hours.

The tech on a blog I was reading did the following:

"I started a harvest cycle which allowed me to visually see the ice maker operate mechanically and fill with water. "

I am not sure how to start a "harvest cycle" but I would like to know how!